Grocery Shopping Games & Challenges to Make It More Fun!

This post is sponsored by Ibotta and all opinions expressed in this post are my own. All offers were valid as of publish date. Don’t forget to check your app for details as offers change frequently and may not be available in all areas.

This post is sponsored by Ibotta and all opinions expressed in this post are my own including all of these easy grocery shopping games and challenges that can make the weekly chore feel like less of one!

I’ll admit that I often use online grocery pickup or delivery for our major grocery needs during our busiest weeks. But it’s not quite the same as getting in the store and being able to check things out, so I still find myself at Walmart each week. When I have the kids with me, I do my best to keep it quick and make it a bit more fun. These easy grocery shopping games and challenges make the weekly chore feel like less of one!

It keeps them engaged and actually helps me feel better about having to get it done!

GROCERY SHOPPING GAMES & CHALLENGES TO PLAY

Before I get too deep into the ways that I make the grocery store more interesting for both me and the kids, I have a confession! We usually stop by the bakery and I let them each choose a donut. They eat while we shop and then I pay for the empty bag at checkout.

Getting from the bakery to the checkout is the part where I sometimes need a little backup and shopping games for kids come in clutch. It keeps them busy while I can tackle the grocery list.

When I’m at Walmart, I’m always on the lookout for easy ways to save money so these days I’m also armed with the Ibotta app and on the hunt for offers to add. I get my list crossed off and they get their list crossed off (if that happens to be the game we’re playing)!

The best thing about these grocery store games is that they’re simple and can actually be easily adapted to almost any store you happen to go with your kids.

SPEEDY SHOPPING

If our list isn’t the longest, then we like to have a little fun with it and set a timer. I decided on an amount of time that we want to spend at the store and then we see if we can find everything on our grocery list and check out before the timer goes off. If your kids aren’t in a great mood, this is a simple way to get them engaged. It also works well if you’re short on time!

CAN YOU FIND?

My kids love to play I Spy so I have a little take on the that works as we walk the aisles of Walmart. Instead of telling them what I spy, I’ll ask them to find something specific. Some of the challenges I use include things like:

Find 5 red items in this aisle.
Find something that starts with A, then something that starts with B, and then something that starts with C. (You can use any combination of letters, but I usually give them about 3-4 to search for in the aisle.)
Find something with a number one on the label. Now find something with a number two. (Again, you can change up the numbers and make it more challenging with larger numbers for older kids.)
Find two products that together cost more than $5 but less than $10. This is a great one for the older kids and really gets them thinking and searching!
Pretend you have $5 to spend in this aisle and you have to buy three things. Go! This can be another great math challenge for older kids!

Playing a game like this is so open-ended that you’re really only limited by what you can think up and the number of aisles in the store!

PRICE CHECK

We’ve been learning a lot about money at our house, so this is a new game for us and both kids love it. Before we put an item in the cart, both kids take a guess at how much they think it costs. (When we’re using Ibotta, I like to add a twist to the game and have them guess how much they think we’re going to save.)

We use to do this using Walmart Savings Catcher, but since it will no longer be available as of May 14, we’re using Ibotta because it’s super easy to save with all of the offers that are available!

SCAVENGER HUNT

Another fun thing to do is make a grocery scavenger hunt list for each kid. You can adapt the list depending on their age. For younger kids, you could have photos to match. Yes, they can be simple and hand-drawn! Or you could help them practice their alphabet by giving them a list of letters that they have to find products to match.

For the older kids, I like to make them think a little bit! Try some of these questions for their list:

A fruit/vegetable I like
A curly food
Something that smells good
One of my favorite foods
Something you can slice
A food I haven’t tried yet
Something that costs less than $1
Something you eat for breakfast

It’s easy to make a new list of items each time you head to the store. I usually include 5-6 things for them to hunt while we shop.

GROWN UP SCAVENGER HUNT FOR SAVINGS

While grocery games for the kids are always a huge help when they go shopping with me, I’ll admit that sometimes Grambo and I just look at it as a chore. Sometimes we need a little something to help us get motivated. I’m pretty sure we’re not the only ones!

You can treat yourselves a bit, just like we do with the kids and the bakery. The kids like to get donuts and Grambo likes to get plants!

We do our own kind of scavenger hunt of sorts using Ibotta. We used to use Walmart Savings Catcher but it will no longer be available as of May 14th so we’ve completely switched to Ibotta. It’s a free app and has tons of great offers available at Walmart so we can continue to save the easy way!

You know I’m all about easy. I love saving money but it has to be easy to do!

If you haven’t used Ibotta, all you do is shop, scan your receipt, and save money! It’s that easy to use. The app also gives you the ability to scan QR codes of anything in the store to see if there is an offer to add. 100% of Ibotta earnings can be transferred to PayPal or Venmo as soon as you’ve earned $20!

So we go on a little scavenger hunt of our own. I love when I find an item and I can add an offer! There’s nothing like earning cash back while we get our grocery shopping done for the week! Grambo and I like to challenge each other by each taking part of the grocery list and seeing who can find the most Ibotta offers.

Yes, we can be kind of silly sometimes, but that’s how you keep the shopping chore from feeling like a chore! You have to be a little silly to make it fun! Hitting the grocery store with the kids doesn’t have to feel like a chore if you just take a few minutes to get the kids engaged. My kids love games so grocery store games and challenges are something they seem to even look forward to now!

To learn more about Ibotta, download the free app and see what deals you can find on your next trip to Walmart!

Say goodbye to Walmart Savings Catcher and hello to Ibotta!