Parents searching for helpful hints to make your shopping experience with your child an enjoyable one will find this article to be very helpful. Children can and will learn from their parents while shopping. The opportunity to learn how to make decisions, how to select the right product and how to use money wisely can all be a part of the child-parent shopping experience. Child psychology and child behavior experts discuss the importance of taking time to prepare your child for for trips outside of the home; especially trips to public places. A child’s social development depends on parenting that involves instruction on child behavioral expectations outside of the home. Below are some helpful hints and expectations to share with with your child before you go shopping.
- Set a time limit for shopping. If you know your child cannot manage more than 1 hour of shopping, break your list down so that you are only shopping for one or two people each visit to the mall. Resist the urge to make one shopping excursion for all the gifts on your list.
- Set expectations before you head out. If you expect your child to stay with you at all times, let them know that. If your child must hold your hand at all times, let them know before you walk into the store. Keep your directions simple and be sure that you have eye contact with your child while explaining the rules. (Go over the rules before every shopping trip, not just the first one.) Explain to your child that stores are much more crowded during the holiday season and you must make rules accordingly.
- Plan shopping trips after you eat at home. Children will behave better if they are not hungry.Bring along small snacks and something to drink in order to avoid standing in long lines to purchase something to eat or drink.
- Plan your shopping trip ahead of time. Decide whom you are shopping for and what stores you will be going into. Let your child know what your plans are and, if possible, have them join you in selecting the gift to make them feel they are part of the shopping, rather than just tagging along behind.
- Take your child into a store they will enjoy, such as the toy store. Some malls also have Santa Secret Shops where your child can go in to shop by themselves with adults supervising in order to pick out gifts themselves. Remember to set a time limit before you enter the store.
Plan your trip in the store before you leave. Think about the lay-out of the grocery store and divide your list according to aisles to help you stay organized and on track.
- Set up rewards before you go shopping. Rewards can be earning tokens after each store you visit or after the shopping trip is over. Rewards can be anything from complimenting your child on their behavior to letting them have an ice cream. No matter how you set up rewards, take a moment after each store to let your child know how well they behaved. Determine consequences beforehand. This will help you to not lose your patience in the store, instead, remind your child of the consequences, such as losing television or video games that evening.
- Be consistent throughout your shopping trips. Once your child sees a pattern to your shopping trips, your future trips will be predictable and more less stressful for both you and your child.
