Play Date Guide
Let’s talk play dates. My kids always ask for them and I’ve found they always go smoothly when I have some simple activities planned. Here are some of my go-to play date ideas to keep my kids and their friends busy while I’m hosting play dates.
Art Supplies
I always have art supplies on hand and make sure they’re easily accessible even when my kids aren’t having a play date.
One of my biggest tips is to get butcher paper and roll it out on your kitchen counter or any flat surface. This is a fun way to create a blank canvas for your kids and their friends to be creative. My son (8) and daughter (6) both love drawing, playing games or making brackets on the butcher paper.
I found these acrylic organizers (we have 2) that are perfect for markers and crayons. Organizing by color looks nice and the kids love it too. I love that my kids always reach for these whether they have friends over or not.
Dot markers and paint sticks are favorites of ours too and I promise they’re always a hit. We’ve gone through several boxes of paint sticks (classic and pastel), which goes to show how much my kids use them.
Taylor Swift
If your daughter is a Swiftie like mine, I’m sure you’ve collected several bead and bracelet kits. Now’s the time to pull them out. Turn on a Taylor Swift playlist and your daughter and her friends will have so much fun making friendship bracelets while they’re singing along. Here are some more bead kit options: pink bead kit and rainbow bead kit.
This Taylor Swift coloring book is also fun to have on hand.
After they're done making friendship bracelets, it’s time for a concert! My daughter loves this mini karaoke machine, which is perfect for showtime.
Tea Party
We love a tea party in our house and my daughter asks to use this adorable tea set every time she has a friend over. Grab some snacks and her favorite stuffed animals to join the party.
Sports
My son is sports obsessed and when he’s not playing outside with his friends here are some sports related activities he loves.
Trading cards with his friends: premier league soccer cards, euros soccer cards, basketball cards, football cards, and baseball cards. Wondering what to do with all these cards? My son loves to organize his in binders with protective sleeves.
When it’s too cold to play basketball outside, my son loves to play basketball in his room with his friends with this over the door basketball hoop.
This baseball net is great to have on hand and keeps my son and his friends busy for hours.
Games
Games are another fun activity have on hand. Here are our go-to games.
Guess Who: a classic loved by both my son and daughter, 2 players and great for ages 6+
Pretty Pretty Princess: I have so many memories playing this game as a kids and my daughter loves playing it too, 2-4 players and great for ages 5+
Don’t Break The Ice: another fun game great for ages 3+
Uno: a card game that’s fun for everyone and you can play with up to 10
Spot It!: a quick and fun game that challenges observation skills, 2-8 players and ages 6+
All of these play date essentials also make great gifts too (holidays and birthdays). Happy hosting!
Looking for more ideas?
Shop my play date essentials.