| Starting A Playgroup |
| After the birth of my first daughter in 1998, I wanted a chance to meet other moms and give my child the chance to interact with children her own age. Since there were no local Playgroups listed in my area, I decided to start my own. In 1999 I was given permission by my local church to use their downstairs Sunday School area. After getting a weekly location to meet, I started the process of collecting toys for the Playgroup. I went to yard sales and consignment sales. I found the best place to find toys was our local Rescue Mission and Good Will stores. Once the staff knew why I was purchasing so many children's toys, they gave me an additional discount on what were already cheap prices. Now that playgroup is established, parents donate gently used toys as needed to replace broken toys. We also have bought new items from the proceeds of our past Consignment Sales. I put up flyers in the local grocery stores advertising the new Playgroup, and that's how Pleasant Valley Playgroup was started. In the beginning there were three families particpating. Some weeks I would go to playgroup and because of illness or other reasons, I'd be the only one there with my daughter. I almost quit holding playgroup several times. I'm glad I didn't though. After placing listings on several websites and adding our weekly playgroup to the community events section of our local newspaper, we thrived. I was thrilled Playgroup had become such a huge success. In less than a year, we had quadrupled in size. The problem became that we were quickly running out of space. It was a tough decision to make, but I had to remove our listing from the events section of the county newspaper. I never imagined when I started Playgroup in 1999 that I would have to start a waiting list. Over the years children have grown and left playgroup and new children have joined our group in their place. In 2007 my oldest daughter, (who I started playgroup for) started attending fourth grade. It seems like only yesterday she was a baby. Over the past years we've had families leave playgroup. Moving out of the area, and children starting preschool have been the two main reasons. This year (2007) my youngest will be attending pre-K 4 days per week and with my part-time employment I will no longer be able to lead the group. I will miss the group but thank everyone for 8 great years! Playgroup will now meet on Friday's and the new leaders are Deanna Geiman and Emily Barnette. If you're interested in starting a playgroup, please read the information listed below. There are also a lot of sites out there that have good (and free) information about starting playgroups. ~Susan Founder, Pleasant Valley Playgroup |
| Playgroup Tips |
| Starting a playgroup may seem like to large a task. Where do you start? How do you find other parents and children? What type of playgroup will you have? First write a general "blueprint" for your group. Be prepared so when an interested parent contacts you, you can answer their questions. A playgroup can be a group of children each with their parent or one parent watching three children. The idea of the group is to let babies - preschoolers interact with each other and learn beginning social skills. It's also a good way for Stay at Home Mom's & Dad's to get out of the house and meet other parents. Playgroups can include everyone or be designed for: - Boys only or girls only - Adopted children - Families with only one child - Families with multiples (twins, triplets, etc.) - Single parents - Working home or At-Home moms or dads - Children with special needs Decide if you want a children's playgroup, a parents' group, or a combination. Decide the age-range for children. Only infants, or just toddlers or preschoolers? Will siblings be included? Decide the number of particpants. Playgroups range between 5 - 10 parents and their children. Pleasant Valley Playgroup had at one time 40+ families on our active list (we've since reduced that number), but we have a large place to meet. Keep into consideration the space in which you are planning to meet, when deciding how many people to include in your group. What will your group do? Playtime for the children and social time for the adults, structured parent-child activities, or a series of field trips? Choose a day and time for your group to meet or at least narrow it down to a couple of days and times. Of course consider the other parents before a final date is set. Select a meeting place. Will you meet in each others homes or a central location such a local church or the neighborhood park? Once you have your blueprint together, it's time to advertise. Make up flyers advertising your playgroup and place them on the bulletin board at the local grocery store and library, mail them out to local churches, and other family organizations. List you playgroup on the internet. Most playgroup sites will list your playgroup for free. Contact your local newspaper. Most newspapers print a Calendar Of Events section in their daily paper and list non-profit events for free. Enjoy Your New Playgroup! |
| Remember: You can list your email information on our site for free to find other moms/dads out there who want to get their kids together for playdates. It's always a good idea when meeting for the first time to pick a public location such as the community playground or a playground at a local fast food establishment. |