Advice on Playgroup for Babies

We've always found 4-6 moms in a group is a pretty good number. Then, if one or two moms can't make it, you can still have playgroup. It also makes it nice that you don't have to host too often if you don't want to.

Most of the time, we didn't do any food for adults, and kids brought their own small snacks. Occasionally, we'd have a small treat for the moms if it was someone's bday.

We usually rotated houses until most or all of the kids were old enough to walk. Then we'd have playgroup at a park, mall play area, or chick-fil-a once a month and rotate homes the rest of the time.

Once all the moms started having 2nd & 3rd children, and we got to the point where we had 10+ walking kids, we stopped having it at homes, and had outings each week.

The last 10 minutes of playgroup (when we were in someone's home) were spend doing a group cleanup. Obviously, everything doesn't get put back exactly where it came from, but we really tried to make it as easy as possible for the host mom, while teaching our kids to be good guests.

Good luck!
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My twins are 3 and we have a close playgroup. At that young age, we just rotated houses and brought our own cups/snacks for our kids. The host would have snacks for the other moms (nothing fancy). As our kids are older, we still rotate houses a lot or meet up for a fun activity (we just take turns planning). Now the host house usually has snacks or a light lunch for everyone (like PB&J), or we just all bring something. Now that we all know each other we are really laid back with a few "rules": 1. Who cares if your house is clean? It is going to get messy anyway with kids playing! We love you, not your clean house. 2. Nothing fancy for food or drinks. 3. If your kid is sick or you think they are sick, stay home.

It has worked great for us! Have fun!

We did a playgroup for years, alternated houses, and did offer snacks. We would do an easy something for the little ones, like goldfish. And the moms would be offered coffee and something to munch on, like bagels, or even an egg casserole if the hostess got ambitious. The moms really looked forward to it as a chance to sit down and chat with friends, and the little ones got to socialize. It was always MY favorite morning of the week. We DID do a group cleanup before leaving. So the aftermath was minimal. The kids learned to love playing with other people's toys and being in a new environment. And all eating the same snack was a highlight for them as well! I miss those days. :)

I belong to a meetup group called Hip Mommy and Me. The website is www.meetup.com/HipMommyandMeTX. They have playdates for all ages, but I specifically go to the baby ones. They fill up fast. People do offer to have them at their homes, but it does appear that the same people have them. I'm planning on having one at my home on Tuesday, September 8 at 11 am. If you are interested in attending, let me know and I can send you my information. But you may want to look into signing up for the Hip Mommy and Me.