Playdate toys for 4/5 year old girls?

[user1488812680]

Looking for a bit of advice please :-)

My 4 year old daughter has recently started having a couple of her preschool friends over for playdates and I've noticed that they don't really seem to play, instead they tend to get everything out and look at all the toys but nothing seems to excite them or to hold their attention and engage them.

Now, when my DD is on her own she will play in the playroom for hours with a whole variety of her toys but the toys she has don't seem to interest her friends (one of her friends also commented that the other friend has a lot more toys). To give you some idea, she has the following:

• picnic & tea sets
• girly train set
• fairy garden (small world play style)
• sylvanian families ice cream truck
• supergirl and batgirl dolls
• box of various cuddly toys
• vet check up kit
• old/vintage polly pockets
• loads of colouring bits and pieces
• jigsaws including disney princesses
• various busy books including trolls and my little pony
• happyland fairy boot and castle
• bucket of dinosaurs
• car garage and cars

This seems like a huge selection to me, especially as my DD loves playing with all of these when she's on her own and never normally seems bored by her toys but am I missing something? What toys others have found go down well on play dates for girls of a similar age? Or do children at this age not tend to play together particularly and as such the toys you have aren't very relevant?

TIA for any help and suggestions!

Dressing up clothes always a winner.

IME, play dates could still need parental involvement at that age. Art & craft, play dough & Hama beads all worked as they could do it alongside each other but do their own thing.
DD is now 7 and rarely has her "best" friend over as the two of them don't seem to know what to do outside of school. Others she seems to be able to play with for hours.

Some sort of music gadget like a CD player/MP3 player and appropriate pop songs for a song-song / dance
Dressing up clothes
Outdoor toys like trampoline, skipping rope
Pen and paper
Colouring books
Craft activity like Hama beads

She loved learning clapping and skipping songs too.

We have similar toys to those you've listed, and I agree that they don't really get played with much on play dates. From my experience...

Dressing up clothes are very popular. I can't remember a time when some sort of dressing up didn't happen...
When the weather is better, playing outside in the garden is always popular - often doing something messy like digging holes or making mud pies.
I don't think they necessarily need much actual stuff to play with. Games tend to be imaginary play at that age, so a couple of simple props can spark a great game.
If in doubt, a large cardboard box in the middle of the room should keep them amused!

Thanks very much everyone, I appreciate it

Yes to dressing up. Accessories (crowns, hats, necklaces etc) go a long way. Doctor kit gets used still.

Imaginary play, DD and friend tend to fill a backback full of play food and other stuff and head off on an "adventure"

Paints or playdoh go down quite well (if I can be bothered with the clearing up!) and outdoor chalks are very popular in decent weather.

You never know what's going to go down well tbh so I tend to suggest a couple of things and see what takes their fancy. And then prepare for it to be abandoned ten minutes later...