Should I invite DD’s classmates to our tiny house for play dates?

[Vivario]

My DD is in year one at school so we’re starting to think about inviting some of her school friends over for play dates. Our house is nice but very small. It’s fine for us but I’m worried it would be an issue if she had friends round. All her toys are upstairs in her room, am I okay to leave 6 year olds unsupervised to play if I check in every 15 minutes or so? The sitting room is very small and just has a sofa, armchair and tv unit with not much floor space and the kitchen only just fits a table in with no extra space for anything else. The garden isn’t great either, it’s very uneven so we can’t put a trampoline or anything like that in it.

Should I just stick to softplays? We’ve never had a play date before so I have no idea how they’re supposed to work or how to set the house up for them!

Where and how does she play when she’s at home? Just do more of that … is there another reason you don’t want to have people over?

My daughter is 3.5 and she goes up to friends' rooms for parts of play dates with frequent supervision. They really entertain themselves quite well. Usually with only one friend it's not too space-consuming. You can set up some craft activities and snacks at the table to break up the upstairs time, or a picnic in the garden.

She mostly plays on the street at the front, but I wouldn’t feel comfortable taking someone else’s kid’s out there as it’s technically a road (though it’s rarely used and all the kids play on it). Inside we normally mess about running between my room and hers, or do some drawing in the living room.

There’s no specific reason as my house is ‘Instagram worthy’ so to speak, but I’ve never had visitors before so I’m a bit nervous and don’t know what to expect really! Especially if their parents wanted to stay the first few times😬

These are good ideas thank you, I’m just worried about her classmates thinking she’s ‘lame’ or whatever the modern day equivalent is if I set activities up for them

My just turned 6yo and her friend across the road like to paint and draw when the play together. It’s not a ‘lame’ thing to do. The child will take home whatever they made. We have a swing thing in the tree out front the play in as well, and will scooter or ride bikes on the road out front (cul de sac). It’s all organic, they just sort themselves out, I offer snacks and drinks and check in on them. I’m sure they’ll just be happy to visit and play with their friend.

I don't think they would think she's lame personally. I mean if they're only 5/6 years old - I feel like if you put out activities and fun stuff your daughter loves, then they'll like it too. Most young children probably don't think about surroundings and judge them at all!! At least in my case. Not too sure about parents but I'd hope they'd be quite nice no matter what your house is - but obviously it depends.

I think 6 year old can play upstairs unsupervised if the room is safe and you check on them. If they want to come downstairs they could draw at the kitchen table or watch some kids' TV.