A Great (Free!) Game For Kids

For most of you, I'll bet this idea will be more of a reminder than a new tip. Did you play this game as a kid? We sure did, and I loved it! The name of the game? "Grocery Store" (I know, I'm so creative). It's a great game for days when it's too hot, smoky, cold, rainy, etc. outside.

The general idea goes like this:

1. Grab "groceries" out of your pantry and encourage the kids to set up the living room/play room like a grocery store. Remind them that they'll need a place to pay for and bag the groceries as well.

(the canned and boxed foods isle)

(the produce section)

2. Encourage the kids to assign roles or jobs and then rotate after a bit so everyone gets a chance to be the checker, the shelf organizer, the shopper, and "the baby" (my kids' favorite role).

In this picture, Ben is the guy working the store. He met the girls at the "door", invited them in to shop, and then gave them a tour so they knew where to find what they needed (dang...can I shop at a store like that?!). The girls did their shopping, and then Ben bagged the groceries and they exchanged pretend money.



3. Some great ways to make this game age appropriate for older kids:
- Have the kids write out shopping lists (maybe even based on a particular meal or recipe)
- Put price tags on the "groceries"
- Teach them to stay within a budget
- Use real money to "buy" and make appropriate change (after doing the adding, of course).
- It might also be a good time to teach about sales tax...what is it, how much is it, and sales tax is used for (you know... senator parties, fancy airplanes, important business meetings at the local pub, etc.)

4. My only other suggestion when playing this game, is for the parents to stay out of the way as much as possible! I made some general suggestions, "Maybe you'd like to....", and they were off to the races! I didn't interfere when Ben said a zucchini was a "gazillion" dollars, and I didn't offer my advice when they were trying to figure out if it was appropriate to put canned stuff next to boxed stuff. Just let their imaginations run wild and have fun watching!

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