Play is essential for a child’s development because it contributes to the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being of the children. Play also offers an ideal opportunity for parents to engage fully with their children. But, when you arrange for play dates for your children, it means they get a chance to mingle with other children of the same age says a caregiver in a Daycare in La Palma CA.

Play dated with peers helps toddlers and older kids to develop vital skills like problem-solving, critical thinking, socialization, etc. Playdates allow children to communicate, learn to share, learn about teamwork, and much more things.

Some daycare experts say that play is absolutely vital but playdates may not necessarily be so if a child gets daily exposure and adequate chance to interact with friends at childcare, preschool, and school. But, some psychologists in La Palma CA think that children, in school cannot express themselves fully as they remain in a controlled atmosphere and they are expected to behave according to that.

Daycare experts as well as a few parents think that for spontaneous mixture, children have to be sent to play dates. Various researches on kids support that social interaction with peers helps development in all domains and it is the parents’ responsibility to ensure that their children are engaged in an appropriate play situation

Most of the parents and daycare experts of La Palma CA think that playdates are important for kids for various reasons.

Playdates make children feel that they have lives of their own. At home, there is the interference of parents, and in school, there is the interference of caregivers. Only on playdates, they get a chance to play and mix with peers without any supervision. This is necessary for their personality development. It enhances self-esteem, self-confidence and makes them self-dependent.

Arrange play dates for toddlers, even if it seems they are not interested. Toddlers tend to engage in mostly parallel play independently, alongside other children and not much interaction takes place. But child psychologists say that they keep their one eye open on their peers and like a satellite they continuously observe their peers. In this way, they learn lots of social rules and skills automatically.

When a child gets the right play dates, it becomes fun for them. Spending time with ideal playmates helps to express themselves in a positive way. They learn to share products with others and learn to love mates. Compassion, sympathy, empathy, etc. are good qualities that are grown from daily playing with friends.

Playdates allow you as a parent to see how your child interacts with their peers. Observe minutely if your child is friendly enough to mingle with others. Mixing up easily with others helps them to adjust in their workplace in the future.

Parents’ role in planning playdates :

• First, arrange the date.
• Figure out the child with whom your child will go to a play date.
• Arrange play dates in a place where they are comfortable.
• Prepare your children for play dates. When you have toddlers, be sure that the kid gets adequate sleep and adequate food before going to play date, so that he or she will not feel sleepy and hungry after reaching the place.