Comments on: Store Checkout Routines: Share your Toddler Tips

By: Jen

Jen — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 20:16:31 +0000

This might seem simple, but we'll often tote along a snack.

To keep my girl (who just turned 2), happy, I often will peel a banana from the produce section and let her eat it as we shop. Important to note though, our grocery sells bananas by the item, not by weight, so it's easy so say, "Just add one more please, she already snacked on it" :) Otherwise, grapes, apple slices, etc. work well.

Other things:

I encourage her to name everything she sees and to tell me stories about the items. She's highly verbal and not at all physical, so she has the patience to play like this with me. I know some kids wouldn't like that at all

She also likes to continue to clean the cart after I've done the initial wipe-down before she gets in. Even with the cover, she'd manage to find the metal spots, so I eventually gave her a disinfectant wipe and let her go to town cleaning. Germ free and fun.

I ask her to "read" the boxes and bags before they go into the cart. She knows all uppercase letters and is getting curious about the lowercase letters. I found that the grocery store is the perfect place to start pointing them out, especially with the variety of fonts.

When we get in line, I also try to encourage her to interact with others. They're new faces, and often times, if they're willing to chat, time passes more peaceably for everyone. (Of course, we take our verbal and non-verbal cues if someone would rather us leave them alone :)

When all else fails and she's being totally squirrelly, I'll either find a book that she can look at, (that we can replace before we leave), or throw my caution and image to the wind and sing and dance like a loon for her entertainment.

By: Molly

Molly — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 18:22:04 +0000

We go through the self checkout.

One-year old Perla loves "helping" by putting lighter objects in the bag, or feeding coupons and money into the bill feeder.

If we're at a cashier-only store I make sure to wear her instead of sitting her in the cart.

By: Sara

Sara — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 18:20:39 +0000

My 3 year old rides in the cart while I carry my 4 month old in a carrier. She also loves to "check the list" for me, both my own and the one she usually makes before we leave home. She helps put things on the belt, too. Often she'll "read' her books to herself while we're shopping or just chat with me.

When we have long lines to wait in, though, we usually either practice counting the number of people in front of us (and then subtracting, etc.), number of balloons, anything in site. Or, we sing songs (yes, it's embarrassing) or look for other kids in line to talk to.

By: Ticia

Ticia — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 14:18:30 +0000

We practice sitting still or putting things on the conveyor belt. My 15 month old sits in the cart.

By: Tim

Tim — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 14:15:57 +0000

I tried to think up some tips, but then I realized that my wife and I do most of our shopping as a couple, so that one is always minding our 3-year old while the other completes the transaction (and the one year old is contained in the cart). One recent check-out experience was no problem at all, in spite of a long line. This was at Border’s, which fortunately for me, had stacks of clearance books to catch his interest right by the registers.

By: leslie

leslie — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 07:30:27 +0000

My 3 year old holds the shopping list and sometimes I'll give him a toy (matchbox car or animal figurine). He also likes placing the items on the conveyor belt. And sometimes, he'll pretend to hand 'monies' to the cashier. He always wants to talk to the cashier and sometimes the cashiers just aren't interested (I don't blame them). When he was a baby I narrated everything I was doing, just as I did at home with him all day. Now we have a conversation about the items as we place them in the shopping cart. I also let him pick out specific fruits and veggies and place them in bags. But in general, he's happy just looking around the store and talking about various items we're buying or that he sees on the shelves.

My 6 month old is happy just looking around at the world as it whizzes by, so she doesn't require any additional toys or jobs yet.

By: Tara

Tara — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 03:09:50 +0000

I try not to go grocery shopping with my little one too often. It’s just too hard and she gets too fussy. But, when I do, she loves to play with the pull out tray for guests in wheelchairs. Her aunt is in a wheelchair so she talks about Aunt Melynn and pushes the tray in and out. Hey, it’s the little things!

By: lace

lace — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 20:54:39 +0000

Great tips. We only have her help with putting the grocery’s onto the conveyor. She is pretty content with that for now.

By: Sara

Sara — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 20:48:43 +0000

We try to shop organized, so that we spend minimal time in the store. I have let my little one eat something from the cart as soon as we pay for it…it is the first thing down the conveyor belt so he can start eating it once “beeped”. I learned my lesson on this after I let him eat a banana in the store one time, not paying attention to the fact that they are priced by weight and I let my little monkey get away with stealing!!!! I felt really bad about that when I realized my blunder, and since then we wait for the merchandise to be scanned before we eat. I have also been known to buy M&Ms for us to share…sometimes Mommy needs some chocolate! But most of the time he is content to ride along and then loves to help place items on the conveyor.

By: Erica

Erica — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 20:36:22 +0000

First, our grocery store often has a bucket of free samples next to the bakery, so the last area we go to is there. She knows she has to be good while I’m shopping if she wants a “special treat” from the bakery. She also likes to “write” (read: scribble) a grocery list and read it to me while we’re shopping, so I give her a pencil and a pile of sticky notes to keep her happy. Finally, she likes to swipe my card and press the green button when we’re all done. Most of the time it all works, but sometimes…well, not so much.