Running errands with Nicky is challenging, to say the least. If we go to the supermarket, she grabs whatever is in her reach. This distraction alone won’t let me grocery shop. I bring along toys to distract her from making a mess, but she just isn't interested anymore. She wants to explore her environment. 

So what are my options? Leave her at home and run errands later? Find someone to watch her while I get things done? I think it is important to expose her to everyday life and see different people. So I take her with me; wherever I need to go, she comes along. It is usually stressful and difficult but I have found some tricks to make everyday errands learning experiences. I teach her language, motor and sensory skills.

HOW TO RUN ERRANDS WHILE TEACHING YOUR KIDS

When we go to the supermarket, we move slowly through the produce department as she tries to say the names of different fruits and veggies. I’ll stop by the apples and have her name the different colors and then let her pick one for herself. I quick wash with a water-based wipe or fruit wash solution, and you're all set. Not only does she enjoy it but it’s pretty darn cute.

I also try to teach her to say hello to people and say thank you when they do something for her (she does it constantly now which amazes me. She is so very polite). It’s so good for her developmental skills so that she can learn how to converse with people and use her manners. It teaches her how to speak to a range of different people, genders, voices, and accents, which I think is totally invaluable for a child to learn.

I also talk to her a lot while we do this. For instance, I’ll explain what I’m going to do with the foods we are buying so that when I prepare a meal I refer back to the time we bought the items. I talk about what they can do for our body, different ways I can make them, and how delicious they are. Then slowly, she starts to build connections between events. Things that happened in the past influence our present and yummy future. 

I even tell her where things come from and explain the process that goes into making them. Like I explain sour cream and how it’s a dairy product made by fermenting regular cream with certain kinds of lactic acid bacteria. Obviously some of the explanations are a little too advanced for young children, but even just having these conversations with her brings up so many questions, and she ends up asking about the process of creating everything I put in the trolley.

Do you have any tricks up your mommy sleeves?

As a mom, I will take pretty much any chance to teach my children, and also make them less unruly in the grocery store or while running errands. I think it’s so important to keep their little minds engaged as we wander about doing things that may be seen as boring to them. If they can learn when we are out and about, I think it’s just the best!

So, do you have any tricks up your sleeves? Is there a way you turn running errands into a learning experience? Let me know in the comments!

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