Summer is undeniably the season for playdates. The kids are out of school, the weather is warm, and we have fun on the brain. After a while, though, the ideas for good playdates that satisfy everyone involved dry up. But I have the best summer playdate plan for you to keep in your back pocket – brunch!
Don’t get me wrong, there are a ton of fantastic ideas for summer playdates for kids of all ages. You can meet at a park, have a day at the zoo, meet at your local Chick-Fil-A for lunch. The options are vast. But I have found that an at-home brunch combined with outdoor play is the perfect Goldilocks option for a summer playdate. Let’s get into why brunch is the best summer playdate and how to pull it off!
Brunch = Best Summer Playdate
Why brunch?
You are busy. I am busy. We are all busy. This is especially true in the summer. Between mom and dad’s work schedules, family commitments, kids’ extra-curriculars, and fun activities you want to do, it’s hard to coordinate mutually available times with your kids’ friends. It’s basically impossible to coordinate play dates if you’re just considering afternoons, so don’t forget about mornings! You can get up and start the day off with a bang with a summer playdate, then come home for nap or quiet time and get on with the rest of your day.
I always like to include food in my kids’ playdate plans. Even if it’s a playground meet-up, everyone does better with food. What happens in the morning and involves food? Brunch!
Luckily, breakfast/brunch food tends to rank right behind snacks in foods kids will consistently eat. I don’t know about you, but my kids will eat almost anything I serve them for breakfast, but by the time dinner comes around, they will eat only one bite of perfectly ripe watermelon and proclaim they are full.
Brunch food is also pretty easy to make, especially for a crowd. You can often get by with several non-recipe recipes that are familiar yet delicious and guaranteed to be crowd-pleasing!
What to serve?
I tend to follow a fairly predictable formula when I host a brunch that involves kids, whether it’s a summer playdate or a family gathering. The Lazy Genius has taught me well that deciding once is my friend. I usually make two things – something sweet and something savory – and then have something store-bought and a fruit salad to bulk up the meal. Add some coffee, tea, and juice (with optional champagne for the grown-ups), and you have a pretty impressive spread.
Sheet pan pancakes
I hope that whoever thought to make pancakes in the oven all at one time got some sort of a prize or medal for this innovation. Seriously, I rarely make regular flapjacks anymore. It’s just so much easier to cook them all at one time in the oven. This is especially true when I’m having people over for brunch.
If you’re having a summer playdate brunch, you need to have sheet pan pancakes on the menu. There are so many options that all take really very little effort.
- Easy: Southern Living’s apple cinnamon pancakes. So simple, but so delicious. But you have to like, cut an apple.
- Easier: Sheet pan pancakes from scratch. If you’re OK whisking all the ingredients together, but throwing blueberries on top of the pancakes is more your speed.
- Easiest: Sheet pan pancakes from mix. When you just can’t bear to do more measuring than absolutely necessary or you’re on vacation.
Egg casserole
Who doesn’t love an egg casserole? Eggs, some sort of breakfast meat, and either bread or potatoes all mixed together and topped with cheese is heaven in a 9 x 13. You can also opt for a grits casserole if you’re vegetarian or Southern. I’ll post how I like my egg casserole and my grits casserole below to give you options. Both are extremely easy and extremely delicious!
Egg casserole
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9 x 13 Pyrex baking dish with cooking spray.
Brown 1 lb of breakfast sausage in a cast iron skillet over medium heat, breaking it up as you go. You can add in some onion and/or garlic to the sausage if your kids tolerate those flavors (mine like garlic). When it’s fully cooked, drain the fat off the sausage.
Crack a dozen eggs into a bowl, lightly beat them and then whisk in 1 Cup of milk. Stir in your sausage, 1 Cup of shredded cheddar cheese, and a packet of Simply Potatoes diced potatoes (they are in the refrigerated section of the grocery store). Mix in some black pepper and maybe the tiniest dash of salt (we don’t want anyone keeling over at your summer playdate).
Pour your mixture into your prepared Pyrex dish and top with another Cup of cheese.
Bake for about 50 minutes until the eggs are set and the top is a delightful golden brown.
Grits casserole
Preheat oven to 350° F. Spray a 2 qt casserole dish with cooking spray.
Bring 4 cups water and 1 tsp salt to a boil. Slowly stir in 1 cup quick grits and cook 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.
Stir a small amount of the grits into 4 eggs, lightly beaten. Return the egg mixture to the grits. Add 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, 1 cup milk, and 1/4 cup butter to grits mixture.
Pour mixture into casserole. Top with additional shredded cheddar cheese to cover.
Bake 1 hour or until mixture is set.
Pastries
It’s nice to have a bread product on hand for a brunch playdate. Kids are drawn to bread like moths to a flame. If you love to make bagels or pastries, feel free to make these from scratch. If you’re like me and barely able to put one foot in front of the other most days, your local bakery or even the grocery store will willingly offer the assist here. My favorite thing to offer is actually the mini croissants you get at Sam’s Club with butter and an assortment of jams. Yum!
Fruit
Fruit is another must at your summer playdate brunch. If your kids are loving one fruit in particular this season (cough watermelon cough), offer that at your brunch. If they’re not picky and love any fruit that will stain their clothes, you can either go with what looks best at the store or produce stand or buy it all and make a fruit salad.
Juice
My kids don’t get juice very often, so they love a summer playdate brunch because they know they’ll get to drink that sweet nectar. Of course, the classic here is orange juice. It’s not my choice because I’m a total orange juice snob and I can’t get anything that even sort of tastes like orange juice where I live. If you’re not so particular about your orange juice, I implore you to at least get orange juice with pulp. Pulp free orange juice is the devil’s work.
What to play?
Now that you have the food squared away, it’s time to decide on the activity you want to offer your kids and their friends to keep them happy and occupied. Personally, I like to take advantage of the warm weather in the summer and keep the play outside. I have a whole post on the best outdoor toys for toddlers and preschoolers, but when the temperatures are high and the humidity is higher, I like to focus on water play for summer playdates. Get out the slip n slide or the splash pad, have the kids get in their bathing suits, and lather them up with sunscreen. Make sure you have towels and extra clothes readily available – they will get soaked!
If the weather isn’t cooperating for outdoor water play, it’s important to have an indoor back-up plan ready to execute. The options are truly endless, but here are a few good ideas:
- Build a fort
- Bake and decorate cookies
- Have an indoor scavenger hunt
- Do a science experiment
- Do a craft
I hope you try my best summer playdate idea and invite your kids’ friends over for a fun brunch this season. Let me know what your most successful summer playdates have been in the comments below or over on Instagram @sarainseason. Help other tired moms out!