I received free products in order to host the Bright Starts sponsored Play Date. The opinions expressed here are 100% my own.
When I received these toys I had no idea how much work goes into planning a “play date”…and a themed one at that! It was almost as much work as planning a birthday party. I must admit I learned quite a bit in planning my first play date!
So first let’s talk Bright Starts toys…
Bright Starts sent us 5 toys for our play date! The first thing I noticed is that they were educational toys. When we had Emma and we noticed that she had delays we always look for educational toys instead of toys to play with because we feel that if you are playing you should be learning too. Even if you don’t know that you are learning!
And now with DJ, he is on track with his milestones but we want to make sure he’s learning while he plays as well.
Spin & Giggle Puppy ($19.99 MSRP) The bowl wobbles and spins balls around until the balls spill out, encouraging baby to chase the balls and start the fun again. Light-up shape buttons help baby discover colors, shapes and letters.
Bunch of Balls ($7.99 MSRP) A set of 16 multi-colored character balls, compatible with all Bright Starts Having a Ball™ toys.
Giggables ($6.99 MSRP) Adorable little balls of fun that baby can push and roll. They tell baby what kind of animal they are and make fun sounds as they wobble and roll.
Learn & Giggle Fish ($16.99 MSRP) baby can press the buttons to hear numbers, letters , shapes and colors. In music mode, baby can press the fish scales for sounds and music.
Learn & Giggle Activity Station ($39.99 MSRP) Each flip book page interacts with a different window pane telling stories of different times of day. Press buttons in the window panes to hear phrases, shapes, colors, letters, numbers, object identification and cause and effect. Press down on the kitty’s paw to see an exciting light display inside the playful fish bowl. The sun spinner lights up. A ladybug ratchets across the top of the window sill. Pull down on the doggie treat for a pop-up surprise that will delight baby. The light switch flips back and forth to introduce opposites. This amazing window will keep baby engaged with more than 65 sounds, melodies, lights and phrases!
**Information taken directly from website**
I couldn’t get these toys out the box quick enough for DJ. Emma wasn’t paying attention because she was playing with her own toys but once she saw the colors and sounds she stopped what she was doing to see what was going on. The “League of Little Laughter” toys cater to a younger age group (6-36 months) but Emma still had to see what was going on and try them out with her brother before the others arrived.
I didnt get to take any pictures of the other children, honestly, because I knew how busy DJ is by himself but with 3 others the same age…it got pretty “busy” very quickly!
Here is what I learned hosting my 1st play date…
1. Consider Time before Planning…the worst thing you can do is schedule a play date during nap time. Make sure you are scheduling before or after. So try to avoid the middle of the day.
2. Provide Snacks…make sure you have snacks for the kids and adults. A playdate can be tiring for everyone involved so make sure you provide snacks for everyone. And I don’t mean have snacks for kids and offer them to the adults, make sure they have separate snacks.
3. Ages…make sure when you are inviting parents and children to your play dates that the kids are close in age. Since my two children are 13 months and 3 years old, I try to keep any kind of parties and playdates right around that age range. Im not into inviting a bunch of older kids because then the younger ones can’t play like they want to.
So what are your tips for planning the perfect play date? Do you have a theme?
