Setting up a play date for your kid and your kid’s friend? Don’t play it by ear. Read our tips on how to prepare a successful play date.
Invitations
Send your kid’s pal an Evite invitation, like this free “Hip Hip Hooray” invitation below or this premium “PJs & Pancakes” invitation for a slumber party. Check out more invitations from our Kids’ Corner invitation gallery.
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Decorations
While there’s no need to hang streamers for a play date, doing a little prep work makes playtime, well, child’s play. Beforehand, have your kid put away favorite toys they won’t want to share. Then have them get out one thing that encourages joint play, like blocks, a train set, Legos or crayons, to start out the play date on a friendly footing.
To make sure your house doesn’t end up in shambles before the afternoon’s over, ask the kids to clean up as they go — no new activity until the old one is put away. That also prevents a meltdown right before the end of the play date, since no one wants the final half-hour with a friend to be spent cleaning up the previous hour and a half’s pandemonium. That said, putting away the last activity a few minutes before your guest’s parent is scheduled to arrive ensures they’re ready to go on time.
Tips
Limit the number of guests to one (two at most) and the time to two hours max — any more and you risk cranky kids. If this is a first date, consider making it a double; ask to meet your child’s friend and the friend’s parent at the park, or invite the parent over for coffee while the kids play. That way, you’ll both become more comfortable leaving your child in the other’s care — and you can watch firsthand how your children interact.
Before the play date, talk house rules with the other parent so you both know what to expect. Some things you may want to go over (or bring up if your child is the guest):
- Discipline: How do you handle kids fighting?
- TV: Is watching TV OK? What about movies? What about PG movies?
- Health/safety: Any allergies? Does anyone smoke in the house? Are there guns in the house?
- Video games: OK to play? If so, any types of games off limits?
- Toys: Any toys (toy guns, for example) off limits?
- Food: Snack OK? Any foods off limits? Picky eater?
- Other: Any other house rules (for example, you’re only allowed to eat in the kitchen)? Anything else to know about the guest (for example, he’s afraid of dogs)?
- Contact info and timing: What’s the best number to reach each other? What time is pickup?
Activities
If this is your child’s first experience with entertaining a guest — a valuable life lesson — make the most of it by asking your child what they want to do… and what your child thinks his or her friend would be into. In case they can’t come up with anything, here are a few possibilities to suggest:
- Draw pictures on the driveway with sidewalk chalk
- Play hide ‘n’ seek
- Play in the sandbox
- Build a fort using old boxes, furniture and/or blankets
- Make and decorate cookies
- Play Legos
- Stage a concert using kitchenware and utensils for instruments and a beater for a microphone
- Play dolls
- Make creatures out of Play-Doh
- Read a book together
- Play ball
Food
Stick to healthy, or at least relatively healthy, snacks — check out our top 10 healthy kid’s party snacks. It’s better for your kid, anyway — and it may be safer for your relationship with your kid’s pal’s parents. Graham crackers and granola bars are good choices. So are easy-to-eat fruit like grapes, apple slices, tangerines, bananas or raisins.
You can also get kids in on the act if they’re old enough. For example, they might make the snack known as ants on a log by filling celery sticks with peanut butter and then marching raisins down each stalk. Or help them make a batch of homemade brownies or chocolate chip cookies (okay, sweets aren’t exactly healthy, but the exercise teaches kitchen skills — and you can send your guest home with treats for their folks).
Drinks
Juice boxes are great for convenience and kids love ’em, but if you want a cheaper alternative with a lot less waste, make your own healthy fruit drink that’s guaranteed to give Hawaiian Punch the one-two.
Fruit Punch (serves 6)
- 1 1/2 cups apple juice
- 1 1/2 cups no-pulp orange juice
- 3 cups grape juice
Combine in a pitcher.
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