Grocery Store Activities For Kids
- March 18, 2013
- by Melissa Lawrence
Grocery shopping with kids is such a big part of life for so many of us moms, yet with the kids in tow it can be a major HASSLE! I’ve had people really look down their noses at me in the grocery store as I tried to handle my brood!
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Grocery Store Games For Kids
In this vlog, I talk about some of the strategies I use to make it through the grocery store checkout line with my kids. For starters, since I love the idea of kids who help others, I encourage my kids to load things into bags and then to PLACE not dump our items onto the belt at the end.
I say no to candies on the checkout line too, because that always causes battles and I’m usually too frazzeled to deal with sugar highs.
Go “Zen Under Ten” When You’re Shopping
In this vlog, I also walk through an amazing balancing game that can help you get through the checkout line in the grocery store, something I learned from a friend of mine Royce, who has started an incredible site on mindfulness (a yoga term) for kids and families called www.zenunderten.com.
It’s a super site with great tips for families looking to take a step back and get more in touch with their bodies and souls. Check it out!
Wishing you happy and peaceful shopping!
Xo Melissa
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Comments
Kelly
Regarding snacks, Nina loves apples so I bring a bag of sliced apples (so they know I didn’t just snag an apple) or another snack and she is pretty happy. I think managing the checkout issue is consistency. I never allow Nina to have anything so she has just stopped asking. Another thing I do is have a reward at the end of a trip when she has been helpful or just hasn’t touched everything. I do this especially at Target when I have a lot of different things to get and need her to pay attention. I tell her she can pick out one thing from their “dollar” section – whatever she wants – if she is good and doesn’t ask to have or touch everything in sight. Luckily, I can still get her to sit in the cart so that helps manage things for most of the trip. And, of course, only 1 kid, so much easier than a troop.
Melissa Lawrence
Kelly, these are great tips! Letting her pick out one special prize, not offering to give her stuff all the time, bringing your own SLICED apple! I’ll have to add these into my next video!! xoxo melissa
Jamie S.
I have been shopping with kids for 26 years and seldom go to a store without children in tow. Here is my life saver because we also do not do check out candy and we do not open packages while shopping. (Okay, I have opened Tylenol and Kleenex, lol!) Anyway, when we get into the store I make my first stop at the little deli counter. I get a small container of popcorn chicken or potato wedges for the kids to nibble while we shop. This only costs me about $2-$3 and keeps them busy. They know it isn’t a meal and I’m not buying more so that is not an issue. Not only does this keep them busy, but because they aren’t hungry I don’t get 56 requests for cookies, chips, etc. This is especially important if we have been running other errands and the kids might be a bit hungry and tired, this improves moods long enough for us to get through the store. (Note, there are exceptions like last week when we took the family out to lunch before the store, clearly they didn’t need a snack.)
Melissa Lawrence
great tip – definitely going for this one, thanks Jamie!!