Shopping Games

The Derrs of Colorado Springs, Colorado, tend to attract notice while grocery shopping. Maybe it's all the giggling. Carolyn Derr believes a little silliness takes the drudgery out of most chores, so she lets her daughter Morgan imitate a bag of potatoes whenever the seven-year-old wants to. ("She likes to ride on the bottom of the cart," she says.) Carolyn also shouts "Balloon!"--the Derrs' code word for all aboard--when she wants the family's attention. "The grocery store is really one of our favorite places to go," says Carolyn.

The Derrs changed their approach to chores shortly after Claire, now age three, was born. "We began to realize the heart of family life is really what happens in between the plans," says Carolyn. She and her husband, Lee, also a science teacher, began thinking about how they could make these between-time moments add up. Could they make long car drives as pleasant as arriving somewhere? Could visits to the grocery be turned into family field trips? The answer is yes.

The Derrs work to make their kids part of the experience rather than bored bystanders. When the girls go to the grocery store, Carolyn now hands them plastic bags filled with pictures of milk and cereal labels and other staples they need. The girls track down the items on their "lists." What was a chore has become a scavenger hunt. "We have a ball," says Carolyn.

Another favorite device is the prop bag or "treasure pack." Available only when the family is out of the house, the packs are sewn of fabric selected by the girls. Its contents are simple and versatile--dried beans, a magnifying glass, play dough, a marble--and Carolyn varies them weekly. "The girls ask for them when we're stuck somewhere," says Carolyn. "We use them to avoid meltdown and create fun. They work."

GAME IDEAS
INVOLVE YOUR KIDS Make your children your helpers. Ask them to help load and unload the grocery cart. Let them plan a meal and then help find the ingredients. Ask them to locate the cheapest cornflakes, pick out the brightest tomato or match products with coupons.

THE LABEL GAME In this variation of the car license-plate game, players work their way through the supermarket trying to find every letter of the alphabet in order, using the first letter on the labels.

MARKET MATH Discuss the approximate cost of a few things in your cart, then ask the kids to estimate their total. Let them find the cheapest and most expensive orange juice and jot down the price difference. Buy a treat with the money you've saved.