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Last weekend we were invited down to our local McDonald’s restaurant in Chester to experience one of their free family events and were lucky enough to be able to take not only our own boys but a few of their friends along with us too. Now McDonald’s is a well known brand and one that is usually associated with tasty food, treat teas, and Happy Meals by children and a great place for a pit stop, quick lunch, and affordable food by the adults. However, over the years this has changed and one of my favorite changes so far has been to the diversity of the menu. I love that you can now get healthier options in the Happy Meals including fruit bags and vegetable sticks, vegetarian options and drinks that include milk and water. I also love that the menu for the adults is also adapting and includes lower calorie options, my favourite being the grilled chicken wrap, as where I sometimes treat the kids and not myself I now feel I can eat along side them guilt free.
Another change that McDonald’s have brought about is to the overall atmosphere of their restaurants. They are rapidly moving away from the pit stop, quick stay, fast food focus and instead are encouraging families to sit down and enjoy their food and spend some quality time together amidst the busy lifestyles that everyone leads.
The way they have done this includes the introduction of table service, which is brilliant as it means you can grab a seat, sit back, and converse with your family, instead of spending too much time queuing up, trying to keep an eye on tables as they become available, and entertain the kids all at the same time.
Another way is with these FREE family events that are being held up and down the country. The events, like the one we attended at the weekend, are perfect for families as there are activities for all ages including:
Tableclothes that can be coloured in
Tableclothes with quizzes and jokes to get them thinking
Arts and craft activities
Face painting
Balloon modeling
and iPads pre loaded with games.
What we found from our visit was that the kids absolutely loved the idea of being able to stay and play before and after they had enjoyed their food. From the minute we sat down there was laughter from all of them, so much so even the staff couldn’t help but join in, their crazy giggles were literally contagious.
The kids were invited to have their faces painted and at first they were all a bit reluctant and not sure what to choose but as soon as one decided he wanted to be a walking advert for McDonald’s they all followed suit which really did only add to the hilarity of the morning.
Especially when the youngest decided he needed to go one bigger and one better than everyone else and turned his entire face into the golden arches.
All of these activities are FREE and as they are run by trained members of staff you, as the parent, can get as involved as you like. You can choose to join in with the activities or grab a moment to enjoy your own food and a drink whilst it’s still hot, which lets face it is a rarity as a parent.
However involved you choose to get you will no doubt be laughing along with them and agreeing that McDonald’s is THE place to be for quality family fun, with affordable, delicious, food and something for everyone. To find out when the next FREE family event is taking place near you check out the McDonalds website.
Here are some more places where kids eat free .
(This post was written in collaboration with McDonalds).