Looking for Playgroup near Las Colinas Irving Tx for 20 Month Old Boy

HI H.,

I don't know anything about your area, but in general, I'd offer the following:

1) Most 2 year olds don't play a lot with other kids. Parallel play is much more common - they sit in the same area and do their own thing, rather than engage directly with another child. That doesn't mean there's anything wrong.
2) It's okay to be shy.
3) Go to the children's wing of the public library. Look on the bulletin board for play groups, or see if you can put up a flyer letting other parents know that you are interested in setting one up. Ask the children's librarian what free programs they have - story time, puppet shows, visiting authors, arts & crafts programs, computer fun, whatever.
4) Find out if there is a Newcomers' Club in the area. When I was a new mom, it was a great way to meet up with other new families in a variety of interest groups - there were couples' programs, play groups, museum trips, etc. We met in each other's houses, rotating from home to home, so each family only had to host every 6 weeks or so.
5) Check with local museums to see if they have kids' programs - a general children's museum, a science museum, the art museum, and more.
6) Check the craft store - sometimes they have age-appropriate, hands-on craft programs with supplies at a very limited cost. They are trying to build a customer base by showing you things that kids of different ages can do.
7) Check with area churches, synagogues, mosques, Jewish Community Centers, YMCA/YWCAs and ethnic social agencies to see what they have. Not all of the programs are just for people of that religion or ethnic group. They are often free or very limited cost (just enough to cover snacks and juice, for example), maybe more if there is a trained activity leader.
8) Groups like Gymboree have a cost, but they have age-appropriate activity groups.
9) Is there a children's store or resale shop near you? Sometimes they know of programs or have a public bulletin board.
10) Call a few local preschools and see if they have a "mommy and me" program once a week. Everyone there is interested in meeting new people, and the schools hope these will be "feeder" programs for their regular programs for kids 3 and up.
11) See if your local gym offers classes and babysitting. A lot of them do, to make the classes accessible to parents with young kids. There's a play room, and the kids can hang out together with a sitter while the moms take an exercise class or work on the machines. You'll find that some people go on the same days, and you wind up getting to know each other.

Good luck - don't give up!

Almost 2 yr olds don't play well with others - they just aren't at that development milestone yet and it's totally normal.
By 4 or 5 yrs old it'll be a whole lot different.
You are his playmate for now and reading to him while snuggled up in a pillow fort is great.
You can get "What to Expect the Toddler Years" at the library and it will help you to know what milestones to expect and when.

I am in the Plano area. I know Las Colinas has good groups as well.

A Mothers Day out at a local church is usually vey good to help children at this age. You don't have to do every day and they are also pretty economical as far as monthly fees. Basically you pay based on your child's class which can be 1/2 day up to 5 full days a week.

The libraries in the area have story time. Check them out and sign up. This upcoming time of the year will be busy for story time when school lets out for the summer. Our towns have specialized reading programs for children that last all summer which include story time. MANY moms bring their toddlers along for these times.

The local bookstores also have story time.

My Gym, Little Gym, Kindermusik classes for mommy and me.

Do you have neighbors? Walk through your neighborhood. The more you are seen being active (just walking the baby), you become a regular and more approachable for other neighbors.

Don't expect him to play with other parents and jump right in to social settings. It takes time. A Mother's Day out if only 1 day a week would help him a lot.

Best wishes.

If I were you, I'd contact a Mother's Day Out program. The director will have information if other Mom's in her group are looking for outside groups for play. Another thing we did was "story time" at a local library. It was free. Included a story, a few songs and enabled me to meet other like-minded Moms.

I'd look on MeetUp.com and see if you can find a local play group. Like others have said, he's not likely to actually play with the other kids, but you may find a group where you can bond with other parents.