What are some great activities I can do with my toddler while we are at a restaurant?

You asked and you shall now receive. It’s only fair for us to share all of this stored up knowledge about a toddlers and what happens when they start toddling (and talking)! We now will answer, in a very public forum, all of those burning questions about children in their second year. Each Wednesday, we will tackle a commonly-asked-question from the point of view of a parent with a toddler. Chiming in to give her feedback will be three women who have been there and done that: an expert (you know someone who does this for a living), a mom from our community (for the “best” friend advice you need) and a Mommybites’ team member (someone who will promise to give you the REAL deal and no fluff). Earmark, share and add your own input to today’s question; it’s good karma.

What are some great activities I can do with my toddler while we are at a restaurant?

Expert: Marsha Greenberg

Toddler sitting time at a meal is almost always short so try to go to at non-busy times. If you can call ahead to order your meal and your toddler’s meal before you get there that might cut down frustrations for everyone. Here are some things that I think can help stretch time. These things should just be for these occasions so there is novelty.

– Have some small empty Altoid containers to open and close and a some small laminated pictures of animals that fit inside.

– Bring an oatmeal round box filled with animals and a small handkerchief to cover it so you can play hide and seek. You can also have a special puppet that has an open close mouth visit. Make this puppet engage with your toddler: eating sugar packets, singing, etc.

– Bring a piece of clear contact paper to put down on their tray sticky side up and some pom-poms to stick on and take off.

– Get some old keys from a hardware store, clean them thoroughly and string them on some cord. The sound of the keys is great and the feel is fun for toddlers. If you have an older toddler you can do some story telling with them: this key opens the cookie store, lets open it and get all the chocolate cookies. Pretend play is very rewarding for toddlers.

Try to remember eating out for a toddler is not usually a relaxing time for a parent.

Mom: Leslie Blaustein

LOVE this question- I am the queen of restaurant activities! We go to this great place on the UWS, Bellini, with a pizza oven. We get the waiter to bring us dough, make initials or a favorite animal, then they bake it, and then we eat it! I usually bring model magic or play dough with plastic utensils and a plastic plate. A magnetic game, like tangrams, magnetic letters, pattern block shapes etc, a dry erase board and if you are lucky an iPad! We make rules with the iPad. When the food arrives, it gets put away until all the food is eaten. We play educational games with sequencing, patterns, puzzles and more, and after eating when mom and dad need a break, he can watch Thomas, Backyardigans or the Peanuts holiday specials! The important thing is to be engaged together and keep each activity short.

Mommybites’ team: Heather Ouida

Try to keep them entertained! Here are some ideas: a small pad of paper and triangle crayons that don’t roll of the table, Wikki sticks, sticker books, dinner game cards, Magna Doodle and Brain Quest Flip Books (available for all ages).

About our team:

Marsha Greenberg M.S., M.S. W

Marsha is a therapist in New York City. She is the author of the newly released book, Raising Your Toddler, by Globe Pequot Press. She has masters degrees in Child and Family Development and Social Work from the University of Michigan. As the Director of the Health Systems Child Care Program for over 14 years, she was responsible for over 250 children between the ages of 6 weeks and 6 years of age. Marsha teaches in the Early Childhood Special Education department at NYU and has a private psychotherapy practice in NYC. Marsha is the mother of three grown sons and has three grandsons (aged 4 and 18 months and 4 months) with a new grandchild on the way.

Leslie Blaustein

Leslie is a tutor focusing on helping children develop a love for learning. She offers Tutoring/Remediation/ ERB Prep – for all academic subjects. Leslie brings a creative approach to reading, math, and writing! She has a masters in Early Childhood Education; Public and Private school experience; Children Preschool through Grade Six. Leslie is also a mom to Josh, 3 1/2.

Heather Ouida

Heather co-owns Mommybites with business partner Laura Deutsch. She is responsible for managing, growing and overseeing Mommybites nationally as well their flagship city of Manhattan. Heather’s favorite parts of her job include hosting “Mommybites Live” an educational talk show with parenting luminaries, writing her blog which varies between sappy, educational and downright snarky, interviewing parenting experts for Mommybites’ regular teleclass series and facilitating some of the Manhattan working moms support groups. Prior to co-founding Mommybites, Heather was a learning specialist where she taught in London for many years as well as at The Dalton School in Manhattan. Heather holds a BA in psychology from Hobart and William Smith Colleges, an MA in child development form Tufts University and acquired her learning specialist degree form York University in England. Heather currently resides in Manhattan her husband, two boys, two fish and pet turtle. Heather’s hobbies include, hot yoga, Nutella eating, writing, Bravo watching, reading and sharing inappropriate jokes with girl friends. To learn more about Heather’s mission to support follow-moms in non-judgmental ways please click here.