Ten Interesting Games and Activities for Playdates

Planning a playdate for your child? Playdates are one of the best ways to help your kid in socializing.

Here are some games and activities that will make you the cool mom for your kid!

1. Decorate Your Own T-shirt: If you can allow for a little mess (which is anyway a given at playdates), then try your hands at this activity. Give each child a white t-shirt with some colour spray. Watch them turn into little artists decorating the shirt as they please. Let them carry the t-shirt home as memorabilia. 

2. Treasure Hunt: If you have a small garden/backyard, this game is ideal. Hideaway a few fun items in the garden. Draw out a treasure hunt chart. Let the kids hunt the items with the help of the map. 

3. Picnic: Always a classic with kids and adults alike. If you have many kids joining the playdate, this is the best option. Ask each child to carry a game (bat, ball, racquet etc.)  and let them have fun. 

4. Trip to the Zoo or Museum: Make it learning by having your child take his friends along to the museum or zoo. Limit the number of children so you can keep an eye on them. 

5. A Date with Building Blocks: If your kid loves playing with blocks, invite a few of his friends over for a building blocks playdate. Endless hours of fun for kids and relaxation for the parents. 

6. Movie Date: Get hold of a good children’s movie, get some popcorn and juice and let the kids unwind with each other. 

7. Overcome Obstacles: Create an obstacle course in your home or yard using furniture, fabric tunnels, cardboard boxes, sidewalk chalk, etc., and have party guests navigate it—not as a race, but as a team activity. Better yet, give kids the raw materials and have them design their own course.

8. Bouncy Ball: Rent, borrow or buy an inflatable jumping structure. Kids can never get enough of this non-competitive physical activity. 

9. Freeze Dance: The DJ starts the tunes while everyone dances—all moves count. When the music stops, kids freeze and hold the position—until the music starts again. Encourage kids to strike a unique pose—and reward all efforts. Or play the traditional way: kids who can’t hold the pose are out. 

10. Hide-and-Seek: A classic game that needs no introduction. Kids across ages can enjoy this game. 

11. Group Juggle: To play this non-competitive game, start with guests standing in a tight circle. Give the birthday child a soft, mid-sized ball. The first child tosses the ball across the circle to another player, then that player tosses it back to the child next to the birthday kid, and so on around the circle. Practice this pattern several times until everyone's comfortable. Then add another ball, reminding the kids to keep throwing it in the same pattern (to and from the same person). Add up to four balls total to create the very cool illusion that your circle is a giant juggling machine

12. Musical Chairs: Arrange a few chairs, write down a few chits with funny actions that the kids are required to do (e.g. dance like a monkey, imitate your mom etc.). Have a good laugh watching them take turns to do a funny act. 

Remember to have a small takeaway for the kids to help them make memories out of the playdate. This could be a token gift or the craft that they created at the playdate, or pictures of them having fun. 

Read | Helping Kids Find Their Hidden Talent And Passion

Stay Tuned! Stay Relevant!