Is you restaurant, bar or café set-up to cater for children? How do you cater for children and families?

It’s not just as simple as having a few smaller menu items and some high chairs, you’ll have to make a few more changes than just that!

Having a business that is ready for families could open up some larger money making opportunities, especially during the holidays…

Families want to eat out more now than at any other time in the past, therefore as a business it’s important to ensure that all your guests leave happy, especially the kids!

Kids might not pay the bill, but they can be the decision makers on where the family goes to eat!

But before you go and replace all your tables with child-size options, we’ve come up with a proper guide to catering for children and young people.

The Menu

This is going to probably be the biggest deciding factor for most parents, they want to know that their child will have something substantial and healthy to eat, and also affordable!

Finger foods are always a good choice, most very young children aren’t capable of using cutlery just yet so finger friendly foods are always going to be something you’ll need on a menu.

A photo posted by HelloSophie (@hellosophiepix) on Apr 9, 2016 at 1:47pm PDT

Healthy options such as fruit and vegetables are necessary as the awareness of a healthy balanced diet is better than it ever has been.

For those slightly older children and young teens half size portions might be enough, just ensure that you have plain options of regular foods, a child is more likely to be picky with additional extras such as salad in a burger or spicy foods.

Children are not notoriously patient, so it may be worthwhile to recommend that parents order their children’s food first – possibly when ordering drinks. This will help prevent temper tantrums if a long wait is unavoidable.

It may take some time to tweak and refine the children’s menu. But once you have it perfected, alongside your ordering process, you can be sure that families will remember how their children love your menu.

Keep them entertained

Even as adults we get bored, especially when forced to wait for something. Having a form of entertainment or task for children to complete is always something that can keep them content.

Colouring books, activity booklets and small toy/play areas are a great way to keep kids engaged and happy whilst parents eat.

A photo posted by Project gala (@galarama) on Mar 17, 2016 at 5:03am PDT

For older children small toys may be a good option, but these are not recommended due to the choking hazard if they have younger siblings.

A play area with communal toys may be an option, but this could pose hygiene problems as children may not wash their hands, bite, lick and chew on toys (unfortunately it happens a lot!). A ball pit is a reasonably good option if you have the space, as these are accessible for almost all ages.

Again it’s worthwhile tweaking this and seeing what works and doesn’t work.

Prices

Parents don’t want to take their family out and spend a fortune. Price your children’s options accordingly.

Consider offering some discounts to give families an incentive to come and visit.

A photo posted by Maison Mes Amis (@maisonmesamis) on Jul 6, 2016 at 3:51am PDT

A big opportunity is to offer free meals with a paying adult. For examples under-5s eat free.

Having these kind of options will make enticing families to your business much easier.

Understandably you might not want to offer family friendly options, if so, ignore all of these suggestions and carry on!

Image courtesy of Lars Plougmann via Flickr