Parents of toddlers often express the need for providing their child with social contact with peers as well as for support in parenting. These needs cut across the boundaries among social classes and cultures and are not alternative to more material needs, such as poverty and social marginalisation, which still characterise the condition of many children also in Europe. Centres for Children and Parents have been created in many Italian cities in order to give answer to the parents and toddlers' need for socialization. They require the presence of parents with their children, in order to share play time and socialise with other children and parents outside the home. In the years 2005-2008 we have monitored the functioning of 10 Centres for Children and Parents in several areas of Rome. At the end of each educational year a self-administered questionnaire was presented to parents in each Centre about their expectances and evaluations of the experience made in the Centre by their child and by themselves. The analysis of these questionnaires considered the variability of parents' answers according to child and family characteristics and their daily life conditions. The results provide evidence for parents' constant wish for their child's social contacts with peers and for their own participation to a social setting outside the home with other parents.
