Things You'll Need:
- Children
- List with words or pictures (depends on child's age)
- Patience
- Grocery list
- Pen
- Calculator
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Step 1
Plan ahead. As you make out your grocery list ahead of time, look for items that the children can help with. Little ones can carry napkins, paper plates, paper towels, etc. Older kids can read the list for you and cross off items on the list as you get them. Make sure to bring your reusable grocery bags and put your child(ren) in charge of them.
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Step 2
Consider the age of your children. Children are eager to help, so let them! As children get older, they are more able to help. A small child may be able to look at pictures of fruit and vegetables and excitedly point them out to you in the grocery store. A beginning reader can read the words on your list.
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Step 3
Bring a calculator (or an extra one for kids to play with since kids love to mimic grownups). Children can learn to budget. Turn it into a math lesson. Teach the child(ren) to keep track of what each item costs. An older child can keep track of your spending with a calculator. Older children can help to figure out the better value of an item by dividing the unit size into the price. Discuss the importance of managing money and budgeting for food.
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Step 4
Educate! This is a great time to discuss where food comes from. Have your child(ren) tell you where each item comes from, ie: milk from cows, eggs from chickens, etc. This is an important opportunity for children to learn this connection of where food comes from--discuss HOW the food gets to the store once it is produced.
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Step 5
Talk about food choices. This is an excellent opportunity for you to teach your child(ren) about making good food choices. Teach them about marketing practices--point to "branded" characters or logos on packaging and explain how these images are used to lure kids into buying/begging for them. Discuss the nutritional differences often found between the food using marketing to sell and the "plainer" brands. Most branded products have higher prices, higher sugar and preservative content and much lower value for the dollar. This will help your child(ren) understand WHY they are making a food choice, ie: are they buying it for the flashy cartoon character or because it tastes good and is good for them? This is an important step in teaching children to be conscious consumers.
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Step 6
Free food! Most grocery stores offer samples of items throughout the store. The deli counter gives out slices of cheese, the bakery counter gives out cookies and/or bread, etc. This is also a good way for kids to mark progress in the shopping trip (provided you take the same route in the grocery store each time), ie: cheese is always towards the beginning of the trip, cookie is right before the checkout line.
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Step 7
Follow-through until home. Grocery shopping doesn't end at the checkout. When you get home, have your child(ren) help you unpack the groceries. Teach them to group the items by where they get stored, such as cold items into the fridge, dry goods on to the pantry shelves, etc.
Comments
tuckermom said
on 12/31/2008 Great article! Couldn't have written it better myself!
kllmomof2 said
on 10/25/2008 Well written!
Pixie1976 said
on 6/13/2008 Good article.
Tippy said
on 6/13/2008 I love the idea of getting the kids involved. This is a super article, I'm printing it out for my niece who is struggling to shop with her toddler.