For the third season in a row, the Bend Park & Recreation District will be staggering registration over three days for its popular summer programs and summer and fall sports leagues.

This includes registration for summer camps for kids, child care slots and youth recreation over the summer.

Registration for recreation, enrichment, and sports programs will open online at 6 a.m. Monday, March 20. This includes arts, crafts, cooking, technology, fitness and sports, among others.

Registration for swim lessons and aquatic programs for both youth and adults opens online at 6 a.m. Tuesday, March 21.

Sports league registration opens online at 6 a.m. Wednesday, March 22, which includes adult cornhole, adult golf, adult fall softball, adult kickball, adult roller hockey, youth flag football, kindergarten soccer, youth soccer and middle school tennis leagues.

“If registration follows patterns that it always has, there will be strong demand,” said Julie Brown, communications and community relations manager for the park district. “The staggered registration gives us a rhythm which has worked well for two seasons.”

Brown recommended participants log into their park district accounts prior to registration to make sure everything’s working smoothly ahead of time.

She also advised making a list of activity numbers, which are six digits long, for the activities that people would like to sign up for.

“Do your homework in advance,” she said.

The park district’s summer programs have been available for preview both online and in their summer playbook since Thursday.

The park district put technology solutions in place in December to hopefully make sure registration runs more smoothly than it has in the past, when servers have been overloaded. There is now a waiting room feature for registration to avoid overwhelming the system, and more servers were added.

If participants log in a few minutes before 6 a.m., the site will randomize those already waiting into a virtual line. There is no advantage to logging in earlier than that.

The average wait time for registration for spring programs was eight minutes, which was much better than in the past, said Brown.

Participants can also register in person at the district office, the Larkspur Community Center or Juniper Swim & Fitness Center. Registration is not available over the phone.

Other tips to maximize the chances of getting into a summer program at the park district:

• Pay attention to the dates for each program and make sure you have the right one.

• Utilize the wish-list feature, where you can add programs you would like to participate in, then see the availability easily during registration. Make a note of programs that are a priority.

• Make sure your account is up to date ahead of time. Those with existing balances will not be able to register for programs.

• Registration works best on a desktop or laptop computer.

• Use the online swim lesson and summer camp finder tools for easier access.

• Use one web browser with only one tab open for registration.

• Add your name to the waitlist if an activity you’d like to sign up for is full. You will receive an email notification if a spot opens.