Even if we don’t need apples at our house, we need other groceries, and a trip to the grocery store can be a fun and learning event for kids. When shopping with kids, a list is helpful. For one thing, it’s easy to forget something important with kids asking questions every two minutes. Plus, when kids want something instead of having to say no, you can check the list, shrug your shoulders, be really sorry, and say “Gee, that’s not on the list.” Of course, this doesn’t work forever and soon kids start asking to put things on the list before going to the store, but there’s less guilt about turning down requests.
A friend posted about an activity she did at home with her preschooler to make a list. Her kidlet looked thru the store flyers and found the pictures of things needed to buy at the store. These pictures got cut out and glued onto a sheet of paper. They then took this list to the store and found the items to match the pictures.
Using pictures to indicate what is meant, makes a wonderful base for later using words to mean the same thing. I would suggest marking one space on the paper with a big star. That could be for a child to glue the picture of 1 treat, as long as it cost below a certain dollar amount. Making choices involves lessons about really thinking before choosing, remembering previous choices, deciding between something that looks good but maybe doesn’t last, and more.
At the store, there is a huge amount of sensory information. The variety of colors, sizes, and shapes stimulate the sense of seeing. The smells of fruit, vegetables, and other foods products wakes up the sense of smell. There is also social information. Kids get to see how we interact with others and use language for a specific purpose. Is getting groceries on your list?