Everyone knows playdates are fun but did you know they actually boost your baby’s brain power, too? Good social and imaginative skills are essential to helping your child lead a happier, healthier life – but these skills need practice and playdates are the perfect experimental lab.

And once you establish a regular playgroup, those babies will most likely remain friends for years to come! We parents need interaction with our peers too because, let’s face it, no one other than your playgroup friends will really and truly care to hear about the strange color poop your son had yesterday!

Playdate Social Skills:

The benefits of play dates allow babies to extend their social skills to other babies their own age, allowing them to make friends and build relationships outside of their family. This improves a baby’s ability to communicate with their peers and improve their socialization skills all together. With improved socialization skills, babies will learn to negotiate when problems arise, improving their problem solving skills and critical thinking skills. And these skills can also benefits a baby’s ability to become more independent!

Playdate Imagination Skills:

The benefits of play dates also influence a baby’s imagination because play time in general promotes a baby’s imagination and creativity. Participating in play groups only benefits this area further because babies start to learn from one another. Their imagination will expand to include concepts they have learned from other babies, which includes their creativity levels. A child’s imagination is a strong skill and should be encouraged from the start.

Playdate Venues:

Don’t feel pressured to sign your baby up for special classes! Chatting with your friends over coffee or taking walks at the park also count as baby playdates – nothing fancy or expensive is necesssary.

1) Aquarium, Botanical Gardens, or Zoo

Find out what’s in your area and pack a picnic lunch. Make sure you’ve got all the gear you need to make it easy on both you and your baby: Baby Travel Gear

2) Hosted Home Brunches

Make our favorite Mother’s Day Egg Casserole the night before and serve it with fresh berries, store-bought muffins, coffee, and mimosas!

3) Chuck E Cheese’s

You know you’ve got one of these in your town! What’s especially nice is there’s no cleanup!