Background <p>The family is the first place of socialisation for children and has a&#xa0;significant influence on their health. Participation enables the development of family health promotion activities in a&#xa0;needs-oriented way. In the NetFami project, the Search Conference (SC) method was used to initiate the participatory planning and implementation of health promotion activities in five preschools in Germany. An analysis was conducted to assess the success of this participatory planning method in involving parents.</p> Method <p>Two digital and three face-to-face SCs were conducted with employees, parents and network partners and were evaluated using open participant observation and a&#xa0;questionnaire survey.</p> Results <p>In all SCs, it succeeded in involving parents in the planning of health promotion in a&#xa0;participatory manner. In the face-to-face implementation, they were more represented and showed more initiative. Overall, the participants rated the format as a&#xa0;family-friendly measure to bring together the different perspectives on health promotion. Employees emphasised the parental perspective as particularly helpful. Parents reported a&#xa0;sense of connection and motivation for the next stage.</p> Conclusion <p>The SC method is suitable for initiating participatory planning processes with parents in this setting. Participation and shared responsibility should be constantly reflected on and initiated in the ongoing process, taking into account family and institution-specific resources. Preschools need external support and integration into municipal structures.</p>