Article originally posted at Kmart Playdate Place.
Many times a play date consists of one of your kids’ preschool or park friends coming over the house for an hour or so while you get to the know the parents. Sometimes though, your house is too small for a bunch of kids, or the kids live far away and you need to meet somewhere. Also, you just might not feel like having the kids (or the parents) hanging out at your house. Whatever your reasoning is, there are some great options for places to have grade A play dates outside of the house. Here are 5 solid options:
Museums
With so many new choices like play centers, gyms, etc., we sometimes forget about the good old museum. Nine times out of ten our local art and children’s museums aren’t cost prohibitive and they provide some cool programs for kids. We have passes to all of our local museums and we’ve made our membership money back in months due to our active cadence of visits.
Farmer’s Markets
Your local farmer’s market is great place to bring a group of kids. The kids get to learn where their food is coming from and there is always a great variety of fruit and vegetable samples for the kids to snack on.
The Park
So simple. There is no better place to run the kids ragged then at your favorite local park. Bring a picnic and some snacks and the kids have a great time without messing up your house.
Public Transit
If you take public transportation to work every day it can be a necessary evil that you want to stay far way from on weekends. To kids though, a public train or subway is an exploration into a new world. A quick trip to Starbucks can turn into a play date adventure if you leave the car in the driveway and take the train.
Bookstore
The bookstore is the most inexpensive kids’ playroom in existence. You can take your play date to your favorite bookstore and the kids will get lost in all of the great books and pictures. Also, there’s usually the train table, and other stuff built to make bookstores better places to hang out…take them up on it.
What are your favorite playdates on the go?
