Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sometimes we get an extra menu and play games with that like pick the worst thing on the menu, pick the best thing on the menu, pick four random things that if you mix to dinner would be grosser than gross. A little immature, but sometimes ends up in lots of laughs.

Uh 99.9% of infants, toddlers and preschoolers aren’t reading menus.

“Uh”, The title of the thread says the OP has a five-year-old! Plus use your imagination. You can read the menu to your kid. What a grinch you are.

Anonymous wrote:I Spy is a good one.

We also do the hand raising game, where someone calls out yes/no questions and everyone at the table raises their hands. Ex: “who went skiiing today?” “Who is wearing a hat?” “Who is excited about the pool tomorrow?” “Who is sleeping in a bunk bed?” “Who slept super late today?”

We also don’t do any leisurely meals. Order basically as soon as you sit down, get the check quickly, don’t linger. If I’m out without my kids, I love a 2 hour meal, but with two kids under six? We try to be in and out in 60 min. We don’t use screens at all though.

This is the way! If your kid needs games at age 5 to behave at the table, then you are there too long. My oldest has always been well-behaved, but my middle kid, what a nightmare. My kids are old, we never had any electronics to keep them occupied.

We approached eating out like a tactical operation. Review menus online ahead of time so you know what you want to order. Sit down, order food and drinks immediately. When food is brought out, ask waiter for check. Pay for meal as soon as waiter brings you the check. If you know there is likely to be food left over and you want it to go, ask for a to go box when you ask for the check. If things are going well, you can still have a leisurely meal. If they aren't going well, you have paid so can leave whenever you need to.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sometimes we get an extra menu and play games with that like pick the worst thing on the menu, pick the best thing on the menu, pick four random things that if you mix to dinner would be grosser than gross. A little immature, but sometimes ends up in lots of laughs.

Uh 99.9% of infants, toddlers and preschoolers aren’t reading menus.

Not PP but this kid is 5. Most five year olds are reading a little.

Anonymous wrote:Sometimes we get an extra menu and play games with that like pick the worst thing on the menu, pick the best thing on the menu, pick four random things that if you mix to dinner would be grosser than gross. A little immature, but sometimes ends up in lots of laughs.

Uh 99.9% of infants, toddlers and preschoolers aren’t reading menus.

My kid will request that I draw something and then he colors it in. (He's always been good at delegating difficult tasks, lol.)

Other popular activities: sticker arrangement and appreciation (there are some good educational books with stickers about things like animals, outer space, etc), very small (10 piece puzzles), driving matchbox cars around the table, playing one of those handheld water arcade games.

We also give him the iPad, but he just is not as interested in the Ipad as the other more tactile stuff. We are lucky if we can get a 15 min break of him silently watching the screen before it's back to the stickers and puzzles and wanting to take a walk around the restaurant and pick up interesting sticks and rocks and leaves.

We play I Spy or use a drawing pad

We used to play a version of Headbands (Forehead Detective in UK). One person draws something on a piece of paper (can use the doodle app on your phone) and another person holds it on their forehead so everyone else can it and then asks Qs to try to guess the picture.

Tic tac toe (at 5 I make sure to intentionally lose sometime)
I spy
Wiki stix (hard to find in store, but for next time)
We play the alphabet game in the car a lot, at 5 it's a joint parent and child activity and when they are older as a race. You have to find each letter of the alphabet in order. Can use the menu to do that.

If the iPad isn't even with you, it's easy to say no to it.

Sometimes we pretend like we’re on a cooking show and we make up what we would do for a meal and then the rest of the table rates that kind of like on kids baking championship

Sometimes we get an extra menu and play games with that like pick the worst thing on the menu, pick the best thing on the menu, pick four random things that if you mix to dinner would be grosser than gross. A little immature, but sometimes ends up in lots of laughs.

I Spy is a good one.

We also do the hand raising game, where someone calls out yes/no questions and everyone at the table raises their hands. Ex: “who went skiiing today?” “Who is wearing a hat?” “Who is excited about the pool tomorrow?” “Who is sleeping in a bunk bed?” “Who slept super late today?”

We also don’t do any leisurely meals. Order basically as soon as you sit down, get the check quickly, don’t linger. If I’m out without my kids, I love a 2 hour meal, but with two kids under six? We try to be in and out in 60 min. We don’t use screens at all though.

I travel with my five year old pretty often and coloring and just hanging out work fine. For flights and long trips that little drawing pad toy (I think it's an LED) is great.

Alot of pizza places will bring out a little dough ball for kids to play with while they are waiting.

we make a little still life w the forks/sugar packs/spoons and then have the kid close their eyes take one thing away and try to guess what's missing

Name songs with Different words in them

I have some tiny purse games that I bring sometimes.

We are on vacation so going out to eat every meal. I need ideas on how to pass time the at restaurants without always resorting to iPad. We color and practice writing letters. We played hangman. We talk. What else can we do? Other games? TIA!