Restaurant Activities for Kids, Part 1: Toddlers and Preschoolers

Full confession: I dread going to restaurants with the kids. I have two boys who do not like to sit still. Honestly, I would prefer just to eat at home, it is much less stressful than asking my 3 year old for the umpteenth time, "sit down, please." However, I am required to go out to restaurants for certain holidays and birthdays so I keep handy the "restaurant bag." A lot of parents have success with a box of crayons and a coloring book, but these items have never interested my kids.

Here are three quiet (well... as quiet as two boys can be while waiting for food) activities to keep the kids entertained.

Threading. Bring along a small container with pipe cleaners and beads. You can also add buttons to the mix. I don't know why, but toddlers and preschoolers never get bored of this.

Stickers. We get so many free stickers in junk mail and as party favors. I save them and bring them to the restaurant with some paper. Toddlers can easily be entertained just by transferring stickers to paper, but to keep things interesting for my 3 year old sometimes I quickly draw a few shapes and then direct him to put the stickers on certain shapes.

Pocket Doodle Sketch. I think we once got this as a party favor, I'm not sure how we acquired it, but it's been great for restaurants. I keep it out of the toy box so it is a novelty whenever I bring it out of the "restaurant bag."

Coming up: Part 2, Entertaining Older Kids. How do you keep the kids entertained at restaurants?