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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We eat 90% of our meals as a family, at the dining table, breakfast included, and we love being able to chat with the children and find out what they're doing but it can be a bit wearing so occasionally we'll go out for a family meal but it's usually to give us grown ups a break. There's normally quite a while to wait between ordering and eating, and then at the end of the meal we'd like to relax, have a coffee etc but the children are used to leaving the table when they're finished so unless we provide them with something entertaining they'll pester us and we end up leaving the restaurant feeling like it was more hard work than eating at home! Crayons and colouring sheets really don't cut it with our children, they do this at nursery, at school, at home every day, so we bring along tablets with games on them to occupy them but we feel like bad parents sometimes when we do this. One restaurant we go to has children's TV on, if you're lucky enough to get a table with a telly, but other than that it's crayons and activity sheets if you're lucky, so I think the idea of a quality free toy, especially squishies, which my children are mad about, is a great one. What might make it even more fun would be if there were some sort of activity sheet that came with the toy, maybe a push out house, or a list of fun things they could try with the toy using the things that are on the table? We'd definitely be inclined to go to Frankie and Benny's to try out the squishies

I only choose family friendly restaurants. Love places that provide games. Great time to play a quick board game. Or places that do a quiz that involves looking for things in the restaurant. Colouring is also ok but they lose interest quite quickly. Paper hats are also good.

We used to tell ours stories, some made up, some real about our own childhoods and the things we got up to.
Or we would play a taking turns verbal game (how many birds can we name, girls names, vegetables, start with A, then B, then C etc)

Family friendly restaurants only for my young children plus I take colouring books, but for us it's mainly about keeping them calm and not getting them wound up beforehand and then they'll be fine. Lots of conversation and engaging calmly as I really don't like screens at the table. Fine if other people want to use them but I'd rather not.

Chat, take toys and colouring books, play games like point to something orange, give them time to choose their meal, if all else fails screens, but we haven't had to do that yet!

We love to eat out so have continued to do this since having kids - we have 3. We tend to make sure wego somewhere family friendly after a more active morning. Drawing, sticker books and picture books are helpful. But often if they are really melting down its hunger that is the issue. A big problem is delay between ordering and getting food, young kids just want the food as soon as they've chosen it. The salad bar in pizza Hut is useful for this. In other places I'll ask for garlic bread, olives or something immediately. This makes a big difference.

Pen and paper is generally all it takes.

We tend to only eat out if on a day out or a special occasion. The nearest F&B to here is over 20 miles away, so don't tend to go there often. Plus the menu has changed and the last time I ate there it wasn't very well cooked or very tasty! So we prefer to go to Pizza Hut.

But entertainment wise, all that is required is a colouring book or a reading book. If we are on a "grownup meal" of an evening to celebrate a birthday or something and want to chat after the meal, then I might take the tablet for after the meal is finished, certainly not before or during. if we are on a day out, then I would be interacting with my child anyway and we wouldn't be hanging about.

My two love a good activity sheet with word searches, mazes and colouring. But if we go anywhere else I have pens and notebooks for either stories and word games. Works better than I expect every time.
With regards to the squishies- the small would love it, not so sure if the the big would... :)

We have a colouring tin which we restock with different stickers, paper, card, pens etc etc and bring with us.
We also have a 30 year old etchasketch and a slate and pen thing from a museum.

We take a couple of our sons favourite small soft toys and then encourage him to act out little scenarios... get him to wash the toys hands ready for dinner, choose what it’s having from the menu, create little scenarios with the cutlery or glasses. It keeps the whole table amused especially as my sons imagination has grown and last time had us all pretending to be pirates!

We chat as long as possible, or play together (colouring, I Spy, etc) but his attention span at 3 is not long enough to cope with the amount of time it usually takes for the food to get served, so we do use his Kindle when necessary to make sure he doesn't make too much noise and disturb other diners. We don't have the sound on, and he mainly plays games rather than just watching videos. As he gets older, it gets easier to keep him engaged without the kindle though.

Some crayons so boys can play naughts and crosses etc or colour in, or some little toys they can easily play quietly with at the table I have 4 so we don’t eat out often so when we do we want it to be enjoyable and relaxed

This is obviously something most people struggle with, as I made a YouTube video about it when I used to vlog a year ago and its had 71 thousand views so far by far my most successful video no idea why.

My tips are similar to previous posters, I keep a rucksack in the car one for each dc. I call ours their 'busy bags'. Inside are age appropriate toys (small ones). Dd has a toy phone, peppa pig colouring sheets, crayons, both dcs have card games and books. Anything travel size that would them entertained. These bags stay in the car and only come out at times where I need them to stay relatively quiet (doctors/ dentist waiting room, restaurant, cafe, visiting boring non child friendly relatives houses

Then once were out the same rules apply as at home, if they misbehave they still get a warning and a time out if they continue. Thankfully weve not had to do the time outs as both dcs are quite well behaved really and it's such a novelty to eat out and get their busy bags.

Oh and others have said, pizza hut is fantastic for little kids, the ice cream factory is a favourite for my two and its fairly cheap too. Plus I like the salad bar for them so they can get some veggies before the main course comes out and they fill themselves up on pizza!

It's just usually me and my Daughter. We usually eat together and have the same meal and talk about her day (steamed salmon or tuna steak is her favourite which we prepare together) then there's the pub which is a few doors down, it's a nice 'Vintage Inn' but at the same time child friendly. There's a playground outside, so we usually have a half hour outside on the playground (and when I say 'we' I mean 'DD'! - although I've been tempted to unleash my inner child and have a go on the slide...!) we then go in talk about her day and she does her spellings plus we read her book. We do not have tablets or consoles (call me old fashioned!) we do this once a fortnight. In the Summer she can go back on the playground, otherwise it's colouring at the table, which is provided by the pub. I know I may get chastised for this (I'm sure there was a post on here a while back), but no I would not take DD to an 'adult restaurant' as I would feel it unfair on the other diners. Having said that at the pub my and DD go to I often see children younger than DD 6 on the playground with no parents around which does bother me slightly.

Always go to family friendly places & usually the ones with a play area so kids can order then run around before sitting nicely for dinner. Before zooming off again

Talk to them! The dinner table should be to sit and enjoy food and each others company, plain & simple. We have never 'played' with food, cut it into shapes or silly patterns etc - just encouraged them to enjoy food and meal times. Decent behaviour and table manners were instilled from the beginning, as we wanted to be able to eat out with them & take them places and nothing ever made me prouder than when complete strangers would come up and complement us on them in a restaurant etc. There is nothing makes me sadder than when we are out and I glance at another table where every member (old and young) are sitting and staring at phones and tablets...

DS eats where we eat, and has done from a fairly young age, which includes restaurants that aren't particularly child-friendly. We've found that nobody objects as long as he behaves, and it's been a good way to get him to try different food.

We keep him entertained by talking to him! But also quiet games like Top Trumps, or he'll take a comic to read if we're in a larger group who are likely to having more adult conversation which doesn't interest him - obviously both go away when food arrives.

We try to pick restaurants that have a play area (indoors or outdoors), failing that taking tablets or colouring things along. Sometimes my children are happy to sit and chat, but we make sure we have a back up of not.

I bring a party bag filled with little things, small toys, crayons etc for my 3 year old to have a look through and play with whilst we are waiting. I avoid places with play areas as my little one just wants to play and not eat. Also I use my phone as back up for my dd to watch but I try not to resort to that very often! Sometimes I might take my dd on a walk around the restaurant providing we are not getting in anyone's way.

I choose a restaurant we know, and have been to before, as we know we are welcome, and the little ones recognise the surroundings, and we know they will eat the food on offer. I love it when they have pens and paper to colour at the table whilst the food order is being prepared, and we are waiting for service. I will always have their tablet on hand to play little games if I see boredom setting in (which they know should be handed back when the food comes.)

I’m a big believer in teaching children how to behave well in restaurants at a young age so that it’s never a problem in the future. DS has been happy to just have conversations with us at the table for years (he’s 9 now). If there’s an activity pack at the restaurant he might fill it in or do some colouring but mainly he just wants to be treated like an adult.

We try and make the food fun, and ensure that we have various things to choose from. Choice and agency seem to be the key to keeping a 17mo interested in eating (and not throwing every single thing onto the floor!!)

Quiet games in restaurants, i spy, kim. Or making up stories about the other diners.