5 Tips To Make Grocery Shopping With Kids More Fun #BTFE

Disclosure:  This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of General Mills®. The opinions and text are all mine.

Even though it might be easier (and heaven knows, faster) to shop alone, I’ve been taking my daughter grocery shopping with me.  Now that school is back in session, it’s tempting to run to Walmart during the day and pick up everything I need (ha, and no toys!).  But that “be-mature-voice-in-my-head” says, life skills.  You need to teach her life skills like how to manage money, how to shop, cook, do laundry, etc.  Don’t be that mom who throws an adult onto the unsuspecting world without a clue of how to do anything practical.

Shopping with kids doesn’t have to be a nightmare.  

With a little planning, it can be, dare-I-say, fun?!

1.  Bring a Friend.

Find a friend or relative to go with you on this adventure.  For me, that’s my mom.  My mom can make sitting on a bench in the rain fun.  You know someone like that, right?  They need groceries, too.  Call ’em up!

2.  Take a Snack Break.

My daughter and I often shop right after school and we are hungry!  There is a sandwich shop in our Walmart, so we start our adventure there, with a snack.  Remember:  A hungry shopper is a grumpy shopper.  Snack!

3.  Give Everyone a List.

When your child is an active participant they learn more, are engaged more, and have more fun.  Bring along a little clipboard or notebook with a list of items for them to look for and put in the cart.  Draw pictures for little ones who can’t read yet.  Along with that clipboard, if your child is old enough, provide a calculator and use this as an opportunity to teach about units of measure and price per unit.  Let your child figure out which brand is a bargain and what size to buy.

4.  I Spy…. Box Tops.

Play games.  On this trip, we played the old favorite, “I Spy” but instead of colors, I said, “I spy with my little eye, Bonus Box Tops.”  Each Box Top for Education that you clip is worth 10 cents for your school!  And even more exciting, right now there are General Mills® products with BONUS Box Tops.  For example, on a box of specially-marked Nature Valley Granola Bars you receive FIVE Box Tops – that’s fifty cents!

5.  Try Self Check-Out.

My daughter loves to play cashier.  From scanning the UPC codes to bagging, she has a blast with self check out.

Why Save Box Tops?

Have you clipped Box Tops in the past?  If it doesn’t sound familiar, Box Tops for Education is one of America’s largest school earnings loyalty programs.  My daughter’s school is one of the over 80,000 participating schools.  At her school, there is a tremendous need for Phys Ed equipment and money from Box Tops is used to help purchase the items her school needs for classes.  Since Box Tops started in 1996, they have contributed over $525 million to participating schools.  Those 10 cents add up!

Would you love to buy new playground equipment for your child’s school?  Oh yes, you bet I would!  But I can’t afford it.  What I can afford to do is save Box Tops.  Saving Box Tops doesn’t cost me a penny, but it can end up supplying my daughter with new Phys Ed Department equipment!  That’s exciting.

What does your school need?

I’m guessing the list is pretty long.  One of the best things about Box Tops is that the money can be used for whatever your school wants.  Your passion might be Health and Physical Education, or perhaps Art.  Would the Music department at your school love extra money?  What about the soccer or football team?  

YOUR school decides whether they want new sports equipment, new computers or whatever you need!

For more information about how you can help your school with Box Tops for Education, visit these sites:

Walmart Box Tops for Education

General Mills National Box Tops for Education

Share in the comments what you would want your school to do with Box Tops for Education money!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of General Mills®. The opinions and text are all mine.