Nothing ruins a dinner out faster than bored, grumpy kids. If you can find fun ways to keep your kids busy at a restaurant, you can actually enjoy your meal together. These are great activities for kids that don’t require any advance planning. Normally, for health and budget reasons, I advocate for eating dinner at home. How to Keep Your Kids Busy at a Restaurant Every once in awhile it’s a nice treat to go out to eat.Įating out as a family not only gives mom and/or dad the night off from cooking and doing dishes, but also provides the kids with a great opportunity to practice their table manners (LOL–If that is what YOUR kids are doing while you’re dining out, please come borrow mine!) and enjoy getting to choose what they get to eat. The problem with dining out as a family is that the kids excitement about the restaurant lasts about 2 minutes, which is about as long as it takes them to consume their meal which doesn’t appear until 20-30 minutes into your restaurant adventure. It is every parent’s nightmare to be post-order, pre-food delivery when a child meltdown begins. Since I am so easily distracted, distraction is my favorite parenting technique and luckily, is easy to employ in a restaurant. Below is a list of my favorite restaurant kid-distraction strategies to help you enjoy your next eatery outing. You will see this on a lot of my lists because it is so easy to play anywhere. No equipment required.įind an object in the restaurant, announce that you have spied something that is (insert color of object here) and let each person take turns guessing what the object is. The first person to guess correctly gets to spy the next item. Most family-friendly restaurants help you out with kid entertainment by providing coloring pages or activity placemats and some crayons. For those that don’t, arm yourself ahead of time with some you can print at home. This is ridiculously easy and for some unknown reason, appeals to kids of all ages. When you remove your straw wrapper, do it in a way that bunches it all up (grasp at top of straw wrapper tightly, with bottom against the table, then slide wrapper down slowly, maintaining a tight grasp so that the wrapper bunches at the bottom, then slide off). Then, lay it on the table and use the straw to drop small drops of water on the wrapper to make it expand. Older children might be able to do these and younger children will be amazed at your abilities when you create beautiful roses from your straw wrapper. See the instructions from DIY Maven on Curbly. Make a tic-tac-toe board using butter knives. Then, use sweetener packets (choose two different colors) as your X’s and O’s. Okay, I know you are eating out so it seems ridiculous to bring food, right? But if you have younger kids, this is a gold mine of kid distraction. If you choose wisely, the snack can serve double duty as a game AND a temporary cork for talkative kids. Cheerios can be strung on a string to practice fine motor skills. Any other snack can be used to practice counting. If you didn’t think to bring a snack with you, ask your server if you can get a small bowl of oyster crackers. Have you ever noticed that when kids eat out they are done eating a lot sooner than the grown-ups? Order them dessert when they finish their meal (you can use this as a bribe for good behavior for the first half of your meal) so they will have something to distract them while you finish your dinner. Just because you’re eating away from home doesn’t mean you have to ditch your dinner table conversation. Pick up orders have no service fees, regardless of non-Instacart+ or Instacart+ membership.We like to go around the table and have everyone tell about the best part of their day. Instacart+ membership waives this like it would a delivery fee. There may be a "pickup fee" (equivalent to a delivery fee for pickup orders) on your pick up order that is typically $1.99 for non-Instacart+ members. With an optional Instacart+ membership, you can get $0 delivery fee on every order over $35 and lower service fees too. 100% of your tip goes directly to the shopper who delivers your order. It's a great way to show your shopper appreciation and recognition for excellent service. Tipping is optional but encouraged for delivery orders. Orders containing alcohol have a separate service fee. Service fees vary and are subject to change based on factors like location and the number and types of items in your cart. Keep It Shrimple « Back To Blackwood, NJ 0. Fees vary for one-hour deliveries, club store deliveries, and deliveries under $35. Delivery fees start at $3.99 for same-day orders over $35. Here's a breakdown of Instacart delivery cost:
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