No one at our school is there by chance, and the kids are bussed in from all over the county. Because of this unique set up our school hosts play dates in the summer for students to come and make friends before the first day of school.
I've mentioned before that Kat is in the TAG program. This will be her 3rd year and her classes have been almost entirely new children each year. There is a lot of turn over and a lot of new students that come in each year. Hosting these play dates is an important service our school provides to families.
We had our first play date this week and had 5 returning students and 16 new students attend with their families. The students spent time playing while the adults chatted. Students were able to exchange numbers with others and to make connections with other families. Friends were made.
These play dates are free to the PTA. The only cost incurred is printing up tags for the students to write their name and number on to share with new friends they meet. We made a stack last year and still have enough for the other two play dates to be held this summer.
We invite families to come to our school playground, for parents to bring lawn chairs and a picnic and for students to come ready to play. Play dates last about 2 hours and we host 3 each summer before school begins. One person is needed to coordinate the play dates. They decide the place and time and advertise using our school website, Facebook page, and email. On the day of the play date they bring pens, the tags I spoke about, and a willingness to mingle.
Sample Tags:
NAME OF SCHOOLNamePhoneLet's be friends!
We just printed these up on regular paper about 8 to a page and cut them into small rectangles. We keep them where kids can get to them to exchange numbers. It is a very little thing and it makes the kids so very happy!
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