Friday, June 4, 2010

Grocery Expedition

If your child is anything like mine, they want to go to the grocery store with you and then they beg for all of the sugary snacks and sodas that they see advertised on TV. This is a big problem for me as like everyone else, I am on a budget and groceries are expensive enough without buying lots of unnecessary processed snacks.

One way to combat this is to give them their own shopping list. I have attached a shopping list that I put together and I just print it out and fill in the numbers of items I need. The list is a picture list so we kind of think of it as a scavenger hunt. Once he finds the food items and puts it in the cart, we discuss the food's growth habits as we move to the next item on the list.

This is an excellent time to teach your kid about where food comes from. Be prepared to "quiz" them.
1) Is this a plant?
2) Does it grown below ground?
3) Does it grow in a tree?
4) Does it come from an animal?
5) Who in the family loves this food the most?
6) How should we use this item at home?

I know it can be stressful to go through the grocery store with a kid or two in tow but if you have to do it, you might as well make it fun and educational. As the kids get older, you can even make them responsible for counting out the money for the cashier.

I hope this makes your next expedition to the grocery a little more fun. You can right click on my grocery list to print it or you can just click here.

3 comments:

  1. this is great. i am printing out the list to put in my dramatic play area cause the kiddies are always "grocery shopping". when my own children were munchkins, i used to give them the coupons with pictures to go shopping with. again, a kind of scavenger hunt. kept them busy and i could concentrate on buying "good stuff".

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  2. thank you! This is a very good idea, I will try it with my daughter, I am sure she will really enjoy it and make our visits to the grocery store easier and funner!

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