In an era of people lost inside 6-inch screens, an interesting idea is to start clubs for little kids to make new friends and find their tribe. Encouraging kids to start their own kiddy clubs can get them out of their comfort zones and away from digital screens. How many times have we witnessed our young ones wanting to strike up a conversation with someone in one of their extracurricular classes, only to shy away at the very end? It is a very real thing, and as parents, we try what we can to help kids make new friends. As old-school as this concept sounds, it may be one worth reviving and looking into a little further.
How Our Kiddy Party Came To Be
When I was in elementary school, our moms met every month for something called a Kitty Party. This was a very common party created by North Indian women in the 50s, as a sort of informal, micro-finance club. Here is an interesting article on kitty parties if you want to read up more on it. But what it was at its very core was a place for therapy. With strong personalities bottled up in shallow patriarchal families, these women needed a place to let themselves be seen, and the Kitty Party did just that!
My childhood kiddy club was the best
Of course, when we saw our moms host monthly parties where the women would gather, host potlucks, and chat to their heart’s content, a group of kids in my building wanted to do just the same. And this was, needless to say, headed by my very own sister, the President of the newly formed Kiddy Party.
Our kiddy party was hosted every month just like the ladies. We had games, art, and everything you would do in a birthday party from the 90s on a smaller scale and a super small budget. But this was the stuff we waited for. We planned for weeks. We were busy preparing artwork for the upcoming parties. But a bigger outcome from all of this was us thinking outside the box and stepping away from mindless games.
Why Kiddy Clubs could be tricky and may actually be great if carefully planned
Being part of a kiddy club can be wonderful and awkward. As interesting as the thought sounds, a club at the end of the day can turn from a social gathering to exclusive invite-only groups, stirring up anti-social elements. After all, peer pressure has different definitions in different environments. From feeling left out, bullying, and not being invited, kiddy clubs could become the source of a child’s trauma from a very early age. This is where careful planning is a non-negotiable. An adult-led kiddy club may make more sense to help children steer their moral compass in the right direction, should there be calibration issues!
Help kids make new friends with Kiddy Clubs
In elementary school, kids will play with just about anybody. They are yet to form opinions and do not judge as easily as adults do. That said, these kids also struggle with telling what they truly want to do or who they want to hang out with. This is where Kiddy clubs can actually help make new friends and get out of their comfort zone. As much as you want to let kids figure how to start their clubs, here’s a gentle nudge in the right direction.
How to start a kiddy club
- Pick an interest – Whether it’s books or art, we hone in on one single interest. Not a couple. Just one. The reason we do it is to keep activities structured. Anything else can be an added extra. But the main focus of the club would be a single point of interest.
- Create an Invite – This is where you figure out which way you want to go for the invite. Will it be handmade or digital? If so, is there a theme? What is the theme based on? Will it be based on the interest itself or a separate theme that ties in with the interest? For example, an Adventure Book Club theme to discuss their favorite book, where adventure is the theme and books are the interest.
- Make a list – In this step, we make a list of who we plan to invite. But in the interest of making new friends and the whole point of this blog, I suggest handing out invites to the entire class to see who wants to participate. Reason being that not all friends your child plays with share all of their interests. Opening up the invite to more children broadens the group and helps them find new people to interact with.
- Plan the Party – Depending on the number of invitees, you can choose to have a potluck in a common venue, such as a park, or host in your very own backyard. You could also find another co-parent to co-host with. In this step, we also list out the activities to create a structure. This helps avoid chaos and helps pave the way for actual conversations.
- Party Time – Now it’s go time. With your party planned, all that’s left to do is plan the decorations, prep the venue, buy supplies/materials if needed, and have fun!
Kiddy clubs create ownership
What a great feeling it is to do something on your own and make decisions on your own when you’re young. Kiddy clubs do just that. Not only do they make play dates more structured, but they also help kids struggling with social skills open up and interact. They give the kids a sense of purpose and achievement. Their social circle is broader, and they expose themselves to all kinds of clubs before they find their tribe.
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