5 Electronic Free Playdate Activities

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My girls range in the ages of 6-12 years old. Since we live on the outskirts of the city they can’t ride their bikes or walk to their friend’s house to play so oftentimes we have to schedule a play date. When my girls have a playdate one of my main rules is that no one is allowed to get on any electronic devices. Since they have friends over for a playdate, I want them to actually play and not stare at a screen.  Sadly, too often, kids struggle with this, so as a mom, it’s my job to help them. I’ve put together 5 Electronic Free Playdate Activities that I have used in the past and in the present to help my kids and their friends actually play and create memories.

When my girl’s friends first arrive for their playdate everyone is excited and the kids run around for the first hour trying out my kid’s toys, playing with our animals and jumping on our trampoline. After the first hour, they start to get ‘bored’, ask for a snack and then slowly try to get on some form of electronic. Since this is a huge ‘no’ in my household during playdates, I make sure that I am ready with some electronic free playdate activities.

1. Bake: Most kids love to eat sweet treats, so instead of handing my daughter and her hungry friend a bag of store bought muffins, we make them together. Kids as young as 2 years old can help you in the kitchen and even if they do not understand the entire cooking concept they have fun and it creates fun memories.
2. Paint: Painting is a fantastic way to help calm kids down but it’s a great way to get their creative juices flowing. I always like to stock up on canvases when our local craft store is having a sale or if you don’t have any canvases you can have the kids paint a rock.
3. Old School Games: Teach the kids how to play games that you might have played when you were younger, such as Kick the Can, Tag, Hide and Seek and more.
4. Board Games: As computers have seemed to take over the world, I feel like board games are not played as often as they should be. There are so many fun and easy games kids of most ages would enjoy such as UNO, Old Maid, Scattergories and more.
5. Movie: Depending on how long the playdate is, you may consider having the kids watch a movie from when you were a kid. Depending on the age of the kids, there are a lot of great movies such as Goonies, the original Ghostbusters and more.

It’s important to encourage our kids to have less computer time and more play time, especially when friends are over to play. More laughter and more memories can be made by playing and getting creative rather than by staring at a screen.

Do you encourage your kids to play during playdates? What are some activities you encourage them to do?

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