How do you entertain your baby or toddler when you’re out for dinner?
Chances are if your baby is in the newborn, sleepy phase, you may have gone for a few easy café breaks or lunch out while your baby is napping in the pram. But what about when they stay awake for longer? Or if you want to go out with a partner, friend or family for a longer meal? Your baby or toddler may not be ready to be left with a babysitter just yet or it may be you love having social meals with others as part of your family lifestyle and culture.
To navigate mealtimes with ease, follow our handy tips for some easy activities to entertain your baby or toddler when out for dinner – without reaching for your phone.
1. Take A Grab Bag of Colouring Pens, Stickers and Crafts
Many pubs and restaurants supply colouring pencils, but for a younger baby and toddler you will need to have some activities up your sleeve when you’re out for dinner. Always have a grab bag of entertaining goodies ready to go. Baby toys and a few Duplo bricks for little ones, and for older children add mini pencils, crayons, colouring books, paper, play-doh and stickers.
Water painting is mess-free and reusable. You just need the book, a brush and a bit of water in a cup,
“A lot of our stuff came from pound shops, but also for stickers I would use the rolls of dots or stars you can buy from Rymans. We’d get our children to draw something on paper and decorate it. Or do target practice. They love trying to get the sticker on the spot.”
– Sara, Team Happity
“My friends have a ‘pub bag’ which contains a few mystery items like colouring books and toys for the kids. They don’t all have to be new things, it’s more the anticipation of what’s going to be in the bag which seems to work really well.”
– Lisa, Team Happity
2. Minimise the Waiting Time
Order the adult starters and mains to come together, and try to order the kids’ food first whilst people are still deciding. But then delay between the main and dessert for the kids. Ice cream is usually a strong incentive for waiting at the table!
3. Space Out The Snacks
Bring a not-too-filling snack that you can string out to fill the time whilst waiting. Some parents swear by multigrain hoops for this, and will give them out one at a time…
4. Try Simple Hand Games
Anything where you can use minimal resources is great to have up your sleeve! Young babies love a bit of ‘peek-a-boo’ while toddlers will be fascinated with ‘table mouse’. Use your hand to pretend to be a mouse running across the table and hiding behind the cutlery or condiments or under a napkin. Or your hand could be a spider or a dinosaur.
Other favourites are ‘guess the animal hand puppet’ shape or link your hands together and do some old-fashioned tricks like ‘wiggle your finger’ (maybe one for the grandparents!) Hand or finger puppets are also a hit with younger children.
Older toddlers may even be able to have a go ‘rock, paper, scissors’ or ‘cat’s cradle’ if you have a bit of wool or string to hand.
5. Try Singing And Signing
If your baby or toddler goes to signing classes, this could be a good time for a gentle rendition of something like ‘Incy Wincy Spider’ or anything else they’ve learnt. Depending on the ambience of the place you are in, repetitive songs like ‘Wheels on the Bus” or “Old Macdonald” where they can join in and suggest new lyrics also work.
6. Keep Them Puzzling
For babies, take along a regular chewy teething toy or small wooden toy (these can often clip onto the side of their chair etc.) or something that swivels and turns like a small wooden puzzle or toy. Older toddlers may enjoy using a fidget popper or Rubix cube.
Keys are always a favourite with little ones. You could get a bunch of old ones if you don’t want to hand over your actual car keys (!) or get some wooden ones.
“We have a giraffe with wooden legs on strings which move when you press a button. It always kept our toddlers busy and you could even make it ‘talk’ or ‘dance’.”
– Liz, Team Happity
7. Go For A Walk – Even If It’s Just Round The Restaurant
Use the environment to whet your child’s curiosity. If they’re properly in the ‘just starting to walk’ toddling phase, regular short walks to another part of the restaurant or toilets may be enough to keep them entertained. It’s amazing how fascinating a new step or slope can be to a toddler!
If you’ve chosen a family-friendly venue then there will be other families doing similar things – and children always find other children fascinating as well.
8. Find the Garden And Smell The Roses
We all need a breather from time to time, and young children are no different. If your baby or toddler is feeling a bit fractious, a short walk or standing in an outdoor space may be great for a reset. Looking for insects, smelling the flowers or following a garden path may help burn off some of that excess energy so they can come back to the table and eat something.
9. Try Traditional Word Games
Try ‘Simon Says’ and I Spy with a twist (use colours instead of letters, e.g. ‘something that is red’). Play ‘What Am I?’ and describe an animal. This is really funny when toddlers try to do it!
For older toddlers and children, you can play ‘Who Am I?’ with cartoon or book characters that they know. The ‘yes/no’ game (or 10 questions) is a variation on this, so you think of an animal or character and the other person can ask up to 10 questions with simple yes/no answers to try and guess who you are.
Simple card games can also be a winner with children.
10. Take Turns To Eat Vs Entertain The Children
If you’re with friends or other family members, you may find that an older sibling, cousin, friend or adult is skilled in keeping the children entertained without resorting to a device. For a longer meal in a pub, there may be a garden or play area someone can take the children to in between courses.
11. Embrace The Boredom
Rather than using a phone or tablet the minute your children get fidgety, you’ll be amazed what they will notice or invent to entertain themselves if left to their own devices (no pun intended!)
We know you might reach for a screen at some point to play a favourite song or simple game, but try not doing it straight away and see what happens. It can be freeing (for you and the children) to ditch the device!
“…we would end up using screens to placate the children at some point… especially if the service was really slow. However, I think the small pockets of time where the kids had to entertain themselves for a bit and experience some boredom was really good for them in the long run, and it stopped them badgering us for phones as the default option… there were plenty of times that the food came fast enough that they weren’t needed!”
– Sara, Team Happity
Bonus Option: Go For An Outdoor Picnic Instead
Finally, if your baby or toddler finds it really hard to sit at the table for any length of time (and let’s face it, most of them do!), make life easy for yourself. Go down to the local park with a ball and have a picnic, so they can run/roll around as much as they like!
“Persuading your friends to meet for beers/picnics in the park rather than restaurants and pubs is a real winner. Kids are so much happier when not strapped into a high chair, and when everyone else is at their eye level.”
– Lisa, Team Happity
You’ve Got This!
As with everything, the more you practice and your children get used to it, the easier it will be! When you’re out for dinner, there are a few ways to occupy and entertain your baby or toddler. It sometimes just takes playing around and seeing what works for you.
Want To Get Out And About, Have Fun With Your Baby Or Toddler, And Meet Other Parents?
Search Happity to find everything that’s happening for the under-5’s in your local area – from music and singing classes, to messy play, arts and crafts, baby massage, gymnastics and more. Simply enter your postcode and child’s age to search, and then book your spot in a few taps. Enjoy dedicated fun time with your little one, watch their skills develop, and make friends at the same time. Mums, dads, grandparents and carers will all find something to love!
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