Wednesday

Keep Kids Occupied at the Grocery Store

It certainly is a challenge taking children to the grocery store with you. I actually try to avoid it, but sometimes it can't be helped.

If they're along for the ride, here are a few ideas to help keep them occupied. If you can keep them busy and involved it will cut down on the stress quite a bit.

With my oldest (age 5) I try to have him help by getting the designated number of cans or loaves of bread that I need.  That way he's practicing math skills, helping and (hopefully) staying out of trouble!

Here are a few other ideas as well.

This idea was shared in a previous post. You can check it out here.

Another idea is to cut pictures of food out of a grocery store circular. Glue these on a strip of construction paper about 7" long and maybe 3-4" tall. Write the name of that food on the strip along with phonetic marks (although obviously not necessary).

These strips allow non-readers to participate by looking at the picture on the strip and finding that food item in the store. For beginning readers the phonetic symbols can help with sounding out the word. It's a fun little "grocery list" for your child to use.





Laminate for extra durability. As you can see, ours are a little beat up. The kids use them when playing around the house. :)

What tips do you have for shopping with kids?

2 comments:

CALAMITY JANE said...

LOVE the picture grocery lists :) you are a supermom!
sometimes i have them help make the list and then they get to find the items they put on it. when the kids were smaller, we used to have a talk beforehand about how we act in the store, and then i always carried a few secret lollipops or little treats in my purse for a bribe in case they forgot :) oh, my kids love those 'driving' carts, too!

Unknown said...

Great idea! I think I'm going to whip up a batch of the basics to try with my 3yo on our next trip. Thanks!

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