Going out and entertaining children

There is nothing that brings a family together like having dinner. Going out as a family is one of life's great things but entertaining kids while you are out can be one of the greatest challenges.

In our family, we go out every Sunday night with the kids. We used to be limited to the same one or two family-friendly cafes - you know the ones - the big fast food chains. But now many businesses have realised that they can present their younger patrons with a low-cost activity bag for entertaining kids. For us it has opened up a raft of opportunities for eating out whilst still entertaining kids.

When the menu itself isn't enough to keep the young ones happily occupied, there are numerous ways of entertaining kids when eating out. Start by asking the establishment that you are in to see if they have anything for entertaining kids. More and more restaurants and cafes are providing paper-based activities for kids in a cute bag that they can take home. These little bags are a great way of entertaining kids and as a parent or carer, you don't need to pack a suitcase when you are going out.

Of course, packing a bag of toys, books or puzzles is an alternative, but it isn't always possible to lug in a large bag. If you do decide to try this option, make sure you think of other patrons and pack quiet toys (and of course these are sometimes not as good at entertaining kids!)

Ideas for businesses entertaining kids

As a business-owner, entertaining kids is a challenge. Almost any restaurant, café, bistro or any other business that has children as clients needs to consider how to go about entertaining kids. Of course if the children are entertained, they are less disruptive to other clients, and their own family can relax for longer. You could try some of these ways of entertaining kids in your establishment:

- You could consider providing crayons or pencils and a white paper tablecloth - but whilst this is a fairly cheap way of entertaining kids it a paper tablecloth is quite unwieldy when setting the table.

- Entertaining kids is easy with live performers, but along with the cost, it dramatically changes the ambience of a restaurant if there are roving characters or a stage show. For most businesses, this is an impractical and costly way of entertaining kids that may not fit with the restaurant's strategy.

- Play equipment is a good way of entertaining kids, but it comes with safety risks, high capital costs and effects other diners with noise levels.

- Providing toys is an option when you are considering entertaining kids that visit your business. Unfortunately though, the high usage often leads to broken toys that loose their appeal to children.

- Providing disposable activity bags is a low-cost way of entertaining kids that solves most of the problems associated with other methods of entertaining kids. Children love to receive a gift and the puzzles, stickers and colouring activities in an activity bag are a great way of entertaining kids.

- Colouring-in placemats are another cost-effective option when it comes to entertaining kids. Entertaining kids is easy with these colourful mats.
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