Top 7 Ways To Have A Parent- Child Date

 
Kidding Around Greenville wants to help you spend more fun time with your kids!

We were thankful that Kristina Hernandez from Kidding Around Greenville put together a cool list of dates you can do with your kids. The idea is to connect with them doing an activity you both love to do.

Typically as parents we spend most of our time acting like a  chauffeur driving our kids from school – home from school – to sports – to playdates just to come home exhausted and ready for the day to end. With a parent – child date you go and do something fun for both of you.

Kidding Around Greenville (www.kiddingaroundgreenville.com) helped us come up with some tips:

one of them to do first:

• give your child a “limited” list of activities to choose from and make sure they are all things you want to do as well
• then plan and enjoy.

A couple more tips:

• don’t make the date a reward for good behavior
• stay off the soapbox, because even though you have a captive audience does not mean you should spend your time lecturing.
• most importantly put your phone away!

 

Now Here Are The Top 7 Parent-Child Date Ideas:

 

1. Ice Cream Date
Because, really, who doesn’t love going on an ice cream date. It’s inexpensive, doesn’t require a smaller child to sit still for a long time, and it can involve chocolate.

2. Go see a play
I’ve taken my daughter to the South Carolina Children’s Theatre (https://scchildrenstheatre.org) to see shows and it’s really fun. I used to go to Broadway shows in New York City with my own mother when I was old enough and while Greenville isn’t NYC, it certainly has a wonderful theater community with excellent plays. And the Greenville Theater (https://www.greenvilletheatre.org) has wonderful age-appropriate shows throughout the year.

3. Museums
The Upcountry History Museum (http://www.upcountryhistory.org) has awesome exhibits and I’ve taken my daughter to them for dates before and we always really enjoy it. They are interactive and give parents the chance to read quickly and look smart for their kids (hoping that’s not just me). The Children’s Museum of the Upstate ( http://www.tcmupstate.org) has tons of great workshops and exhibits.

4. Roper Mountain Science Center Starry Nights
The Roper Mountain Science Center (https://www.ropermountain.org) has a planetarium night every Friday evening about the stars and constellations and you get to lean back and look up at the starry night sky. It’s really neat and fun for both kids and adults.

5. Painting & Creating
Creating Artists for Tomorrow (https://www.creatingartistsfortomorrow.com) is a cool, artsy place for kids to really explore lots of different artistic mediums. They do offer classes but Table Time is an open arts and crafts time for kids to do whatever they want (and parents too!). It’s a blast. The TReehouse Cafe and Art Studio (https://www.facebook.com/KCafalunch/) is amazing too because you can grab a meal together and paint or create art while there. Or you can go together to one of these painting/art places around town (just call ahead of time to be sure they have space).

6. Go to a movie

Ah, the old fallback of a movie date. But it works well and gives parents and their child the chance to talk about it afterwards (maybe over ice cream?).

7. Go to Home Depot Free Craft Days
Home Depot (www.homedepot.com) has a kid craft day the first Saturday of every month and we’ve been going for well over a year. It’s free and you get to build something together and paint it and get all messy. It’s a blast. Note: Be sure to pre-register as they are requiring it now.

To see the rest of Kristina’s tips head to the Kidding Around Greenville article.