Friday, May 1, 2009

Restaurant Kits


These kits are SUPER for taking along & keeping your wee ones busy while at a restaurant, doctor's office, or any other appointment where boredom may arise.
I found these awesome plastic containers at the dollar store. Discontinued wallpaper sample books were used to decorate the outside.
The inside can be filled with all sorts of random objects to keep your kidlets busy: stickers, stamps, paper, notepads, tiny craft kits, crayons, playdough, pencils, pens, small coloring books, matchbox cars, tiny paint sets, etc. The dollar store is a great resource. Also, check out the party favor section of large retail stores for some fun little things to toss in your box! (Tiny paint sets were found at Walmart.)
OTHER IDEAS:
*McDonald's toys are a great size for these kits!
*Have your kiddo help decorate the outside of the box with stickers!
*Create your box with a theme in mind. Pirates, princesses, a miniature Picasso, etc & fill it with like-themed toys & goodies!
*Can also be taken along on car trips!
*Include "wet wipes" for sticky fingers!

20 comments:

  1. Great idea! I have one of these http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=14007580 in my purse at all times!

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  2. What a fantastic idea! May is full of doctor's appointments for us, so this will certainly come in handy!

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  3. What a rockin' idea! Thanks for sharing. These would be great for road trips too, keep them in your car.

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  4. What a great idea. I think that I might make these for my nieces birthdays or Christmas.

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  5. Aww cute idea! Too bad my kidlets are all too old....their boxes would be full of Nintendo DS, Ipods, games and the like!

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  6. Such a great idea! I love Letti's idea for giving them for Christmas. What a fun thing to put together in multiples. Jennifer emailed about this fun project and I'm so glad she did! I'll be linking.

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  7. We have similar kits (in bag form) at our church. That is perhaps the place where you'd need this kit the most (or a lollipop!)

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  8. Great idea! I wish I would have thought of something like this when my son was littler! He used to be so difficult in restaurants that we just stopped going until he was bigger. :0)

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  9. brilliant! i ned 2 of these like yesterday!

    thanks!

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  10. These *ROCK*!!!

    I tagged you on my blog! Check it out!

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  11. YES! LOVE IT! My kids are getting tired of the little colouring book I keep in my purse. I often bring stuff with us where ever we go but having it in a container in the car is even better. The hard part is: convincing the kids to put away the stuff when the food arrives! Oh, and this works at coffee shops too when hubby and I want to go and sit and pretend we are young again and have adult convos.

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  12. Cute idea. I keep the crayons that resteraunts give the kids in my purse with some scratch paper. They come in handy when we go to resteraunts that do not give them out.

    Last weekend I made two little tumbling men (like in Freya Jaffke's book, Toymaking with children)and a bag to keep them in. I am keeping the bag with the tumbling men in my purse for times when I need them occupied and there are no other toys around. Thanks for sharing!

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  13. I made something similar to this but with a cute, fabric bag. VERY entertaining and you can fill it with fun things from the dollar store!

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  14. Great tip for little ones! I made a similar bucket for my older kids (7 & 10) to keep in the car. I have little crossword books, activity books, pens, sketch pads, stamps, cheap travel games (all from the $ store) and disposable cameras for them to snap away.

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  15. I never thought of this until another mom suggested it to me. I couldn't believe it hadn't occurred to me before. :) Now my toddler has a "monkey pack," a backpack full of fun surprises for trips away from home. It does the trick every time, and now we can have a life again! ;)

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  16. That is a great idea! I think it would make a great gift idea too!

    You can also get mini sticker books (cracker barrell has them, or I got mine at a homeschool convention) - they are 1.50 and reusable! There are tons of scenes for them to do :)

    I raid the dollar store and party aisle too!

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  17. Soo cool! My mom always had trouble going to restaurants 'cus there was nothing for us to do. She made bags likethese for church. We called them "busy bags."

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  18. This is a great idea for church stuff too!! We have a bag of stuff that is quiet but entertaining and only can be played with during church!!

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  19. Such a great idea! And quite darling, I might add. Definitely will making some for my tiny sons.

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