Hobbies And Interests
Things You'll Need
Instructions
People-Watching Bingo/Tic-Tac-Toe
Cut up some heavy card stock into standard greeting-card size pieces; this is the perfect size to be placed on the table by the child's plate while eating.
Draw a grid of equal size squares on every piece of card stock, Tic-Tac-Toe style (three rows of three squares).
Decide with your kids what to put in the spaces. Some examples include a waiter, a waitress, a man wearing a suit, different families with different amounts of children and people wearing different kinds of hats. You can draw the objects in or use magazine cutouts.
Cut up more card stock in circle shapes using a different color for each child. These will be the tokens that can be placed on the different Bingo or Tic-Tac-Toe squares as the children spot the people in them. This is a perfect start for figuring out how to build restaurant games for free because it is two activities in one.
I Tried Something New
Write each kid's name on the top of a piece of paper. (If you have old school notebooks lying around that still have sheets left in them, the covers can be redecorated and used for this purpose as well.) Don't forget one for mom and dad, too!
Have everyone think of different foods that they have never tried before and either write them down or draw pictures that represent them.
Order a few new dishes to try. For every person in the family that tries it, they can check it off in their notebook. (You can also use a stamper or old stickers as well, depending on what you have lying around the house.)
Add to these lists when you visit a new place to eat. Have the children go through the menu and record any foods that they never tried before.
Add to these lists when you visit a new place to eat as well. Have the children go through the menu and record any foods that they never tried before. This is a great way for families to try new foods together when figuring out how to build restaurant games for free.
Play Food Critic
Have the kids use the same notebook that they did for "I Tried Something New" or a different one depending on how many extras you have around the house. (Loose notebook paper works, too. See tip section after the article for a great idea on how to put it all together.)
Have them write down their thoughts about any new place the family eats out at and any new foods they try as well. This can offer parents some quiet time after dinner while the children write their "reviews."
Include mementos from the visit by stapling a take-out menu, engraved napkin, matchbook cover or other paper object that will remind them of the night. You can even take a picture of the whole family at the table or outside the establishment to include in their "report." Starting a scrapbook when figuring out how to build restaurant games for free is a great way of making the most common night seem special to kids.