Why Playgroups?

Playgroups are groups of parents, caregivers and extended family who come together with their young children to spend time together.

Playgroups are often held in community settings such as a community center or local park. They are a safe space to talk with other families, swap experiences, and gain confidence in your own parenting skills.

Our Playgroup Model

Tod Pod is a grassroots phenomenon with a basic concept: let kids play, let parents connect, and use existing community resources to do it. When we began to formalize Tod Pod we looked for models to follow and came across Playgroup Australia, a not-for-profit organization that was established in 1984 as the national representative body for playgroups in Australia. 

For nearly 50 years in Australia, playgroups have been a fundamental community building block, creating vital social networks and villages, in which children, parents, grandparents and caregivers can play together, share knowledge and experiences, connect, and grow stronger as a community. They have an enormous body of research that testifies to the value of playgroups:

“Playgroups deliver proven benefits to children, families, and communities. These benefits translate into increased social and economic wellbeing for Australian society.”

“Playgroups build healthy local communities. They build shared connections between us, helping us to fulfill our social, emotional, and cultural potential.”

“Research tells us that children who engage in play at home and in community-provided settings have better educational outcomes once they reach school. Just as importantly, extended social networks – such as playgroups – improve the mental health of parents and carers and support engaged parenting."

We believe every family can derive increased well-being from playgroups and are working to make Tod Pod as accessible and sustainable as possible so it can keep benefiting families while serving as a flagship for the playgroup approach in Minnesota and the broader United States. More About Tod Pod's History and Future