Brain Builders: Restaurant Game

by Heather Davis, MCM Early Learning Manager

In honor of both Madison Resturant Week (this year in a to-go format!) and our Pie-in-the-Sky diner, which is a favorite exhibit at Madison Children’s Museum for many of our visitors, we present a special restaurant theme for Brain Builders!

Miss going to your favorite restaurant? Try playing restaurant at home! Children love to role play, and they also love to help with real household tasks.

Can they help with setting part of table? Can they take drink orders? Or circle a food choice on a pretend menu?

At the Pie-in-the-Sky diner in the museum, kids love to make pizzas and pies. Our “ingredients” are made by an artist out of up-cycled sweaters, but you can make your own play food out of old clothes or other things you have around the house like cardboard for crusts and shredded paper for cheese. Or go a step further and let them actually help make snacks. In a recent Exploration Stations, Cheryl had some great ideas on how to get little kids cooking and Joyce shared even more ideas for cooking on our blog!

Dinner can be a hectic and busy time. Part of dining in a restaurant is also practicing patience, using an indoor voice, and entertaining yourself at the table while waiting for your meal. Simply playing “restaurant” can encourage those behaviors.

There are also quiet games you can play together (or solo) at the table: a short crossword puzzle, hangman, the dot game, mazes, drawing games, etc.

From planning a menu, to creating food, to waiting to be served, playing restaurant is a Brain Builder!

Brain Builders is part of MCM at Home. Follow us on social media for more tips, games, crafts, and ideas to learn through play at home.

Madison Children's Museum

Brain Builders: Restaurant Game