Narrative Poster / preliminary research

• historical references / recent precedents (what came before? what inspired this? how did this start? etc)

Playdates are a late 20th century innovation.[citation needed] Playdates are becoming part of the vernacular of popular culture and form a part of children’s "down time." Most parents prefer children to use these hours to form friendships by playing with other children either one-on-one or within small groups. When children are very young, most parents stay for the playdate and use the time to form their own friendships and parental alliances.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Play_date

Parents of both sexes are spending an average of ten or twelve hours less per week with their children than when they did in 1960. (Journal of the American Medical Association study, from The New Yorker.)
Forty-two percent of working parents are spending less time with their spouses. (Yankelovich Partners 1996 poll; San Francisco Chronicle 1/11/1998)

• visual language/culture surrounding the topic

http://www.wahm.com/articles/play-dates-for-the-kids-scheduling-time-with-other-wahms.html

This article has been a HUGE help in helping me articulate all the information I want to cover. There are other articles on this website that have been very helpful. The site in general is VERY useful. Thank you, Work-At-Home-Moms.

• sources of stylistic visual inspiration

Here's a few. I've got a whole little folder going though. I still like the idea of incorporating things that look child-made into the poster, even though the audience is more the parents. So, child influence, but ultimately speaking to the older audience.

• objects or products associated with the topic

Any children's objects related to recreation and group play. Outdoor toys, games, craft supplies. NOTHING like TV, video games, anything that take away from a social experience.

• diagram of a “participant’s experience” with the topic or organization (how do they interact with the topic, product, or service?)