Read Mumsnet users top tips for keeping their DC entertained during dinner

[EllieMumsnet]

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Trying to keep your children entertained and not act like wild animals throughout meal times can feel like a bit of a struggle sometimes, especially if you go out as a family to a restaurant. Whether you have to make sure your children don’t throw food around or stay in their seat throughout the entire meal, Frankie & Benny’s would love to know what your top tips are for keeping your children entertained during meal times.

Here’s what Frankie & Benny’s have to say: “Launching this half term at Frankie & Benny's, we're giving away a free Squishie with every kids' meal. You're going to need to head down to your nearest restaurant to collect all ten before they’re gone! If you haven't heard about Squishies, they are cute foamy toys that you can squeeze to you hearts content, before watching them magically re-inflate. There are 10 different adorable Squishies up for grabs at Frankie & Benny’s, tick each one off on our Squishies Passport as you collect them!"

Do you only choose family friendly restaurants to eat out at? Perhaps for meals at home, you cut their food into interesting shapes to ensure there’s an element of fun? What about playing games at the table and if so what kind of games do you play? Or maybe you bring colouring and toys along with you to restaurants?

Whatever your top tips are for keeping your children entertained post them on the thread below and everyone who does will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 voucher of their choice (from a list).

Thank you and good luck with the prize draw!
MNHQ

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My daughter loves squishies! I also love frankie and bennys
We’ve always taken dd out to eat regularly from when she was a baby so she kind of knows how to behave. Maybe we’re just lucky. I prefer family friendly restaurants to eat out at but Dh loves to take her to a variety of places (they have monthly ‘lunch dates’!)

We make sure we have a good chat now she’s a bit older and make her realise that meal times are times we get together to talk and enjoy food..not play! Having said that, she does love it when she’s given colouring in to do while she waits for her food.

We have three children and they are slightly older now, 12, 11 and 7. We probably eat out 3 times a month. At either family friend type places (F and Bs, Chiquitos or local pubs)

The older two tend to be ok and involve in adult chat when we go out, we usually take books, tablet coloring etc for the 7 year old.

Earlier this year we went to the West coast of the USA on holiday and in all restaurants they had stuff for the kids to do. The one thing I thought was brilliant was small, craft ideas for them to make or Rubix cube type puzzles. These ideas kept all three entertained and gave us a little bit of adult time.

My child loves the free colouring sheets or activity packs that come in a restaurant. Failing that we like the family friendly places that have a few toys or a little kids area.

I would choose a family friendly restaurant where children are spoken to and not over by the waiter/waitress. Just something simple like asking them a question whether it’s what they want to eat/drink or how old they are etc, just something that makes them feel important. We have often visited places like Pizza Hut because our DC’s are made a fuss of, given crayons and an activity sheet with colouring and simple games like spot the difference etc, they get their own mini menu to choose from and get to serve themselves their own drinks/dessert and after paying the bill they are often given a balloon or a lollipop. Those little things all add up to a great experience for the DC and make them much more likely to enjoy the family meal out rather than just tolerate it. If I knew other places valued the children as much as this I wouldn’t hesitate to try it because if the children are happy then I relax much more and rather than a quick meal we can spend longer and will order desserts, extra drinks etc - the more we enjoy it the more I dread the bill at the end
My DS adores squishies and would be delighted to receive this as a free gift (and would then pester me to take him again to get the full range!). He’s almost 10 and often feels that the free kids toys are babyish but this would keep him and his 3 year old DSis happy. We could then incorporate games such as which squishie can rise the fastest, which gets the flattest.
I definitely think that if you allow your DC to run off steam and be silly before going in to the restaurant it helps them sit still and not bother other diners at all.
Other ideas are a sheet of paper and a pen can become a game of noughts and crosses, hangman, drawing funny faces and even origami.

You couldn’t pay me enough to go anywhere near a frankie and bennys ever again. It’s ranked along side Hungry Horse as the worst places we’ve ever eaten.

As for keeping the kids entertained. Colour pens and conversation. Works wonders.

I only choose family friendly restaurants to eat out at and my local restaurants

Main thing is not to have too long a wait for food and to be hungry enough to eat but not hangry.

Superhero figures. That is all.

Taking an iPad for kids is so easy and means you can actually enjoy some adult conversation, but we do aim to avoid this most of the time and keep the conversation going with them. (On the basis that how on earth can we expect them to grow into kids who can converse nicely and participate in convivial eating out chat, if we don't model how to do it? 🙄)
Talking about everything in the restaurant and asking them questions about their likes and dislikes and thoughts in a really interesting voice!!!😃👍🏼^^ keeps them engaged. So blinkin' draining though...

When eating out I’ve always found that taking a few quite activities helps, as my oldest has got used to coming out she knows our expectations so we converse about things she’s interested in.
At home to keep the girls entertained at meal times starts by encouraging them to help make the dinner/set the table, I’ve found if they’ve helped prepare the food, they are more likely to sit for longer and eat more.

We take colouring/activity books or card-based games. If we get desperate then we look at photos or YouTube videos on one of our phones, but we try to keep that as a last resort. Definitely no tablets at the table. But mostly, you have to just be prepared to interact with them! Accept the fact that you probably can't have a leisurely 2+ hour catch up with friends with multiple courses and after dinner coffee while expecting your DC to stay well behaved and ignored. The badly-behaved kids I see in restaurants are the ones whose parents are more interested in just doing their own socialising.

I take a word search book for my youngest child she loves trying to find the words snd my older 2 help as well. I tried tablets before but i found them so anti social with the word search is more a social past time.

Mystified why 'entertainment ' is necessary. ? What the hell is a 'family friendly restaurant ' ? Surely a restaurant is a place you sit and get served with food and your job as parents is to teach your children to behave accordingly and before anyone starts - I have a 19 yr old son (still) st a specialist school for autism and co-morbid ASD.

Yes - it would have been easier to have calmed him with a tablet - but that would teach him and his siblings nothing. It's an effort to teach decent behaviour but fantastic when it's done and you can take your kids to any restaurant without worrying that they have some form of artificial pacifier with them .

I always take my Iphone where there are mini games loaded - but it always goes away when the food arrives - that's the rule.

We usually try and fail to make different origami-ish things from the napkins. Always looks shit, but keeps them distracted nonetheless.

When we go out we have our entertainment checklist.

For the youngest which is a baby of 5 months we have favourites toy, something flashy but not noisy, dummy and something for teething.

For the 7 year old we have a iPad with headphones, colouring book with colours.

And our teenagers 12-15 they entertain themselves with their phones.

Definitely sticker books, also colouring books Have to be brand new to work though!

We let them choose their favourite magazine on condition they are on their best behaviour and will try to eat things even if they may be different to how they get them at home. There are usually toys and stickers to help entertain them.

My LO is a fidget - so much as I would like to take the opportunity to engage in a long conversation about our day - I accept that this isn't going to be enjoyable for him & he is much more of a do-er!
I always come equipped with a colouring books, pens & a compact game like Top Trumps which can be set up & packed away quickly.
Some restaurants we have visited offer a selection of games like Guess Who & Jenga - great for little ones to make the wait for food more fun & an excellent alternative to screens.
It would be great if something like this could be offered by Frankie & Benny's, although in fairness, we have never had a long wait for food there.

Good that they enjoy somehow seems to make the whole process smoother.

In contrast, the wait for food at most F&B's is quite beyond any of our patience limits. They need to take a cue from harvester and provide bread and salad bars.

peppa pig on the iphone

Activity sheets should be updated on a regular basis and suit a variety of ages. Maybe F&B could print a few conversation starter questions on the sheet in the guise of ‘Be your table’s interviewer’. Or 3 little random colouring pictures of characters/props/landscape for each person to make up a story from. Don’t give boxes of crayons each time (reuse) - seems so wasteful.

Choose family type places. Colouring and clear expectations. I try to avoid screens if I can but each to their own.

For longer meals we'll take a magazine or perhaps a mini Lego kit. We normally choose family friendly restaurants but if we can't then we will resort to games on our phone but no sound as I know it's annoying to diners.

If we have the choice we normally stick to two courses, by doing that we can all enjoy it before anyone's patience runs out.

We have a severely disabled child who is tube fed and high functioning ASD boy and NT daughter.
They love F&B's ....ASD kids love the ceiling fans and balloons. If you have a severely disabled child you'd realise that iPads are your saviour !!!!!
Don't eat out without one ...lots of Mumsnetters think it's rude ..... I don't care !!!!