Making Grocery Shopping Fun and Educational

I always bring my 4 years old son to the supermarket with me.  I want him to know where we bought our food and other items we need.

He likes to go to the supermarket (especially the wet market or “palengke”), because he can see lots of things there like chickens, porks, eggs, vegetables, fruits and fishes.

To make it fun and educational, here are some of the things we usually do:

1. I introduce to him the names of the vegetables.  To check if he remembers it, I would then ask him to find which ever vegetable I would say.  We start from the basic: carrots, tomatoes, potatoes, squashes, onions, garlics and eggplants.  The vegetables with leaves for him are still hard to identify, for him, they all look the same.

2. I ask him to show me where is the fish, pork or chicken section.  It is easy at the grocery store where all the place are labeled because he can read.  But at the “Palengke” or wet market, he needs to look around and remember their locations.

3. At the gocery store, I give him a list of items which he is familiar with, for example, his favorite crackers.  I list them on a piece of paper and let him read it out loud.  Then I ask him to find it on the shelves.

4. I also let him chose what he wants to get.  Giving him an opportunity to make simple decisions on his own for me is important to increase his confidence. 

5. After doing a great job at the grocery store, I thank him for doing a good job and I treat him to his favorite  ice cream store (if he doesn’t have any cold at the time).

I am just glad that he doesn’t throw any tantrums when he want something and I don’t allow him to get one (like toys).  If he will be a little more older and can understand the value of money, I will teach him budgetting.  I think this simple activity can do a lot of things for his development.  


Mommies, I am encouraging you to try this activity with your toddlers or preschoolers.  It’s fun!
Just some precautions:

• Stay away from the utensils and glasses area. Your child may accidentally grab things off  the shelves. Try to stay in the middle of the aisle if that’s the case or put them on the shopping cart itself.
• Don’t let them hold toxic items or anything that can harm them.
• Make sure that your kids are within your sight.  They might get lost in the area if you left them go wandering around.
• It is better if you will do your shopping early in the morning when there are less people at the grocery store so that you are free to move and teach your youngsters without other people staring at you.