When Thomas arrived home from school on Friday, he had an invitation for some “get to know you” time with friends in his class.
So Sunday afternoon we headed to the park in the neighborhood across from ours and spent about an hour getting to know new classmates and their parents. Almost everyone came, and the kids had so much fun.
This was such a great idea. One of the moms in the class put it together at the last minute. But it goes to show that sometimes the simplest things are the best. By going to one of the neighborhood playgrounds it made it closer for everyone to get to instead of going back into one of the city parks. And doing it this way ensured there would mainly only be the kids from their class and they could interact more.
Not only was it good for the kids, but for the adults as well. We have neighborhood or community schools in our area, so the zones for each school aren’t that large. However, the neighborhoods that encompass the zones are pretty substantial. While you may know plenty of your neighbors, there’s usually an opportunity to meet some more neighbors taking part in things like this.
The kids had a blast on the playground, and running around playing. The mom that organized the get together brought some hula hoops and footballs to add to the entertainment. And some very simple refreshments made the kids’ day, ice cream with chocolate syrup and sprinkles and watermelon.
I feel certain that this morning at school each of these kids felt a little more comfortable with the new friends at their tables and in their classroom and hopefully will continue to build meaningful friendships throughout the year.
And I will be filing this great idea away to save for my next ones as they come to this stage.
