5 Ways to Stay Sane While Grocery Shopping with Your Kids

5 ways to make grocery shopping fun for the whole family
5 ways to make grocery shopping fun for the whole family

If you ask my girls what their favorite weekly chore is, they will tell you that it is going to the grocery store. With a few modifications and a change of mindset, our grocery store visits have the whole family happily involved. Here is how:

1. Everyone's Favorite
Everyone in the family chooses a meal as we create our shopping list together. This ensures that each person is looking forward to a favorite dinner and as well as buying the ingredients for it.

2. Have a local
Over the past few years of shopping at the same grocery store, we have developed a familiarity with the people working at the shop. One holiday, my girls asked to bake cookies for the folks at the grocery and handed the cookies out to all the clerks. (And now on the odd occasion that my girls drop something or accidentally make a HUGE mess, the clerks are even nice and smile while they clean it up!)

Related: 3 mom-tested ways to get your kids to eat more fruits and veggies

3. Divide and Conquer
When we get to the store, we rip the shopping list in half. My husband and I each take half the list and one kid. With our shortened list and only one child, we are able to create quality one-on-one time with our girls. Yes, we are buying food, but we are also focused on our children. It is amazing how deep of a conversation you can have while choosing cereal and vegetables.

4. A Healthy Competition
Because everyone enjoys a challenge, sometimes we make two teams and race to see who can be done first. It usually turns into a bit of a giggle fest with everyone caught on a crazy ingredient like saffron or pink beans. Our shopping is done in record time and we have all had fun.

5. The Gift of Giving
A favorite game we play is that each girl may pick one item for her sister - a new fruit to try, a box of juice, or an art supply. My girls are delighted to find the best gift and also to receive a surprise from their sibling at the end. We have turned all those requests to buy something into an opportunity to give and show sibling love.

Most of all, we try to make our trips to the grocery store about being together, buying healthy food, and having fun.

- By Helen Bird
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