Site icon Canadian Budget Binder Your Way To Debt-Freedom

The Grocery Game Challenge Oct 7-13, 2013 #1: Grocery store activities for kids

Mr. CBB
Grocery Game

Knowing When To Say No To Your Kids

I’m always on the hunt for my next grocery game challenge topic and while we were out this morning I walked by the grocery store stocker only to hear a child throwing a fit with his mother.

We don’t have any kids so the screaming is something I’m not used to in my daily life (although I wouldn’t complain).

The child who looked about 4 or 5 was in the chip and pop aisle (come on it’s your favourite aisle and you know it lol) throwing a wobbler because he wanted a bag of Ruffles chips and the mother flat-out said, “No you can’t have them put them back now Johnny” so he screamed louder.

Then he said, “can I have some cookies then?” and you know what she said?

Sure, just pick out the kind that you want. Well sure enough he grabbed a bag of the Halloween Oreo cookies and my blog post was born.

I don’t imagine shopping with a toddler is much fun if he/she is crying let alone a child that likes to use the “I want” after everything they see and desire.

Keeping the kids busy while grocery shopping must be a tough job but there must be ways to keep them occupied or maybe a way to enhance the life skills for kids by turning your grocery shop into a grocery shopping game for kids.

If you are grocery shopping on a budget like most people are the last thing you want is to give in to your kids every time they want something.

Giving up and giving in to your kids only drives the cost of your grocery shop up and for some it might pressure them to stretch the budget or even worse, run short.

In a perfect world we want to keep kids healthy and fit so we send them off to play sports and to hang out with their friends.Playing outside and keeping active is only one part of being healthy.

When bringing the kids grocery shopping what you could do is make the shopping environment for kids a place where they feel they are participating in the grocery shop.

There’s nothing worse than being forced to go somewhere or do something you don’t like to do so make it fun for them.

Creating a grocery game for kids

When you are going through your weekly flyers to make your grocery list for the week you could talk about a snack the kids can make and create a grocery list for the kids and have them cut out the photos from the flyers and glue them to the  list.

I guess it would be more of an activity to keep kids busy but it’s also a way for them to participate in the grocery shop while interacting with them and spending time with them.

I know some parents that are couponers include their children in coupon clipping so why not include them with another aspect, the budget and cooking.

You could easily talk about money and budgets with kids but it depends on their age as well.

That would be up to the parent to know if their child is ready for grocery budget 101.. baby steps.

According to my lovely friend Shannon at The Heavy Purse you should talk to your kids about money at different stages and ages in their lives but there is also phrases you should avoid when talking to kids about money such as, “we can’t afford it”.

Creating a grocery list for kids means that they can help you with the shop. While you are pushing them in the shopping cart or if they are walking about they can keep busy by looking for products on their grocery list.

Snacks kids can help make

One easy snack kids can make instead of buying cookies is a banana slathered in peanut butter, rolled in coconut and raisins and chocolate chips or a mixture of the items.

You could also create mixed dry fruit and nuts or talk about recipes because cooking with kids is such a rewarding experience and one that I just recently did with my best friends young daughter.

We made Dark Ally Chocolate Chip cookies homemade instead of buying them. You could also whip up a batch of sweet potato chips or even take a homemade olive bread or regular pita, chop into triangles and bake them for a healthy snack for kids.

A favorite of my nephew is cheese and crackers with fruit so you can keep it simple or create a recipe that might require participation.

Teaching kids that convenience foods are the only way to buy snacks is like saying that money doesn’t exist and everything is put on credit.

Maybe it’s a far-fetched idea but trying to shop for groceries on a budget and having your kids upset because they don’t get their way and then you give in means you are potentially wasting valuable time when you can be teaching kids about the value of money.

Instead of saying “no” to your kids teach them lessons that are rewarding because teamwork for kids is a skill that will carry through their life for many years to come if they know that they are an integral part of the process.

You might even find they want to help you bring the groceries in and put them away… kill two birds with one stone. 🙂

Do you have any grocery type activities you play with your kids to keep them busy while grocery shopping so they don’t get upset because they want stuff? 

Grocery saving tips

Free Money Saving Downloads is lists that were created to get us on track to work towards reaching our budgeting goals. Get organized with a freezer inventory, meal plan, shopping list, price comison list and much more all for FREE.

NEW!! You can now download the Canadian Budget Binder Budget Spreadsheet in Excel…… Grab it while you can… It’s FREE! We use it to budget.. check it out!

September Grocery Game Challenge Posts

Congratulations to BALLOT 4 for WINNING the September Grocery Game Challenge- Allyson T (please email me your address for your prize)

I will post the previous week’s grocery game here for ease of finding them each week if you need to go back and post your shops for the month.

Click, Save and Print. It’s that easy!

 Food food and more food

Food Basics

Total out of pocket $77.77

Shoppers Drug Mart

Total out of pocket $9.94

Yearly grocery budget for two: $2819.38

Canadian Coupons

Frequently Asked Questions

Read the rules first and if you have any questions email me or comment on this post with your question and someone will answer you as soon as possible.

No, you don’t have to be Canadian to post your shops only to win a monthly prize. We have fans who post their grocery shop who live all over the world.

The Grocery Game Challenge closes at midnight of the last Sunday of the last post for the month. You can post your shops all month-long.

Yes our Grocery Budget includes such items as shampoo, conditioner, laundry soap, fabric softener, dish soap etc. We don’t mind stockpiling items that won’t be affected by expiry dates or have long expiry dates but not so much food any more. It’s just one way to help cut your budget to save money.

Here are your latest Coupon Match-ups of the week including Checkout 51 from 25 Newspaper Inserts around Canada compliments of Save Big Live Better that you can use to help you save money in the Grocery Game Challenge.

An FPC is a free product coupon which means you can get a free product as described on the coupon.

You can find all your store coupon policies here. If you are not sure it’s always best to call the store and ask.

I can tell you about grocery shopping and what we do in terms of shopping to save money and how it works for us. There are no wrong or right answers, just smart choices. Over time you will gradually learn where you should and shouldn’t go in the grocery store or at least how to say no, I’m on a budget I need to buy this or that.

You may also substitute items in order to stick to your budget to make it work. Nobody is perfect, heck we struggle with this t of our budget like many people do and this is why the grocery game challenge was created.

If you have just joined The Grocery Game Challenge get ready to dive deep into your grocery budget and learn just where you are spending, how much you are spending and what you are saving. You’ve made a wise decision.

Are You New To Canadian Budget Binder?

Exit mobile version