Smallish item to keep 6year old occupied at the table

[OMGitsnotgood]

I'm meeting up with a friend for lunch at the weekend. She is now looking after her grandson, and suggested cancelling, she's worried be won't sit still for long enough, but it's taken ages to find a date, I'm happy to go ahead.

I don't buy him birthday or Christmas presents, so tend to get a little something around the £5 mark when I see him (any more would embarrass my friend I think).

When he was younger, I bought him one of those water pen books (a perfect MN suggestion), I've also taken colouring books & pencils, sticker books, and last year a mosaic sticker book. Obviously I could repeat with older versions but as I'm not 'up' on what's out there, thought I'd ask on here in case there is anything different.
Needs to be something he can do relatively independently in a small space, and preferably not in lots of pieces.
Thank you

The children at school love making cards for someone they know ir drawing a picture for someone at home. Something simple like card/paper and crayons/pencils and then suggest one of the above ideas.

You sound like a lovely friend, by the way.

Appreciate you're trying to help, but you really don't know us and I don't really want to go into lots of background here. I'm definitely not minimising; and there will be plenty of compromise.

Lots more great suggestions, thank you all

https://www.thetoyshop.com/shop-by-age/6-year-olds/Lite-Popz-Push-Button-Fidget-Game---Rainbow-Camo/p/570354

These look quite fun, my DD was playing with one in the entertainer yesterday - might have to go back and get one for a stocking filler!

Have a look at Flying Tiger online (or pop in if you’re near one) - you will definitely find something in there (and they do the water toys that a PP mentioned). Great shop for small gifts and crafts.

Fidget spinners, rubik's cube?

Smart putty. Way less messy than slime. It's amazing!

Water bagatelle

Can't you have a picnic lunch in the park?

Two things my kids both enjoyed - who got dragged around to restaurants from a very young age!
Those wipe-clean activity books that come with a whiteboard type little pen, so they can use them again. And those "hidden object" treasure hunt books - I've forgotten what they are called. Big picture with lots of details and a list of things you have to find in the picture. They used to have all sorts, Disney ones, etc, and they take ages!

I have a 6 year old boy (as well as a 9 year old boy and a 4 year old daughter) and whenever we go out I buy a magazine each for them. My sons love Lego ones or dinosaur or gamer magazines and my daughter loves stickers and all the girly ones. They normally come with a toy on the front and I bring colouring pencils and a pen or pencil to fill in the puzzles and colouring in for them. They are around £5-£7 each but keep them entertained through the meal.
failing that you could always download the YouTube kids app and let them watch cartoons your phone :)

Where's Wally? Books are always popular.
Top trumps?

A magazine is always special especially if it has a free gift!

Magnetic drawing board, spot the difference book, wheres wally book. I just bought these for my 7 and 5 year olds for car and bus journeys

Thank you everyone, appreciated

Mine liked these they are bendy wax strips but leave no residue.

Yeah these are great!

Or...get the lego and bring a sort of bento box thing so there's somewhere all the bits can neatly go away. My 5 year old is very happy at the table beavering away with lego.

Other things we enjoy here...

• maze books (can get them quite small, with a pencil),
• wordsearch/activity books.
• where's wally
• Mum bought these tear off placemats which had different activities on each page which went down well. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Travel-Games-Pad-Sam-Smith/dp/140958139X/ref=sr_13?crid=2YDY5PS6NIMDH&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.KBoQCom4bqKWGZkaKzGo1eTybQzeGtHt6bsp5csG0Y5DgKBl-8hdp9yr3Fw64Gakobnq1lMFjUJxWN0hDIvgwasYzVV9NV4ThLV0hp0X3NjDtDTHtG96b07DrXDTZDD04-MR3IPg-caqJj5Liv30FejuM2SqLUrS1xG9vVgcxisaHjrWKWRUAa9MqdnyXx9Rf7WFppzFSmOy0sm84WqCETpIFEuOCKtH9bXbovc.IxucEFdh7apMF7CJD9VpWv1NBsb2eK0VtwXWGbZOJk&dib_tag=se&keywords=tear+off+activity+pads+for+kids&qid=1725376853&sprefix=tear+off+ac%2Caps%2C111&sr=8-3
• An A-maze-ball (quite noisy with the little ball rolling around but probably not compared to restaurant hubub)
• Rubix cube (we have one with just 4 squares per side so slightly simpler)

Or if you turned up with a kids magazine (especially if it had free plastic tat attached) they'd love you forEVER!

Maybe with a side order of helpful suggestions for yourself?

Was talking with mum recently about expectations for children at the table, and she said when she was little there was always 'kids tea' or a childrens table, and kids weren't expected to sit with the grown ups until they could handle sitting quietly and listening. Nowadays the kids sit with the adults, and some people go to the trouble of bringing them a small something to keep them entertained and quiet so everyone can enjoy their meal. Feels perfectly reasonable to me!!

Spot the difference, word searches and I spy where they find the suggested items in a picture. You can find online as a free printable. We also had a Do You Doodle book which starts a drawing and the child completes it rather than being faced with a blank piece of paper. I used to trace them onto paper or do a smaller A5 version so we got multiple uses out of it rather than just one.

We also had toy cars, little animals and Story Cubes where the dice have little pictures on so you can roll them to imagine a story. They are from 6 plus.

My DS at that age loved the ‘make your own’ sticker books - you can get cars, dinosaurs, superheroes, robots, dress up, animals etc…

like this: Sticker book

It’s really thoughtful to take something to help entertain him, have a lovely time!

Lego magazine. Something to read, some activities and a small kit to assemble. These are always winners with my boys.

Even more great suggestions. Would love to know what anyone could have said on a thread like this to get their comment deleted!

He's 6, you say?

Get him a tube of dinosaurs.

Mine too! They’re really good. Lots of different types on Amazon. Just put “smart games age 6” in the search bar.

this ones a magnetic football themed one

www.amazon.co.uk/SmartGames-Gooal-Magnetic-Puzzle-Challenges/dp/B0B93W3V5C/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?crid=26CMSU8JQHUDF&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.8K7BT49g8evYhzziFNcyYBS-AMnQ6JnsG-7L-G5nLsSEm5ZS6mxSfH3LyY8LhurO8Ik5-Vt3kgcUIfuAZM_LBssDUk0ys0dl9OepvodS220fW4VTdRbyrLmSuHM7Uj253pC8cCPGq2bIkEUQbZvat4EJURYIlyKbnAoX7z0uK1F21dKzyrAIDawXyXMVQC2hQd1FHC7ZR4CogeH1c4F9KQ.QIjisZjU0885FOHAjFOA1QYLhD4BunnvkeckfxL2qfQ&dib_tag=se&keywords=smart+games+age+6&qid=1725384426&sprefix=smary+games+ahe+6%2Caps%2C83&sr=8-3