Article originally posted at Kmart Playdate Place.
On so many occasions my wife and I have fallen into the trap of over planning play dates. We want to make sure the kids coming over enjoy the time with our children and associate our house with good, playful memories. Also, (and this is a bigger factor whether we admit it or not) we want impress the other parents with great organization and cool activities. We want to give off a sense that we are on top of our game.
In this over planning we often lose hold of the fact that the kids are going to do what the kids are going to do. We can only plan so much. Their youthful imagination is what truly runs the show. Sometimes we’ve experienced that a “strategic” lack of planning leads into the best play dates.
You know the drill: you go through the process of coming up with some great art activities or putting together a tightly knit play schedule and the kids have other plans. They come out of their play and ask for help on the art project again and again or they get they just flat our get bored and ask “what are we doing next”?
With very simple parameters like, “we’re going to play in your bedroom” or “we’re going to play in the backyard”, the kids will often find their groove and play longer and cooperate better. With the unstructured play, there is always that fear that when they get quiet they are ripping out your garden or taking a bath in mud puddles. If you allow yourself to let go of that anxiety temporarily you can sometimes have extremely successful play dates…and you might even get a little time to yourself.
What are some of your experiences with unplanned play dates?
