If you are hosting a play date with all your mommy friends and their babies, plan some group activities for everyone. Although infants are still just learning to be mobile and interactive, you can set up activities that will entertain both the kids and moms. Keep in mind that most activities will require direct mommy supervision.
Songs
Singing is a great activity for moms and babies. Kids and moms can interact with one another by sitting in a circle and letting babies sit on their guardian’s lap or stand in front. If you don’t feel comfortable serenading everyone yourself or singing without music, pick up a child’s or infant’s music CD. Choose some favorites for a play list and create some hand movements for everyone. Babies love to hear their names so you might want to play some songs that you can incorporate names into the lyrics. Limit the songs to three or four so neither babies nor moms have time to get bored and antsy.
Games
You can start teaching babies the elements of taking turns and playing together by planning some simple games. One simple game that everyone will love is a crawling race. Clear a space in your living room or carpeted hallway. Set a toy on one end of the room for each child. Line all the kids up, with parents crawling behind. Get everyone laughing as some babies take off in other directions, parents exhaust from all the crawling and some make a beeline for those toys. Celebrate the cuteness and specialties of each child.
Toys
One of the simplest activities you can plan is a toy pile. This is a great activity for both indoor and outdoor groups. Set up a picnic or other larger blanket. Parents can sit in a circle around the edges of the blanket to act as a corral for the infants and to be available for potentially upset kids. Place a pile of infant safe toys in the middle of the pile. Let kids crawl toward the pile and choose the item they want. Some kids might decide to stay and interact with others, while others will grab a toy and crawl back to Mom. Inside the circle of moms all kids are safe to explore and get to know each other.
Crafts
If you are looking for a project for the infants, secure all the kids in high chairs or booster seats, around a table. Kids can decorate large pieces of paper, large rolls of plain wrapping paper or other safe canvasses. Older infants can use large markers, large crayons and other simple writing instruments to scribble all over the paper.
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