Try Something NEW- Grocery Shopping With Kids

Often I'm grocery shopping with all three kids, which some would say is just about as crazy as it can get. So to help the kids have a little fun while we were out during our last trip, I told them that they can search around the produce section for something brand new to try. They loved this idea! It was a good opportunity for them to do some reading as they were searching as well.

So what do you think they picked? I thought that they might pick out something exotic or different like a star fruit or a pomegranate. They chose....

A COCONUT AND A ....

A GRAPEFRUIT.



Now I need to figure out how to get into that coconut! A new experience for Momma, too. There are so many opportunities for learning in the super market. Since they were tots, my girls loved weighing the produce for me. I'd have to lift them up to read the scale and then we would talk about how much the apples weighed and how much they would cost, etc.

Here are a couple of ideas for super market learning:
Preschoolers- go on a letter hunt. Find fruits and veges that begin with A- apples apricot asparagus, etc
Grade school kiddos-
Have child weigh items and try to estimate the cost of the fruit or vege based on the weight. Bananas are 49cents a lb. The bunch weighs 2 lbs. How much will the bananas cost?
Estimation with Addition- let your child estimate different products as you put them in the cart. The cookies are 1.89, so we'll round up to $2 and the milk is $3.30, so we'll round down to $3. About how much did we spend so far? 2 + 3 = 5. Around $5.


GREAT POSTS
Learning on the Go: Games for the Grocery Store
http://www.education.com/magazine/article/Ed_Grocery_Store_Reading/


Learning Adventures in the Grocery Store
http://homeschooling.about.com/od/preschool/tp/pregrocerystore.htm


How to Make Grocery Shoppping fun for kids
http://kidsactivities.suite101.com/article.cfm/how-to-make-grocery-shopping-fun-for-kids

GREAT BOOKS

Eating the Alphabet-Fruits and Vegetables from A to Z by Lois Ehlert
Great for Preschool learning or any age, really. Fun and bright picture book!


I haven't read Supermarket by Kathleen Krull, but I wanted to share it, because it looks like it would be great for learning.
Synopsis: Explains modern supermarkets and how they work, discussing how they organize, display, and keep track of the items they sell.


And if your child picks out a coconut..... the book-
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr.



Before going to the Supermarket- Kid activities:
-Cut coupons (fine motor)
-Make a shopping list (beginning writing)
-Look over ads and discuss prices.


After Shopping:
-Play store with pretend food to practice beginning money or more advanced $ skills for older children.
-Have kids help sort groceries into categories- by letter, by color, by dry, frozen, etc.


Happy Shopping!
Jen

Shared over at....