If you're like me I get tired of the toys my kids get in fast food kid meals. The toys are never very creative, the kids play with them for two seconds and then I get to step on them when I'm walking down the hall at night (the toys not the kids).I bought a car litter bag--not as big as the one pictured here though that one would do nicely as well--and kept all Happy Meal toys there for the kids to play with while in the car or on road trips.
The toys are more appealing to the kids when they're stuck in the car with nothing to do and the toys don't litter my house. The bag I found had Velcro straps that allowed it to be hung from the bag of the driver's seat within a child's reach.
The other solution is to just throw the toys out before you leave the restaurant. Also an easy way to keep the clutter down--I've done that too.
Check in with Rocks in My Dryer every Wednesday for other good tips.
Technorati tags: WFMW, toys, road trips, parenting, vacations
19 comments:
We have a rule about the toys unless its like the hotwheels cars that McDonalds has sometimes. If its not something they will actually ever play with it goes in the garbage first time I find it on the ground
Great idea! I love this, thanks for sharing! =)
neat idea! I let them keep theirs for a while and then stored in a box for our annual garage sale.
I am with you on those cheap toys! They do not come in my house. They were fine in the car for a while, but once they didn't get put up, they were fodder for the trash.
Let me know if your family liked the Chicken Pot Pie recipe!
Wow, the cake in the previous post is amazing!
Thanks for visiting my blog. I don't like cleaning the fridge or freezer much, either--but sometimes, ya just gotta, LOL!
I don't have little kids, but I would have liked the idea of using McD toys in the car, since they don't take up much room!
great idea! i wish i had thought of or heard of this when our teens were little ones.
I like places like Chick-fil-a where they give you books; plus you can turn the book back in for ice cream.
I really, really need to buy one of these for my van.
Love this idea! I hate those toys too but my daughter always seems to catch me when I try to throw them out. Thanks for sharing!
Oh those billions of little toys!
I have a over the headrest little storage thing in the car for that.
I often throw out those toys, but the nicer ones (actually, usually the ones from McDonals)...when they tire of them (or I do) and if they still look like new (which is usually) I donate them to school, church, some place that has a fundraisng fair coming up soon to use as "go fish" prizes.
And I like what Amy said---Chik-Fil-A's books are great (or exchange for ice cream). Except...they use peanut oil to cook everything so I can't eat there.
Great tips!! I keep those little handheld games from happy meals in my purse or in tote bags. I don't care if those ones get lost or ruined.
Great tip and believe me, with multiple roadtrips planned this summer, we'll be needing all the help we can get!
Also, thanks for your insightful comments on my blog...
Awesome tip! My child (high-functioning autism, visually impaired) likes fast food toys for a small fidget tool, or something small that he can manipulate and keep him interested. He doesn't play with them the typical way, but they still have value for him.
This is totally a good idea!!! I throw them up when I find them, not that we go THAT often hehe!
Velcro...good idea!
Awesome idea! I put two little crates in our back seat and we have our kid's toys in there. It is handy when we are on the go and keeps the kiddos entertained when we are at the restaurants. Now I need to throw those Happy Meal toys in there too. Thanks a bunch!
That's a great idea! we have more trinkets from parties etc around the house - they would be great for road trips.
We have a rule:
WE DON"T EAT AT FAST FOOD RESTAURANTS!
It only takes a little planning to have a small cooler with food to make a sandwich and zip lock bags of grapes or other fruit. Eating at these restaurants only re-enforces bad eating habits in children so we just don't do it. If we run out of food we look for a grocery store and buy food there. The time it takes to do this helps us remember to pack more food next time.
Ok, there, I'm off my stump...
M
I found a great article on the evils of MacDonalds that's very relevant to all fast-food restaurants:
http://www.mcspotlight.org/campaigns/translations/trans_uk.html
It would be great if you could try to promote this kind of thinking, maybe even creating a post on this kind of thing. Eating 'slow' food is a concept that more families need to understand. There are costs to eating fast food that many people don't consider, from the impact on the environment as well as the relationship our children develop with food.
Thanks!
the address was cut off so here's a second attempt:
http://www.mcspotlight.org/campaigns/
translations/trans_uk.html
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