Guest Post by Rachael Houston-Carter

I am beyond thrilled to introduce our very first guest post by one of my dear friends, Rachael. She is by far the pro when it comes to hosting a carefully thought out play date. No detail is spared! So, when I asked her if she’d share some of her best tips, I was so excited when she agreed. I’ll let Rachael take it from here!

One of our greatest joys as parents has been hosting toddler friends to come over to play with our two-year-old son, Hudson. Seeing him and his friends play together is absolute magic and makes this mama’s heart melt. However, that magic doesn’t just happen! I wanted to share some tips that have helped to make our play dates so fun and low stress. Hopefully you’ll find these handy as you host play dates in your home!

The Basics

We all know nap time is key for our littles. So when it comes to scheduling, we opt for either the morning (usually 9am – 12pm) or afternoon (3pm – 5pm). Generally we go for mornings so the host can also provide lunch before the kids head home for their naps! This routine frees up the non-hosting parents to do a child-free brunch with friends (adult time!) or get some errands done and not have to worry about lunch prep and feeding once everyone arrives home together.

While we try not to over-plan, we do keep a running list of activities paired with toys and games on hand so that we don’t hit a wall when hosting. We offer up Hudson’s toys for free play periods to encourage sharing and collaborative play. He tends to be open to sharing his most prized possession (toy vacuum) but if your little one has a special toy that you just know is going to cause conflict, maybe let that toy have a day off during the play date!

Meals as an activity

While this requires some advance planning, bring the little ones into meal prep! As I’m sure is true of your kids, our son and his friends love to help with “grown up activities”, be it cleaning or cooking. A fun way to involve them is pizza making! I have to give credit to a friend who hosted our toddler crew for this idea. She set up what they needed in advance of their arrival (dough balls, cheese, toppings and trays) and during lunch they each made their own pizza (so cute!) Needless to say, this was a big hit.

Personalize, it’s also learning!

We like to make the kids feel special during their activities and for one play date, we set their table just like the adults’ table, complete with tablecloth and place settings to make them feel “big”. Hudson and his friends have been practicing spelling their names in school so when this friend came over for dinner, we set the table for them with name cards (that they could hopefully recognize as their own!)

Get out of the house!

Weather-permitting, we love to take the kids out for a walk or over to our neighborhood park. If you have a wagon on hand for transportation, great! We did not but reached out to our neighborhood listserv and were able to borrow one from a neighbor for the day so we could walk the kids up to the park. Once at the park, free play is a great option, but it can also be tough to keep eyes on multiple kids if they’re running in different directions. We bring bubbles and chalk (easy and light for transport!) to keep the kids together as much as possible while we’re out.

It’s the little things

In this season of life we are fully leaning into the little things our son loves. What’s getting his attention these days? Band-aids (!) Or extra special stickers in his mind. We love that a $3 box of band-aids brings him so much joy and it doesn’t hurt that it’s easy on the wallet. As a surprise for him and a fellow band-aid loving buddy, we hosted a special party for the two of them. On a weeknight too! Everyone has to eat so we timed this play date for an early dinner (to give the boys extra play time before we all said good night). We made a big pot of pasta for the grown-ups and the kids…and then after dinner we sat the boys down and told them a surprise was coming. Just two boxes of band-aids (and some ice-cream 😊) made their night! Plus it was fun for the grown-ups to enjoy some wine and let the band-aid chaos unfurl!

Get to Know Rachael

Rachael is a native of wild and wonderful West Virginia. She has called Washington, DC home for the past decade where she works in corporate government relations. She and her husband are parents to two sweet boys and one rambunctious cockapoo. Rachael loves spending time with her family and friends, while occasionally sneaking in a barre class or a good book on the weekends!