Scavenger Hunting at the Grocery Store

So I took my daughter, the four year old, to the grocery store yesterday. I was getting ready to head walk over (it's right across the street), and she was begging to come with me. So, I let her come. And did not reget it.

To start with, she was on her good behavior. She listened to me, she did what I asked her to, she helped to push the shopping cart, and she even helped to find groceries.

That last was part of a scavenger hunt. As Dad, I held the list and navigated us through the store. As the scavenging hunter, she looked on the shelves for the items I told her we needed next. It actually was a workable system.

Some things were easy. Noodles, for example, were very easy for her to find. She loves them, and recognized them right away. She even knew which shapes I should buy.

Oatmeal was a little harder. She knows the Quaker Oats container, but it was buried in the cereal aisle. She had to look down the shelves on both sides, twice, before she found it. She wanted the really huge size, but we only needed the smaller one.

She couldn't find grated cheese. I have to admit; that one was the "trick question." It was at the cheese counter, and was grated fresh for each customer. I held her up, so she could see what the cheese counter lady was doing. They both liked that.

We went through the whole store that way, and she managed to find about two thirds of the items on our list. I was pretty impressed with her. Normally, she's not so well behaved at the grocery store, but this time, with something important to do, in a fun way, everything worked out just fine.

Heck, even I had fun.