thinking of starting a play group

There's nothing like that here so I was thinking of starting one but am not sure what it is and how to do it. Please share your experiences with me (good and bad) so I can have a sense of what it's about.
Are playgroups usually hosted at peoples homes? Are the children of similar age? How long do they last? What takes place? How do you figure who is included? What can go wrong? Anything else I should know?
I'm feeling isolated and hoping to do something about it.

 

I hosted a few playgroups when my oldest 2 were younger. I invited a few friends with kids the same age, and they invited a few friends that they knew. I didn't really plan any activities for the kids, just let them play, but I suppose you could. I did have some kind of snack and juice, for the older kids.

 

I'm starting one where I work. There are about 6 of us with kids under 1 yoa. I'm planning on meeting at a park and let the parents bring what their babies need. The hard part is finding out what time to meet.

 

Good luck Ehansy! Let us know how it goes!

 

The playgroup I go to is for multiples (not sure if yours is going to be multiples only). It is for all ages. The ages range from 3months to 3 years. It is held in a church in their playroom but it isn't a religious playgroup!

There is no set schedule. We just meet for 2 hours and let the kids play. The young ones lay on blankets and have their own toys and the older kids play with the toys that are there. As for food and snacks - some women bottlefeed or breastfeed the young ones and the older ones get snacks that their moms have brought for them.

Good luck with your playgroup.

 

We have a play group. Its so much fun. There are alot of people in it. We do different things ever week. One week we went to MsDonald another one we went to the park, musuems, movies, you name it. We make up a schedule and hand it out to the other moms and if they want to invite a new mom thats always great. I forgot to tell you its always the same time and day. Sometimes it differentif we go to the dollar movie. Good luck I really hope it works out for you.

Erin

 

Erin's group sounds fun!!
I was invited into a group for babies 9-15 months. IT really is good fun for the adults. Babies just play. IT is always at someone's house. That person provides snacks for adults and kids. It meets same day, same time, for about 2 hours. I REALLY enjoy it, mainly because of the adult interaction with people in the same frame of mind as me!

One person I know who started a baby group, put an ad in a community magazine because she didn't know anyone.

GOOD LUCK! I think it will be worth it!

 

A bunch of moms I met through the mother of twins organization started a playgoup We get together at each other's houses -- bring blankets for the babies and lay them out on the floor and put the babies on them and then talk away while the babies play.

Now that babies are getting more mobile, there much more of a dynamic of toy snatching, etc. but it's fun. We also get together to walk a "rail trail" here in MA and we hope to start doing trips to the library and museums, etc.

finding moms to connect with is the hardest part -- getting playgroups together once that is nailed down is easy. We just have an email forum through the Mother of twins site to connect and announce play dates.

Teri D