City Grocery

In City Grocery where everything is child-sized (even the grocery carts), children can explore an environment that mimics the real thing. Our shelves are filled with hundreds of food products that range from lemons to cupcakes to canned soup.  The active process of shopping for food challenges young learners to develop and apply math skills including sorting, classifying, calculations and the use of money, as well as concepts related to health and nutrition.

What can you do in City Grocery?

• Go grocery shopping! You can "buy" everything from cereal to ice cream to fresh bananas!
• Use ICM money to pay for your groceries!
• Load your groceries into child-sized shopping carts to stroll down aisles that look just like the real thing!
• Try a challenge from the 'Go Get Your Groceries' activity cards.
• Smell something good? Take a turn down the Dry Goods Aisle and experience the scent of coffee beans, herbs and spices in the special scent bins.
• Grab an apron and work at the checkout counter tallying up the price of each shopper's groceries with our solar cash registers! It's a great place to work on those change-making skills!
• Sort bottles and cans at the Recycle Station!
• Become a baker and whip up some yummy treats to sell in the Bakery! The chocolate chip cookies are one of City Grocery's best sellers!
• Time to go? Please help us restock the grocery shelves so that the next shopper can find all of the things on their grocery list!

Parent Tips:

These are lots of ways to help your child play to learn in City Grocery. You'll find grocery aprons for both adults and children to help you get involved.  One of the most important opportunities can be found when putting all the grocery items back on the shelves - that's when the sorting and classifying happens!  Precious teachable moments are abundant in City Grocery!