Supporting Your Child's Emerging Friendships

Building friendships is part of children's daycare experience. Amid the classroom activities and educational fare, youngsters in Boston daycare programs also develop social skills and create bonds with each other. More than a pleasurable benefit of interacting with peers from daycare in Boston, these friendships are an important part of a child's development. Parents can help strengthen these bonds and nurture social skills outside their child's Brookline daycare setting by scheduling play dates. Play dates are a great way to foster your child's friendships from daycare in Brookline and do not require a huge amount of preparation or expense.

Why Schedule a Play Date?

For many of us, scheduling time with friends was a rarity during our childhoods. Instead, it was more common for children to go outside to play with kids in the neighborhood. This isn't always possible or practical given the busy schedules of today's families. Scheduled play dates with friends from their Boston daycare program provides children the opportunity to socialize within the scope of your family's busy routine.

Setting Up Play Dates with Friends from Brookline Daycare

The best way to organize a play date with your child's friends is to contact their parents to determine a date that works for both families. If your Brookline daycare provider does not distribute a parent's contact list for each classroom, touch base with your child's teacher for the information.

Planning a Play Date

Once the play date is scheduled, the next step is to decide what to do. Some of the best play dates aren't overly structured, so remember it's not necessary to plan every minute. Discuss some options with your child - what type of activities do they enjoy sharing with their friend?

If you are stumped for ideas, consider activities that your child's Boston daycare program includes. These staples translate well into fun play date activities:

Cooking - Children enjoy making food almost as much as eating it. Have the children prepare a healthy snack, offering help only as needed. Favorites little fingers can easily prepare include fruit salad, yogurt and fruit, homemade pizza or cheese cubes

Scavenger hunts - Hide toys, books or snacks around your house or outside. Invite the children to work together to solve clues or read a map to locate the 'treasures'

Field trips - Outings can be a fun way to spend time with friends from Boston daycare. Some favorites spots include local parks, petting zoos, berry or apple picking at a farm, story times, and activities at the library. Your child's Brookline daycare provider can provide even more suggestions for local outings.

Jane Bartlett is a retired educator who spent much of her career in leading Brookline daycare programs and training others to provide daycare in Boston. She now writes extensively on early education issues and remains active locally in Brookline's preschool community.