What makes a playdate EPIC?
Hmmm... good question. After a couple of minutes much thought, I narrowed it down to 3 things...
1) An Epic playdate usually takes place in a new (to you) locale. It doesn't have to be pricey or hard to get to, just somewhere that your family hasn't been before; The mystery of a new and undiscovered place just adds to the excitement. In our case, we drove up to Dos Pueblos Ranch in Santa Barbara. Who knew such rustic beauty exists just a few miles away from UCSB (not to mention Isla Vista!!!).
2) An Epic playdate differs from traditional playdates because there is much planning involved. No sending the kids outside and saying "go play!". Darn. For our Epic playdate, activities were organized by popular bloggers (including oh happy day, dooce, oh joy!, yes to hoboken, how to be a dad) who know a thing or two about creativity, event planning, and building cool stuff.
3) You have confirmation that the playdate is Epic when... the kids who never leave your side, forget that you are there (or at least it seems that way). Everyone gets along. There is no whining (not even a little!). The kids can't stop playing long enough to eat. And the number one indicator that a playdate is EPIC? No one wants it to end!
** If you've made it to #3 without #1 or #2 then... What do I know??!! You've already experienced an epic play date!
Our Epic playdate looked a little like this...
>> building compressed air rockets <<
The rocket launchers were awesome. When built right, the paper & masking tape rockets were flying 100+ feet high! When built wrong, the tops of the rockets popped. If you're interested, the full how-to is here (it's way over my craft-making head, but you engineer-types will dig it).
>> participating in a massive paint fight <<
(the kid version of a color run)
Paint-filled squirt guns, paint-filled sponge bombs, paint-filled water balloons... you get the idea. Most of the parents stayed out of the war zone and crossed their fingers that Tide would make it all better again. Luckily our only casualties were a pair of socks.
>> creating sand art <<
The kids had a great time contributing to this vibrant and large scale sand art. Happy Vee wanted to take it home with him... Luckily he was happy with a photo.
>> tinfoil viking whip cream beard races <<
After making viking-wear out of tinfoil, the kids participated in a whip cream beard relay race. Yup, you read that right. Smarty Pant's team won and received the illustrious tinfoil viking bust as a prize. As you can probably tell, the guys from how to be a dad were hilarious.
>> playing epic volleyball <<
Smarty Pants loves sports and made some like-minded friends. He spent most of his time playing epic volleyball. I'll have to remember this the next time we go to the beach.
>> balloon twisting classes <<
Er, I feel like I should apologize to the balloon guys. Four year old Happy Vee is a tad obsessed with balloons (as well as bubbles, gummy bears and water guns), and pretty much wouldn't leave them alone. We came home with about 15 balloon creations. :)
My kids had an awesome time, got dirty, made friends, hardly ate and after seven straight hours, were still begging for more. We ALL slept very well that night. A special thanks to CGC and Hyundai. We had a fantastic time!
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective, and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.