Tailgating with Kids

As I mentioned before, we have season tickets for Penn State Football. Our three boys are all huge football fans {who am I kidding, they are huge any-type-of-sport fans), so we love taking them to games.

We start ’em early, up in these parts. Connor was 3 weeks old when he went to his first Penn State game. 

 And usually, those games involve a {sometimes pretty long} tailgate.

While poking around the internet preparing for Tailgating Week, I found a ton of checklists and tips for tailgating, but very few things about tailgating with kids. So I decided to drop some of my “tailgating with kids” knowledge on y’all.

Look out.

TIP #1: Bored kids become whiny kids.
Above all else, be sure to have something to keep the kids busy. While you may be content to sit in a folding chair, drinking a beer and chatting with your friends, kids will not. {Well, obviously kids wouldn’t be sitting and drinking beer. You know what I mean.}

Older kids may be happy playing meant-for-adult tailgating games like catch, washers, or cornhole {aside: I hate that name. HATE it. It’s gross and creepy and why anyone would ever decide to name a game that is beyond me. That is all. Rant over.}, but younger kids probably won’t. At least not for more than 4 minutes. 

Although sometimes washers can occupy them for a while, especially if there is sand involved.

Take balls, books, crayons, coloring books or coloring pages {do a Google search for “football coloring pages.” There are about a billion, and you might even find some that are specific to your team.}, small toys, even games without a lot of small pieces. Twister is super fun for kids at tailgates {when you’re on grass, not pavement}, and once the adults around you have had a few bevvies, they might join in as well. I wouldn’t recommend Legos, other toys with tiny pieces, or any toys that have a high sentimental — or monetary! — value, because it’s pretty much inevitable that something is going to get lost.

While I have 3 boys who are usually happy with a football and some room to run, a lot of our tailgating friends have girls who are not. At one tailgate last year, the girls all brought nail polish and other beauty supplies and created a little spa day. 

The moral of the story: doesn’t matter what it is, just bring activities that your kids will enjoy.

Tip #2: Be prepared for the worst to happen, because it probably will.

Always, always, ALWAYS bring a change of clothes for each kid. Doesn’t matter how old they are, bring it. You might not use it, but wouldn’t you rather bring extra clothes and leave them untouched in the car than have someone test out a “juice box fountain” and end up dripping wet? Or find the one puddle in the entire parking lot and decide that there is nothing in the world they would rather do than jump in it? Connor once choked on a tortilla chip and puked all over himself about 45 minutes into a tailgate. And David once looked like this. 

 

I’ll let you use your imagination to determine what you think the rest of him looked like. Hint: it wasn’t pretty.

In addition to extra clothes, make sure you have loads of wipes {even if you don’t have anyone in diapers — see above picture for why}, hand sanitizer, tissues and Shout Wipes. {Again, refer to photo above.} 

Tip #3: Be sure to have kid-friendly food and drinks.

Now, this one makes me a tiny bit uncomfortable {and I promise to not get all preachy on you right now}, because I’m a firm believer in kids eating the same foods as adults. Most of the time. That being said, if your main tailgate food is five-alarm chili, then probably that’s not the best for the little people. Hot dogs, sausages, hamburgers, sandwiches, chicken tenders, quesadillas and pizza are all great, easy-to-grill options for main foods, and having easy-to-eat fresh fruit like grapes, apples, bananas and watermelon slices is a great idea too. {For us, all bets are off when it comes to healthiness on football Saturdays, but it doesn’t hurt to offer up some more nutritious options.}

Be sure to get more juice boxes, bottles of water, etc. than you think you’ll need, because all that running around can make a little fella {or lady} parched. And it’s a good idea to pack the non-grown-up drinks in a separate cooler. No one needs to see your kid pulling Miller Lights out of a cooler just so he can get to the Capri Suns. Not that something like that has ever happened to me, of course… 

Ahem.

Tip #4: Put ’em to work.

My kids love having a job. David especially loves to help cook, and while you probably don’t want an 8-year-old around a flaming grill, there is plenty that kids can help do. Put them in charge of pouring the chips into bowls and removing the lids from the dip containers. Give them a pen and a little notebook — or if you want to get really fancy, you could actually get them a guest check pad and have them play restaurant with the people at the tailgate. Finding out who wants cheese or bacon on their burger is a very important job, yo. 

Tip #5: Put up a tent. 

Tailgating can get long. And hot. And tiring. And if you have kids, you know that those three things together can cause the perfect storm of meltdowns. So if you’re not in the shade, throw up a tailgating tent. And whatever you do, don’t forget the sunscreen.

What are your best tips for tailgating with kids?

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