If you have a toddler that gets restless in the grocery store, one thing you can do is to dialogue with him. By engaging him in conversation, you are making a personal connection with him and keeping him entertained.
You can make your conversations into teachable moments by asking certain types of questions or describing certain things thereby making your shopping trip into a doubly beneficial experience.
I have some examples of things you say to your toddler that will help him learn certain concepts. Feel free to use them in any way you like on your next trip to the grocery store.
Things Your Toddler Can Learn in a Grocery Store
- Number Recognition. Point out numbers on price tags and ask your child to identify them.
- Counting Practice. “Let’s count the apples as I put them in the bag.”
- Pre-Reading Skills. Point to product names and read them aloud as you shop to introduce your toddler to written language.
- Color Identification. “What color are these lemons?”
- Shape Recognition. “What shape is the box?
- Size Recognition. “Are these grapes big or little?”
- Size Comparison. “Which is bigger, the orange or the squash?”
- Position. “Let’s put the bread on top of the canned goods so that it doesn’t get crushed.”
- Identify Weight. Give your child two unbreakable items and ask which one is heavier.
- More/Less. “Do we have more food in our cart than when we started or less?”
- Many/Few. “Do you see many or a few cans on the shelf?”
- Hard/Soft. “Is the can of beans hard or soft?”
- Same/Different. “Are those potatoes the same as or different from these?”
- Push/Pull. Teach your child the difference between “push” and “pull” while pushing the shopping cart.
- Names of Foods. Talk about the names of the food items you put in your cart.
- Categories of Foods. Tell your toddler that apples and bananas are fruits, and that milk is a dairy product.
- Names of Containers. Ask your child to tell you the names of containers such as boxes, cans, and jars.
- Names of Objects. Share with your child the names of other objects in the store such as “shelves,” “cash register,” and “scale.”
- Occupations. Explain to your child who a store clerk is and what she does.
- Recipes and Meal Planning. Talk to your child about the meals you have planned and how the food you pick up will make those recipes.
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Many blessings,
