TIPS FOR PLANNING THE PERFECT PLAYDATE

As parents, we want our children to have healthy friendships and in order to cultivate those special friends, we try to set up playdates with those friends.

However, planning a playdate can sometimes be stressful. What if the kids don’t play well together? What if there is fighting? What if the parent comes along – what we will talk about?

It may seem daunting, but planning the perfect playdate is actually quite easy!

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TIPS FOR THE PERFECT PLAYDATE

This post has been sponsored by SPOKES. Any opinions expressed are my own.

CHOOSE THE PERFECT TIME

Planning a play date time when children will already be tired and hungry is just setting yourself up for disaster.

Find a 2-hour time slot mid-morning or right after lunch when children are happiest.

Of course, you know your child the best, so plan what works best for them.

HAVE AN ACTIVITY READY TO GO

Allowing children to have free-play time is important. However, there are those times when friendships struggle and children can’t seem to agree on anything.

Having an activity read to go will help to calm hairy situations should they arise. Plan a simple craft, or have coloring pages available.

SET GROUND RULES

Make sure your guests know the rules.

This may sound harsh, but setting ground rules as soon as your guests arrive, like which rooms they are allowed to play in and that you don’t appreciate yelling or violence, will help the playdate run smoother.

SERVE THE PERFECT SNACK

With the many different allergies increasing in people’s lives it can sometimes be hard to know what to serve for a snack when the kids say they’re hungry.