Play Dates

We love hosting messy play dates, especially in the summer when we can get messy and rinse off in the sprinkler!

My kids are super social creatures, and they constantly ask when we are having our friends over again.  There have been seasons of our life when we have hosted regular Friday play dates with our play group.  We had a busy year, so the play dates have slowed down.  With the weather warming up,and now that we've gotten into a better school routine leaving our Fridays free, my wheels are turning with some fresh ideas for play dates.  Stay tuned this summer for more play date posts.  In the mean time, here are 12 ideas for epic play dates.  

How to Host an Amazing Play Date

Grab a few cans of shaving cream, and invite your friends over with their kids for a messy play date.

Don't drink the Kool Aid.  Instead, play with it!

Collect old boxes and let the children build a box tower.  After building, they can paint and decorate it. ~ Meri Cherry

Use old newspaper to make a fake snowball fight.

Stock up on pool noodles from the dollar store, and play backyard games with them.

Mix up a batch of playdough together, then let the little ones create and play. ~ The Pleasantest Thing

Fill up a bunch of water balloons, and get creative with the water balloon games!

Set up an obstacle course, and let the kids run through it again and again.

Cook up a giant batch of rainbow spaghetti, and the kids will have oodles of fun. ~ Meri Cherry

Set up a color lab for toddlers. ~ Twodaloo

Discover new ways to play with sidewalk chalk, and invite the neighborhood kids over to join in the fun.

Make a giant waterbed for kids (Play at Home Mom) to roll around on and stay cool, or make individual mini water blobs (Hello Wonderful).  The original idea came from Play at Home Mom, but we had better luck using the iron method from Hello Wonderful.

For more ideas for play dates follow me on Pinterest.

More awesome kids activities:

Fizzing Sidewalk Chalk Recipe ~ The Best Playdough Recipe ~ How to Make Rainbow Slime