Montessori at Home: Grocery Shopping

28 April, 2022

Going grocery shopping is a fun and effective way to practice practical life skills in our daily life. We always encourage involving children in all aspects of meal preparation, and grocery shopping helps children understand the entire process of a meal prep – right down from planning out the menu, buying the ingredients and all the way to eating it. Involving children in meal prepping helps children gain ownership to their decisions which in turn leads to them being more receptive to trying out new foods.

Montessori at Home: Grocery shopping

Step 1. Plan out the meal

Discuss with your child the meal they are interested in. For this example, we will be making tuna sandwiches!
Draw/Write out the ingredients needed for the meal e.g. bread, can of tuna, lettuce, cheese
Have a conversation about the types of food on the list – how are they made or where are they from? Are they good for us?
Help them to organise their list according to the sections in the supermarket. Where might they be found? Why are they grouped together? What things do the items have in common?

You can even discuss with your child the mode of transport needed to get to the supermarket!

Step 2: Getting the ingredients needed for the planned meal

Go slow and be patient – do not rush through getting the ingredients. Children need time to navigate their way round the supermarket.
Do allow them to refer to the grocery list often – have they found everything? Check off items on the list as they fill the basket
This is also a good way to use Mathematic skills in a practical way –count the items needed or count the money during check out

Step 3: Preparing the meal at home

For younger children, we recommend laying out the ingredients and assisting them to assemble the dish
Older children can help with preparation of ingredients – getting items out of the fridge, cleaning vegetables, mixing the sandwich filling and so on
Place all the items to be assembled neatly and let your child put it together! Grab the opportunity to talk about the meal – how much cheese should go in the sandwich? Would they like more vegetables or filling?

Step 4: Enjoy!

It’s time to sit back and enjoy the fruits of their labour. Don’t forget some words of encouragement: You did it! Is it delicious? How do you feel? Are you proud of yourself?