Observations on hosting boy girl playdates

Recently I have been hosting boy girl playdates with my daughter and various boys in her class. They’ve been fascinating to witness.

She has previously led a very female dominated existence (well, apart from having a stay-at-home dad). When we moved to this area a few years ago, it felt easier to make connections with parents of girls of similar age. Looking back, I have no idea why I would think that…

Now our daughter has started school I’m keen to change that. So we have had a number of playdates with boys.

Hosting boy girl playdates has been a fascinating eye opener for me. There have been interesting similarities. Both genders like to play outside. The DC Superhero Girls & Moana LEGO has been of interest to both boys and girls.

But I’m not going to lie – overall the boys have all played differently than the girls. The boys have gone straight for the trains, superheroes, and Star Wars toys. The girls have loved playing with the toy kitchen (so many of them insist on pretending to make me dinner!) and doing dress ups with playacting. The boys have been eager to play video games. The girls have been keen on crafts, painting, and drawing.

Whatever you can ascribe this to, the fact remains that my daughter can happily play with either boys or girls in these scenarios. However, she can introduce a little of the play that is favoured by children of the other gender.

For instance in a fairly standard princess play scenario, she introduced action elements involving rescuing the prince with swords and lightsabers. This was enthusiastically embraced by the playdate. Conversely, a Star Wars loving boy was overwhelmingly fascinated with her Star Wars vehicles. Our daughter introduced elements of character led drama – which the boy then happily engaged with.

I think hosting boy girl playdates has been great developmental experience for my our daughter, as well as the boys who have come over. Personally, it has given me much optimism for our daughter’s future. She has demonstrated how she can adapt to her guests interests without compromising her own self.

My Sunday Photo: Hosting boy girl playdates

Anyway, this photo is from the walk home from school for a boy girl playdate this week. Both of them were too excited to be bothered about the rain, and had a lively Star Wars filled time together. This boy was VERY excited with all her Star Wars toys.

And seeing them holding hands was very sweet 🙂