Do you dread going grocery shopping each week?

Are you already anticipating what to do when your daughter has a meltdown in aisle 5?

Are you confused about what to buy, what to cook, and what your son will actually eat?

This week, try a Supermarket Scavenger Hunt!

Engaging children in the supermarket shopping experience can help increase participation, decrease behaviors, encourage independence, and support your child in feeling included in the family’s mealtime process (meal planning, shopping, cooking). 

It can also be an effective method to generalize skills from your child’s ABA therapy or school learning goals into a natural environment.  Whether they are learning to identify colors, request items, respond to joint attention, appropriately wait for a preferred activity, follow safety directions, or many more skills, the supermarket shopping experience is a natural way to practice these important skills.

For some children, the scavenger hunt may include questions such as:

1. Find three fruits

2. Point to something green

3. Locate a specific item based on a picture or written word (provided from your shopping list)

For some children, the scavenger hunt may include questions such as:

1. Find a cereal that has at least 3 grams of fiber and less than 8 grams of sugar

2. Find a yogurt with at least 6 grams of protein

3. Find two vegetables you would like to eat this week

Additional ideas:

• if appropriate, let your child push their own cart 
• let your child help you make the food list at home before you head to the store
• encourage your child to pick a piece of fruit to snack on while you shop 

Email us at info@onestepupnj.com for your own ready-to-go scavenger hunt pdf!  Easily print it and bring to the supermarket for your next shopping trip!