Ideal Toys for Kids' Meals
During a web search for good kids' meal ideas, I ran across an award the Houston Press gave to Mission Burrito, which has two locations in (duh) Houston. This link is a little old, but it got me thinking. How cool would it be if the toys that come kids' meals are eminently usable, like the stick of sidewalk chalk that Mission Burrito handed out?
I can think of some prizes we'd treasure around here: non-toxic crayons and chalk, cool little pads of paper, spoon and fork sets, neat little containers for Baby A to fill and unload with her own belongings.
Are you satisfied with the toys that generally come with kids' meals? Or can you suggest some other ideas that would work well for your family? Use the Comments link and let me know.
Comments
One of the best 'toys' we have received with a kids meal came from Quiznos. It was a deck of cards for playing the game Memory.
I had been looking for a Memory game for my 3yo son, but honestly I was unwilling to pay $7.99 for a deck of cards (with Dora on them no less. Why is it I must pay for my children to be subjected to an advertisement?).
One of my biggest sources of frustration with items aimed at kids is the relentess product placement on them. Everything seems to have a TV/movie character or logo emblazoned all over. Clothes, toys, forks & spoons, even diapers, underwear and potty seats for crying (or pooping) out loud.
So, I was very happy to receive a kids meal toy free of characters. Instead of matching up images of the characters from the latest Disney flick, it was a deck of cards with pictures of animals to match up. What a notion -- a mind-engaging game instead of a hook in to TV show.
As an added bonus, the kids meal only cost $0.99 (the price Quiznos offers on weekends). Six months later, he still asks to play with them. What a deal!
Posted by: Dixie | June 28, 2006 07:55 PM