Going out to dinner is such a treat, but it can sometimes seem overwhelming bringing a toddler along. They aren’t as patient, can’t sit as long, and require a lot of attention during the meal. My tip for you is to have tricks in your pocket (purse). Below are several car and restaurant activities that I keep on hand to keep my toddler happy.
Easy Car and Restaurant Activities:
- Travel Size Magna Doodle – I love that the pencil is attached to it!
- Notepad and Crayons – There’s something about a notebook that is more fun than a flat sheet of paper.
- Notepad and stickers – Stickers are a fun way to help develop fine motor skills. Whether your child likes to put one sticker on each page, sort them, or create a picture with them, it is a win-win situation.
- Deck of Cards – Depending on your child’s age have them sort by color, number, or suit. If your child is really young have the cards in a baggie that they can get them out of, pass them out around the dinner table while you are waiting for your food, and put them back in.
- Sticky Notes – Doodle on them or arrange them in a cool design.
- Emergency Lollipop
- Favorite CD – Ours is “Favorite Pre-K Songs” http://www.kidzup.com/
- Mini Aquadoodle – This is the coolest! It comes with four pages of your favorite characters (We have Sesame Street) and a mini water pen. Just fill the pen with a water and color away. A minute later the color starts fading and you can color it again!
- Bandaids – Play doctor or just decorate themselves (I haven’t tried this one yet.)
- A Favorite Book – You know the book….the one that you’ve read over and over again to your child and they practically have it memorized so they can basically read it to themselves, bring that one!