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Learning at the Grocery Store

Aug 16, 20125,142 views
Mom's Soap Box
Learning At The Grocery Store Save

by TurkeyMom in Mom's Soap Box

Ages1–6 yrs
Prep—
Activity—
Leveleasy
MessLow
Works for1:1 · Small group

Turn a regular grocery run into quick, on-the-move learning: feeling fruit textures, spotting ripe produce, counting apple displays, weighing, checking prices and naming a new vegetable each trip. These are ideas to pick from, not a checklist for every trip.

⚠️ Safety first

  • Keep toddlers buckled in the cart seat and within reach at all times.
  • Don't let kids snack on produce in the store. It is unwashed and unpaid for. Wash produce at home before eating.
  • Press fruit gently. Kids may need reminders so they don't poke holes in it.
  • Don't pull fruit from the bottom of a stacked display. The pile can wobble and fall.
  • Plastic produce bags are a suffocation hazard. Keep them away from toddlers' faces and don't let small kids play with them unsupervised.
  • Discourage mouthing or licking the cart handle. Wipe or wash hands after the trip.

Before the kids arrive

  • Follow the golden rules: make sure kids are well rested and well fed before you put them in the car.
  • Decide which one or two learning ideas you'll try this trip. Not all of them, and not every trip.

Steps

  1. In the produce aisle, let your child feel two similar-looking fruits, like peaches and nectarines, and tell you how the textures differ.

  2. Pick ripe fruit together by pressing gently: raw fruit feels hard, ripe fruit is a bit squishy.

  3. Talk about raw → ripe → rotten. Explain why you buy green bananas: they ripen over the week instead of rotting.

  4. Count the apples in a stacked display, starting with the bottom row and moving up to the top. Talk about why the base has to be strong, like a Lego tower.

  5. Weigh some produce on the scale and talk about what 'pounds/lbs' means.

  6. Have your child check the price of everything you buy. Ask money questions like 'I have 10 dollars, do you think I have enough?'

  7. Let your child open the produce bags and try the bag ties once the vegetables are in.

  8. Learn one new fruit or vegetable on each trip, like kale.

  9. At checkout, let your child unload the cart and place the items on the counter.

  10. For toddlers, just name the colors and common fruits.

Tips

  • By the time the kid is busy feeling the fruits, I fill up my cart with a couple of fruits.from the author
  • All these things don't happen in the same trip, and they don't happen on all trips. We still have whiny days, tantrum days, hyper days and 'lost my listening ears' days.from the author
  • We do this very quickly on the move. I'm not standing around teaching while she blissfully listens to every word.from the author
  • The gentle part of pressing fruit needed to be reinforced, unless I wanted to get caught poking holes in the fruits.from the author
  • I'm 'taking down' one kid at a time at the store. Right now it's all about keeping the older one busy and learning, while the 20-month-old is way too excited to pay attention.from the author
  • My once-picky older daughter now sneaks broccoli florets in the produce aisle. Funny, but I still explain it's not ok to snack on the produce at the store.from the author
  • There are days when the girls are super happy just playing in the car shopping cart and honking at people.from the author

Make it your own

  • Toddler version: just colors and names of common fruits.
  • Turn snack requests into money math: when your child says 'it costs 4 dollars', ask whether 10 dollars is enough.
  • Explore exceptions: compare peaches with apples, which stay firm when ripe.

The story behind it

By TurkeyMom · August 2012
Learning At The Grocery Store
Grocery store tantrums! I know some of you have been there. To avoid them, we explore textures, learn a new vegetable or fruit on each trip, count, weigh and check prices.
1 / 1

Learning at the Grocery Store: the original post

I know at least some of you have been there. Grocery store tantrums! Multiple kids, tears rolling, judgmental stares, leaving the store in a hurry. To be honest, these days it is a lot better. Big A is growing up. We have come a long way from getting judged for letting Big A play games on my iPhone, while I chose the aisle I want to enter (not her), to where we are now. Of course I have Baby A to fill her big sister’s shoes. The older one, who wouldn’t touch a broccoli with a 10 feet stick, seriously sneaks up to the produce aisle and slyly plucks off broccoli florets and munches on them. Why? I’ll never know. While it is funny, I still explain to her that it is not ok to snack on the produce at the store. To avoid these and many more, this is what we do. To have a episode-free grocery store trip with two kids, What do you do?

Explore textures

Big A loves to feel her peach before she pretends to eat them. (Picky eater – I’m constantly looking for picky eater pleasers) I showed her nectarines and I showed her peaches. I had her feel both the fruits and tell me the difference between the textures, even though they looked a bit similar. By the time the kid is busy with feeling the fruits I fill up my cart with couple of fruits.

Learn a process

Raw —>Ripe —****> Rotten

Fruits start out raw then ripen and eventually rot. She helped me pick our ripe peaches and I showed her what ripe means by pressing the fruit gently. The gentle part needed to be reinforced unless I wanted to get caught for poking holes in ther fruits. Raw peaches are hard to feel, ripe ones are bit squishy. Well, the apples were right next to the peaches. There are always exceptions! Critical question raised by her “Why do you buy raw bananas? – those are green?” Then I explained how the bananas tend to ripe over the week. If mom buys them ripe now, they will rot over the days.

Math – backwards counting

Yeah pick an apple from the bottom they kinda tend to wobble. She immediately likened it to her legos – the base has to be strong to build a tall tower. I let her count the number of apples on the bottom most row and move up to the top.

Weigh the produce

Based on your time, interest and patience math possibilities are endless here. We did some simple weighing and the meaning of “pounds/lbs”

Money

Whenever she asks for candy or snacks etc, she follows it up with “Mom it costs 4 dollars, do you have 4 dollars?” I usually turn it into I have “ 10 dollars- do you think I have enough” At the store, I have her check for the price of everything we buy.

Fine Motor

She opens those produce bags for me. Those things are really not that easy for a kid to peel off. Once I put all the vegetables in, she attempts to use the grocery bag ties.

Language

We learn a new vegetable/fruit on each trip. I showed her kale this time. She did make a face and ask “Eww does it taste like spinach”.

Gross Motor

Sure, if I don’t say anything it could be gross motor galore with all the hide n seek and running around. Ofcourse that does not happen. The only thing I can think of is Big A helping me with unloading the cart and placing the items on the counter – if she is not negotiating with me as to why she needs a candy bar, that is. Well for Baby A who is at 20 months, we just do colors and names of common fruits. To be very honest, Baby A is not that into paying attention to mommy’s words at the store – way too excited and has to be kept in check often times. I’m “taking down” one kid at a time at the store. Right now it is all about keeping the older one busy and learning. Please keep in mind that all these things, neither happen in the same trip nor does it happen on all trips. We still have whiny days, tantrum days, hyper days, “lost my listening ears” days. Also, don’t think I’m standing around teaching my kid at the store while she is blissfully listening to every one of my words. We do this very quickly on the move in between keeping Baby A from licking the cart handle one more time or stopping her from getting to the milk carton or many times trying to have her stay put in the cart. I do follow the golden rules – kids are well rested and well fed before I put them in the car. There are days when the girls are super happy playing in the car shopping cart and honking at people. I’m sure all you mommies out there have your own tips and tricks. What do you guys do to keep your kids calm on grocery store trips aside leaving them with dad? Do you try to do any learning to keep them busy?

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  1. Cerys @ Rainy Day Mum · Aug 2012

    I never thought of the grocery store as a learning experience - it's a huge chore with the 2 LOL. Thank you for linking up to Tuesday Tots this week

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