In my family, we had a no-restaurants rule for our kids for about two years.
Or the kids were simply rambunctious, pissy, or messy, an unpleasant experience for everyone involved.
But now that theyre four and seven, were once again eating dinner out occasionally.
2.A Magic 8 ball.The seven-year-old boys think this one ishilarious.
The game becomes very surreal very quickly: What kinds of weapons does the Tooth Fairy carry?
Amini-Rubiks cube.Or, for your older/more advanced kids, a regular Rubiks cube.
4.Fairy crowns.Got a kid whos into fairy stories?
Temporary tattoos.Thispirate-themed packwould be catnip for my four-year-old.
It would likely still work even for seven-year-old.
For more free-hand throw in body ink I might try thesetattoo pens.
Im braced for a lot of stories about dragons and poop.
9.Dog Pile, orotherpuzzles,for the spacially-minded kids.
I likeKanoodleandKanoodle Jr.
10.Bananagrams,for the word-minded older kids (and adults).
Theres also aversion for pre-schoolers.
11.Silly Putty.I chose Silly Putty overunicorn poop, because I think unicorn poop would prompt excited screams of disgust.
You definitely dont want dozens of tiny beads rolling to the floor mid-appetizer, so assess your situation accordingly.
15.Paper airplanes.Obviously only if your kid is patient enough to wait until after the meal to throw it.
For a less hurl-able folding project, tryorigami.
17.Magic mazes.Anything with dinosaurs is A-OK by my son.
18.Re-stickable stickers.The Spiderman theme would be a big hit in my household, butFrozenwould be a close second.
20.U Fidget.This is a good one for kids who have trouble sitting still.
21.Memo game.This is a classic memory game, but it does involve rolling a die.
22.Sketch and sniff notepad.I consider this to be a $3 tax on eating outtheres very little replay here.
My four-year-old would scrawl on every page, sniff them, and wed throw it away at the end.
The classics:Crayons,paper,activity books, and adeck of cards.
And for the little toddlers and babies,blocks that wont clatter if they hit the floor.
