Kid’s Meal Toys
The kids and I have been to fast food joints twice this week. I know, I know, I’m not going to win any mother of the year awards with that kind of nutrition record, but it gives me another kid topic to share with you, our wonderful readers.
Early in the week, after our visit to the free movie, we went out with our friends to McDonald’s. We drove out of the way especially for the McDonald’s that had the indoor playland, with seating for dining (can you really refer to it as dining when it’s fast food?) in the play area. Of course, by the time we got there, there was no longer any seating left in the play area. So, we just corralled the kids into a common area, and took turns doling out our husbands’ hard earned cash for a few nuggets and a cheap toy. (I don’t think I’m insulting McDonald’s by referring to the toys as cheap. You don’t see them putting American Girl Dolls in there.)
As Hsien mentioned in an earlier post, Pirates of the Caribbean was the theme for the current Happy Meals. So, we start handing out the lunches, and my daughter reaches in to check out the toy. She pulls out a very scary looking skull. She hands it over to her (male) buddy, and asks if she can have a girl toy. Well, apparently Pirates of the Caribbean is gender neutral, because they have no girl toys. They do, however, have the pirate bandana things (sorry, not up on my pirate fashion lingo), and 6 of the 7 kids trade in their skulls for pirate headwear. (One of the 3 year old girls happily grabs her skull after my one year old happily slobbered all over it. Sorry about that!)
My question is this: Why are the toys in Happy Meals promoting a movie that the kids can’t see for, like, a decade? I understood when they were doing the Cars toys. But this one doesn’t seem like a great fit. Oh well. Who am I to question a culinary empire?
The other kids’ meal that my darlings consumed this week (No, I wasn’t just joking. Yes, they had fast food twice this week. No, I didn’t force the fruit over french fry option on them. Yes, they actually did have some veggies this week, too.) was from Chick-fil-a. I personally love going to Chick-fil-a. The employess are always helpful and cheery, they have a clean playland, and my husband always takes the kids to play so that I can have a few minutes to myself to read (this is one of my luxuries these days, and I am thankful for it!).
In addition to a great environment, they usually put books in their kids’ meals instead of toys. This week, they had CDs of stories from the PBS show, “Between the Lions.” My kids love this show, and were so excited to have the stories on CD. I love the fact that it’s not another cheap toy to get kicked around for a week until it breaks and someone has a crying fit over it. And, way too conveniently, the CD lasted just long enough to get us from their parking lot to our garage. I really wonder if Chick-fil-a exists just to brighten my day. :)
Did I mention they were also handing out free samples of their new milkshakes? Yum!
KBaggott at Babylune shares another positive aspect of Chick-fil-a.
Tags: cars, Chick-fil-a, children, Happy-Meal, kids, Kids-Meal, McDonalds, Pirates-of-the-Caribbean, toysRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Children's Books, Children's Music / CDs, Children's Toys
7 opinions for Kid’s Meal Toys
Hsien-Hsien Lei
Jul 16, 2006 at 9:33 pm
We go to McDonald’s every couple of months and it’s a huge deal for S. The other day, I mentioned to another mom that it was our McD day and she said they’d never been to McD yet. Now that’s serious fortitude! My favorite fast food is Taco Bell but most young kids don’t seem to care for them much and I don’t recall them having any cool toys either. The Cars toys are coming to the UK next month or something when the movie is released but the toys are everywhere already including cereal boxes.
OK. I’m rambling….
Kerri Aldrich
Jul 17, 2006 at 10:10 am
Didn’t realize there was such a lag with the movies coming out of the US. I think Cars is almost to the cheap seats here. But the Cars Happy Meal toys were really cute, even without having seen the film yet. Enjoy!
Play Library » Fred Newman Sounds Funny
Aug 11, 2006 at 2:22 pm
[…] I was first introduced to Fred Newman while my kids were watching Between the Lions on PBS. His sound effects were so fun to listen to that I had to stop what I was doing to see his bits on the show. […]
Play Library » I Spy Books
Mar 1, 2007 at 11:36 pm
[…] My middle child is a bit rambunctious (and by a bit, I mean a lot), and seems to be going a mile a minute from the time he wakes up until the time he goes to bed. Sometimes, in the middle of the day, I really need for him to be able to just sit for a bit. That’s where the “I Spy” books come in. I think we first saw them when they came free in the Chick-fil-a kids’ meals. He loved finding all of the objects in the list, and the task of finding them caused him to focus and sit still for just a moment. Ahhh…what a moment. So, for Christmas, we bought him a few more of the books, and some of the items are pretty hard to find! But it challenges him, entertains him, and gives us a quiet, sedentary activity to enjoy in the midst of our crazy days. […]
Play Library » American Idol Happy Meal Toys
Apr 27, 2007 at 5:08 pm
[…] a show that most kids in the under 10 set are glued to? I was confused, too, last summer when the kids’ meals were promoting a movie (Pirates of the Caribbean) that kids weren’t even allowed to […]
Play Library » P is for Pretzel: Part Two
May 9, 2007 at 10:44 pm
[…] idea for the alphabet pretzels came from a Zoom booklet that my daughter received months ago in her Chick-fil-a Kid’s Meal. As is often the case in our home, it’s just a short time after the cooking day, and I no […]
Donnell Cavalet
Oct 4, 2007 at 4:33 pm
Donnell Cavalet…
My wife and I ate at Ruby Tuesday for the first time ever and quite literally laughed at the menu options… almost every single entree has the same Parmesan cream suace (like what you find in the aforementioned Chicken and Broccoli Pasta). We had trou…
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