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[quote=Anonymous]I have a 5 year old only who also needs constant entertainment and socializing.  She needs constant activity and wants every minute of her day filled with organized activity, playdates, or socializing.  She won't play by herself for any significant length of time and it's tiring keeping her entertained.  She gets moody and pouty when told to play by herself for awhile.  We don't really have any kids in the neighborhood so that's a big issue, so every playdate has to be formally set up.  There were young kids when we moved into the neighborhood but they're all high school age now, and there are mainly empty nesters.  We also have no local family, so no cousins to visit.  Also my husband works a lot of weekends, so weekends can be challenging.

Here's what has worked for us:

1)  Four busy and energetic activities (sports) every weekend, two each weekend morning.  That way if we have no other plans for the weekend with others, at least she's got her weekend mornings filled, and the rest of the weekend is either play outside in the backyard, go to a festival/event, errands, or lunch/dinner out.  After soccer and gymnastics class on Saturdays, she's not in the least bit tired and still wants to spend the rest of the day in playdates or other organized social activities--i.e. quiet time is not her thing.

2)  Summer day camp all summer including aftercare.  Then she still wants to socialize after that so we do playdates or pool time after camp.

3)  After school classes after school all year round--so 2-3 times a week she will have swim class or art class after school so she can socialize more

4)  At least one playdate every weekend, that I usually am the one to organize.

5)  Entertaining other families in groups at our house at least once a month (for dinner plus playdate, family game night, BBQ, etc.)  So I will invite 3-4 families over plus kids, and the kids play while the adults socialize.  I usually make dinner for this and let the kids play in the basement or backyard.

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