Whether it’s the full-on weekly shop or just a top up for a couple of items, the mere thought of supermarket shopping with young children can fill the most seasoned shopper with terror. Persistent pleas for delicious treats can break the strongest parental spirit. Tears and tantrums followed by sympathetic looks from fellow shoppers are too much to bear!

However, there are a few things you can try to avoid the conflict, engage your child and make shopping a more harmonious experience for you all:

• Plan your timing – things will turn to custard if you’re in a hurry or your child is hungry or tired.
• Try to find the best trolley for your needs, for example, one that has a special carrier for a baby capsule or one that seats two children.
• Give them choices on things you want to buy. For example, let them choose between Weetbix and rice bubbles.
•  Give your child something special to hold (not the eggs!).
•  Tell them what you are looking for and challenge them to spot it before you do.
•  Ask your child to hold the list so that you can read it. It can be an idea to bring along another pad and pen so they can ‘write’ their own list as you go around.
•  At the checkout, older children can help you unload your shopping onto the conveyer belt and count the items (this keeps them away from the confectionary too).

If you can multitask between reading the shopping list, selecting your items and loading the trolley, you can also play games:

• Challenge your child to see who can be the first one to spot a cat / dog / baby / house etc.
• Do a treasure hunt. For example, when your child has spotted three red things they get a cracker.
• Ask questions like, "Can you see something round?", "Can you see something red?", "Can you see something square?".
• Ask your child the colours of the fruit & vegetables as you put them in the trolley.
• Together count the number of potatoes, oranges, apples etc as you put them into the bag.
• Spot the number - ask your child if they can see the number 3 or the number 4 etc.
• As you choose different products ask them which can is bigger, or which box is smaller. This can be extended to which can is heaviest or which box is lightest.
• See if they can find a pack of 6 bread rolls or a bunch of 5 bananas.
• If you're feeling brave, look for pictures of animals on products and make the appropriate animal noises together.

For older children who are learning letter recognition and the alphabet, you can get them to spot a word beginning with ‘a’. You can then prompt them to find ‘b’ and so on. Talk to your child about what you are buying and what you can use items for – you may find some hilarious and imaginative ideas.

You can try playing ‘I Spy’ with colours, for example “I spy something blue”. This is a good one if you want to look at something and are stationary for a few moments, also for when you are waiting at the checkouts. Choose a confectionary free checkout if your supermarket has one.

S.K.I.P. (Strategies with Kids / Information for Parents) have a good leaflet called ‘Supermarket Survival’ that is available from . In the resources section, you can access nine pamphlets for bringing up under-fives that can be ordered free of charge.

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