Here’s a cute game to play with your kids if, like mine, they get antsy while at the supermarket. Incidentally, my kids both crack up for it while on the swing set, too, making it a pleasant way to pass some time.

To start, I name two or three items that are on my shopping list. “I’m going to buy… bananas and bread,” I might say. The kids have to guess what else belongs on the list, based on the starting letter of the foods.

Travis, as a big kid, gets the real idea and adds an item starting with the proper letter. You can definitely have fun with digraphs for this game, like ch-eese, ch-iles, and ch-ips.

Veronika absolutely loves to chime in, even though she fully knows her answers are “wrong” or silly. That seems to be precisely what’s fun about it!

She inevitably adds “loo loos” or “doo doos” to the list, and then bursts out laughing. Meanwhile, even though she’s not getting the answer right, she is hearing the alliteration and beginning to connect sounds and patterns.

You can keep up the game while you unpack groceries back home, too, keeping up the smiles and laughter instead of having kids poke into bags for an immediate snack. Meanwhile, all the shopping and unpacking gets done!