Kids love to play. And parents love to watch their children have fun with their friends. But sometimes putting together a safe and fun environment for them all to play can feel overwhelming. Between planning activities and snack times, coordinating with parents, and keeping the kids entertained– there’s a lot going on during a playdate. So we’re here to help. Check out our playdate ideas and resources below to help make your playdate planning easier and more organized. That way you can focus on enjoying the time spent with your kids.
Jump to:
- What Is A Playdate?
- Playdate Place and Location Ideas
- What To Do On A Playdate
- Playdate Craft Ideas
- Playdates For Toddlers
- Playdate Ideas For Kids
What Is A Playdate?
A playdate is a designated time for two children to visit and play together. Parents set the time, date, and location for a playdate ahead of time. Playdates typically last for a few hours before the parent who isn’t hosting the playdate picks up their child.
The Perfect Playdate
A “perfect” playdate is one that both children enjoy and that both children and parents feel secure about the welfare and safety of everyone involved. The best way to plan for a perfect playdate is to plan ahead, stay organized, and make sure expectations and activities are communicated to everyone beforehand.
Our Tip: To help make the scheduling of your child’s playdate easier, consider using mommy calling cards. These cards come with all your contact information to help inform other parents of important details when scheduling a playdate.
Playdate Place and Location Ideas
Looking for some new playdate location ideas? If your child is tired of always being at a certain person’s house or you’re just wanting to give them a fun surprise, consider the playdate place ideas below:
- One Parent’s House
- Local Park
- Museum
- Water Park
- Local Gardens
- Bounce House Centers
- Zoo
- Aquarium
- Bowling Alley
- Roller Rink
- Mini Golf Course
- Movie Theatre
- Laser Tag
What To Do On A Playdate
Take the opportunity of a playdate to introduce exciting or new activities to your child. Whether they’re crafty, love to play with toys, listen to stories, or make a mess in the kitchen – there’s something to do for everyone. Check out some of our favorite ideas below or use them to inspire a unique idea of your own.
Playdate Craft Ideas
Specifically looking for new crafts? We have you covered. Check out our playdate craft ideas for every season below.
1. Christmas Crafts for Kids
From gingerbread cutouts to elf party hats, these holiday focused crafts are perfect for kids of all ages! Just make sure you have a crafting corner to keep all the mess contained.
2. Valentines Day Crafts for Kids
Valentine’s crafts not only make an excellent playdate idea for the springtime, but they’re also super easy to put together. Check out some of our favorite heart-shaped crafts through the link above.
3. Art Projects for Kids
Most kids love art projects (and making a big mess!). Check out some of our favorite art project ideas above, such as homemade bird feeders or leaf art, or use them to inspire a different art project all your own.
Playdates For Toddlers
A toddler playdate can sometimes mean a lot of time and energy, leaving you burnt out by the end of the day. So if you’re needing new activities to help keep the kids entertained so you’re not left scrambling, check out the playdate ideas below.
4. Personalized Story Time
Using made up stories or even better, personalized story books, craft a new adventure starring the kids. It’s sure to keep their eyes glued to story time and help facilitate a transition to a low activity time.
5. Memory Games
Memory games aren’t only a fun and challenging activity to keep your toddlers entertained– it’s educational. These games help stimulate brain activity without the little ones even realizing it.
6. Painting Party
What’s a better way to let the little ones express themselves than a painting party? Break out the child-safe paint, paint brushes, and some clean canvases. Just make sure you get to work in a well ventilated area!
7. Unstructured Toy Time
Toddlers love playing with their favorite toys, and sometimes it’s best to leave them to their own imagination. Just make sure there’s plenty of toys so that no fighting over sharing begins!
8. Shadow Puppet Show
Shadow puppets are fun, cute, and perfect for a nighttime playdate or inside with access to a dark room and flashlights. Get creative and inspire the kids to make up their own shapes and creatures.
9. Dance Party
Who doesn’t love a dance party? Bust out some fun moves to family friendly music and get the kids moving.
Playdate Ideas For Kids
Once your child is a little older, they may feel silly playing with toys or shadow puppets during a playdate. If that’s the case, consider upgrading to a few new age appropriate playdate ideas and activities. We’ve included some of our favorites for you below.
10. Superhero Pretend
Few kids dislike superheros, making them one of the most time-honored play pretend activities around. And if you want to make your superhero play time extra special, invest in some personalized capes to hand out to the children.
11. Kids Card Games
From Go Fish, to War, to Speed and beyond, there’s plenty of fun, child-friendly card games to keep the kids happy for hours. And you can make your card game playdate sand out with our personalized kids playing cards.
12. Baking Party
Kids love food and science experiments. Put that together and you’re sure to win brownie points by throwing a baking party for a playdate. Whether you decide to make cookies, brownies, puppy chow, or anything else, the kids are sure to have a blast. And to help minimize the cooking mess, make sure to check out our kids aprons.
13. Movie Marathon
If the playdate is a little longer than usual or the kids are tired, you might want to throw a movie marathon. These low energy playdates are perfect for relaxing, and made even better by kids bean bags for lounging.
14. Adventure to the Park/Zoo/Aquarium
Bringing your playdate to a fun location like the local park, zoo, or aquarium isn’t just good for keeping the kids happy– they’re sure to learn something along the way. Just make sure their backpacks are pre packed for everything they’ll need along the way.
15. Puzzles
Build or buy a special puzzle before a playdate as a perfect quiet-time activity. Once it’s time for the kids to settle down, the puzzle will provide the perfect distraction to help them get there.
16. Game Night
Consider throwing a game night together for your next playdate. Full of plenty of fast paced games and breaks for snack time, the kids will stay entertained for hours. Make sure to check out our resource on fun family games for additional game night ideas.
17. Some Ideas for the Road
If there’s any extra time spent in the car during a playdate, consider reading our guide on travel games for kids. There you’ll find activities ranging from highly engaged to low energy– something for everyone.
Resources Related to Playdate Ideas
If you liked this resource on playdate ideas for toddlers and kids and you’re looking for additional related content, we’ve got you covered. Make sure to look through the ideas below:
