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

Standard Insight T&Cs Apply

We play the alphabet game with ours - pick a topic and you take it in turns to name something in that topic that starts with a letter. So player 1 has to use A, player 2 uses B, player 3 uses C, player 1 uses D and so on.

Topics we use include football teams, football players, cities, countries, food, boys names, girls names...literally anything!

Admittedly the children have to be slightly older to be able to do this.

Also helpful if they (or you) are struggling to sleep. DC1 is 12 and often asks me for a topic at bedtime..bit like counting sheep

Take phones so they can look for Pokemon. Go to child friendly places with crayons.
Avoid evenings when adults will be wanting ‘date nights’

We have a conversation.

I think a lot of restaurants are family friendly these days. I like my kids to try lots of different foods so it depends what we all feel like. It seems most places do a kids menu, but as we are a vegetarian family we find the kids menus have few options for us. Free kids meals are great as are free gifts. I like the idea of a squishies for the little one.

talking to them, colouring, ipad

Conversation! When DC were younger DH got the job of walking them round somewhere nearby until the meal was ready, but now they like to talk.

Chatting. A pack of cards. A pack of matching pairs. Food ‘challenges’ (the mustard challenge is popular...)

We love it when there are kids activities provided, but in Italy this summer such things didn't exist and the kids managed to find plenty to occupy themselves with. Eating outside and watching the horsies going past was a particular favourite!

We usually go for a meal after a day out, we share pictures and talk about our favourite moments and that sees us through nicely. We enjoy each other's company and that's what it's about for us, or it's a meal with grandparents- but we don't see them often as we live miles apart so again a novelty.

Talk to them!
I think it's really sad when people take ipads etc and don't interact with their children at all when they are out together. If we had to take anything we'd take some favourite books when they were younger and would share the books together - you can have a lot of conversation about a picture book when they are toddlers.

We only take our children to family friendly restaurants.

Most places supply crayons and paper menus to colour in, that usually entertains my children whilst we order food.

We talk a lot and play games (eye spy) etc to keep my eldest (5) happy, my youngest has thrown wobblers before now when out and we have reached for phones/nursery rhyme videos to help soothe

Conversation and the lost art of having manners

Christ, smug lot of perfectly behaved children on here. Mine do not give a toss about eating out and don't usually see it as a treat, so we try to choose places that have food immediately ready, like our local Indian buffet or a carvery, so there is no waiting time to entertain them. Highchair straps need to be inescapable, or we might end up leaving early. I'd love to be able to order online in advance.

We tend to go to family friendly places where we know the DC will be catered for (they do like the typical kids meals). We always make a point of chatting to them when waiting for the food to arrive- they never use iPad/phone- and we sometimes play word games (eg name a football team/Disney Character/Country starting with every letter of the alphabet). Where places provide colouring/crayons etc it usually results in some games of noughts and crosses! The puzzles/colouring etc provided by some places are appreciated by my two.

They don't need to be "kept entertained". They can talk, eat their food or sit quietly in their own thoughts.

When we go out we go out together. For us a meal out is about listening and really giving the time over to hear and understand each other. No phones.no screens. No washing up. No cooking. It's us together.

This is ridiculously easy and for some unknown reason, appeals to kids of all ages. When you remove your straw wrapper, do it in a way that bunches it all up (grasp at top of straw wrapper tightly, with bottom against the table, then slide wrapper down slowly, maintaining a tight grasp so that the wrapper bunches at the bottom, then slide off). Then, lay it on the table and use the straw to drop small drops of water on the wrapper to make it expand.

I always take the uno cards for mine - they love it!

Chatting and playing eye-spy.....for hours.....

Make sure they are hungry before we go!

We would always choose somewhere family friendly, like Frankie and Benny's for a family meal!! Luckily my kids LOVE trivia, so I always carry around a box of trivia cards (at the moment its all about Disney, which is lots of fun!) and we always get the kids to do the colouring etc provided by the restaurant. I let them take toys too.

We go to family friendly places. My DD is 7, so she is happy to join in with the conversation. We take books for DS, 4. He is happy looking at the pictures. We don't go out often: they know it is a treat when we do, so tend to behave very well. My daughter would be crazy with excitement at the idea of getting a free squishie!

crayons and colouring always works for us

Don't eat there.

When clearly heavily pregnant I ordered a steak and salad, steak I ordered well done due to pregnancy. It arrived with blood on the plate and only half of it was cooked not even a slight char on the other half. It was like they had only put half of it in the grill.

Asked for it to be replaced. Same steak came back with uncooked half now medium rare and bleeding and cooked half entirely black and shrivelled and inedible

Upon seeing I hadn't eaten anything I was not offered any discount. Never again

Food took ages too for them to have only half cooked it and I was heavily pregnant.

Who wants blood on their salad ever!

Could not pay me to eat there again and the booths are all sticky

And yes my children go to daycare so they are used to sitting and behaving for lunch but any meals they have to wait ages for it's just upsetting for them.

If everyone's children are so well behaved how come any time I eat out it's always screaming children not enjoying themselves. I think about 6/7 they are old enough to enjoy it

The best places we go are cafes in museums/ theme parks where they can see the food and pick what they want and have it within 10mins.

I think the French don't just sever one thing it's lots of little bites in the table and then the meal so the younger children can pick st what they want without sitting there hungry