Deciding where to go out to eat might seem stressful, especially when you have young kids. The restaurant you choose should have food that your kids will love, even if they’re the pickiest eaters. You’ll want to avoid any restaurants that aren’t very welcoming toward children. And you know that kids can get bored if they’re forced to just sit quietly the whole time. You need a family fun restaurant everyone can enjoy.

Luckily, there are plenty of options throughout Portland that are not only accommodating to families, but that also offer an enjoyable experience for kids. Whether you’re a Portland resident or just visiting the area, these five restaurants will be fun for the whole family.

1. Hopworks Urban Brewery

Also known as HUB, this family-owned brewery allows you to grab one of the craft beers Portland is famous for without having to leave your kids at home.

This family fun restaurant includes play spaces sponsored by local toy stores, with items such as games, books, and train sets that can keep kids entertained for hours. So this restaurant really does have something for everyone in your family.

Kids and adults can enjoy burgers, pizza, and quinoa bowls. And for the youngest members of your family, you can order organic baby food. The service is very friendly, catering to families and willing to accommodate any requests your kids might have. It’s also a short distance away from the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, so you can plan a full day of family fun!

2. Laughing Planet

Laughing Planet is a restaurant that prides itself on being very environmentally friendly, winning a Portland BEST Award for its sustainable business practices. In keeping with the planet theme, the restaurant is filled with dinosaur toys, which your kids will love playing with.

The restaurant uses local organic ingredients, so you know you and your family are getting the best quality food. The kids’ menu includes both mini- and tween-sized burritos, mini quesadillas, and kid-sized smoothies. The family fun restaurant also makes sure to include information on which of their menu items are vegan, gluten-free, or contain nuts, in case of any dietary restrictions.

Prices are fairly reasonable, as all of the items on the kids’ menu are around $5.50 or less. The service is also quick, so you don’t have to worry about anyone getting impatient.

There are locations in different areas throughout Portland, so you can go to whichever one is most convenient for your family.

3. Mother’s Bistro & Bar

Mother’s Bistro & Bar is a very popular, well-loved spot in Portland. It’s especially a favorite choice for Sunday brunch. For kids, the restaurant features a play area with toys and books.

The menu is full of traditional comfort foods that everyone will love. For instance, the kids’ menu features pancakes, grilled cheese, meatloaf, and chicken dumplings. The main menu has a wide variety of choices, and for adult beverages, they have wine, beer, and a number of delicious cocktails. The food also comes from recipes by actual mothers!

This includes the special “Mother of the Month” items. Every month, a mom is highlighted and honored with her recipes appearing on the menu. You can find more information on this and even nominate a mom on their website.

While it’s great for kids, this restaurant also has chic décor that adults will really appreciate. And everyone will love the incredible family-friendly service. This is the perfect restaurant for a nice family outing that still lets your kids have fun.

Because of its popularity, it would be in your best interest to make a reservation ahead of time, especially if you’re going for a weekend brunch.

4. Mississippi Pizza

Pizza, of course, is a favorite food for people of all ages! And at Mississippi Pizza, there are many, many toppings you can try, including making your own pizza. Vegan and gluten-free options are also available.

Throughout the week, this restaurant hosts family fun entertainment. This includes live music for kids, with artists such as Mr. Ben and the Alphabeticians, and other events, like spelling bees and family-friendly trivia. Be sure to check the schedule on their website to see which events are coming up.

The shows are usually at 4:00 or 5:00 p.m., so you don’t have to worry about them being too late for kids. You can also reserve a space for parties or special occasions. The restaurant itself has a great atmosphere and is part of an exciting neighborhood.

5. Bullwinkle’s

Here at Bullwinkle’s Entertainment in Wilsonville, you’ll find delicious food, an arcade, and plenty of attractions. We have both indoor and outdoor activities for all kinds of weather, which means there are different possibilities for fun all year long!

For instance, our mini golf is open rain or shine. In the warmer months, check out our bumper boats. Kids will love the indoor four-story play area, Kidopolis Playland. While kids are playing on this, adults can be nearby and keep an eye out in a sitting area, which also has free Wi-Fi.

Other attractions include go karts, a zip line ride, and laser tag. And keep a look out for our 16-lane bowling center that will be coming soon. There are enough options for everyone in your family to have a full day of fun and to keep coming back for more!

The restaurant in the family fun center has food items that both kids and adults will love, like specialty pizzas, wraps, BLTs, and cheeseburgers. We can also be a venue for kids’ parties and offer special birthday packages. You can find out more about Bullwinkle’s and purchase tickets on our website.

As you can see, there are many family-friendly options for food and entertainment throughout Portland. This is one of the many reasons why the area is such a wonderful place for families. Whether it’s for a special occasion or just an everyday meal, you’re sure to have a great time at any of these family fun restaurants.

If you want to learn more about our blog, please click here.

Keeping kids busy can be a huge job on its own. They tend to have short attention spans and if they aren’t attended to can get up to mayhem. During holiday periods especially, you may want to keep them busy as they have so much free time. Aside from opening presents on Christmas day, think about new and exciting things that the whole family can do together. No matter how busy life gets, you should always find time to spend with your little ones as those tend to be the memories that count. Here are a few ideas for fun activities that you can do with your kids during the upcoming holidays.

Make Christmas Cards

Since Christmas is around the corner, why not add making personalized cards to the list of things to do? This is a great way to spark your inner creativity and do something that’s thoughtful together.

When making cards, use unconventional paper sources like wrapping paper combined with other items like thicker card materials. Also, don’t forget to keep scraps as they can be used to cut out shapes and make other additions to the cards. Let everyone add their own personal touch to their cards and ensure they distribute them to the recipients in time for Christmas.

Watch a Show

Another activity to think about doing with the kids is going to watch a live show at the theater. If you’ve never done so before, this is your chance to go for the first time as a family. Seeing as it’s the holiday season, see a show such as Disney on Ice as it’s something most people can connect with. In case you’re worried about how expensive it would be to go with the whole family, look for a ticket sale so you can get a better rate than normal.

Create Your Own Tree Ornaments

If you’re going to be putting a Christmas tree up this year, why not make your own decorations as a family? This is something that could be turned into a family tradition and remembered in years to come. To create your own ornaments, you’re probably going to have to go to the DIY shop to get a few materials.

In terms of what ornaments you could make, you could take plain baubles and add your own design to them. You could also put your sewing skills to the test and try an embroidery hoop wreath ornament. Wooden could also give your tree and added touch as well.

Make a Video

This seems to be the age of live recordings and one of the great things about it is the number of memories you’re able to relive. On that note, why not make a mini film of your holiday which documents how your family celebrates the holidays and some of your family traditions? Coupled with funny, sentimental, and priceless moments, it’s something you can watch together in the coming years.

Beyond the four tips mentioned above, there are so many other ways you can keep your kids entertained during the holidays. Just resolve to make sure you’re fully present and live in the moment.

There is no shortage of glitter, tinsel and sparkling items during the festive period but for some people, some of the shine and sparkle has gone out of Christmas. With each passing year, it feels as though commercialisation squeezes more of the goodness out of this time of year and most parents will agree that Christmas today is not like it was when we were young.

This isn’t always a bad thing. It should be said that there are many ways that a modern Christmas is fantastic but if you like the idea of Christmas being a wonderous and magical time, it is fair to say that times have changed, and people have moved on.

If you were to sit back and remember the Christmases you loved as a child, many memories will spring to mind. There will be some presents that stick in your mind but for many people, most of the festive memories are based on the times spent with others.

Find events that bring your loved ones together this Christmas

The Christmas Day meal is a fantastic example of an event that brings people together. The meal is important, but the most essential element comes with bringing people together and ensuring that there is a reason for people to come together. Once that is in place, the good times flow naturally, and this means parents should be looking for ways to create moments that draw the whole family together.

In the present day, receiving a letter is likely to be an event that makes the whole family stop and take notice. We live in a digital age and it may be that the only things coming through your door are bills and junk messages. Therefore, when something important comes from the door, people will take notice and what could be more exciting than a personalised letter from Santa Claus?

Engage and encourage your kids in the most appropriate manner

If you are looking to engage your kids in an effective and appropriate manner, personalised letters from Santa Claus is likely to be a brilliant way of doing so. Creating the chance to gather together to read the letter is the start of the process but the real magic comes with the personalised nature of the letter.

With Lapland Mailroom, there is a chance to customise the letter to include several key details about the child who receives the letter. There is a chance for parents to acknowledge great behaviour in the past year and to inspire and influence children to do more in the year that lies ahead. Sometimes children don’t always listen to what their parents say but when the encouragement and motivation are being provided by Santa Claus, you can guarantee that the youngster will be doubly motivated to live up to the promise and hopes contained within the letter.

Create a sense of wonder this Christmas season

Even though a modern-day Christmas is far removed from the festive seasons you enjoyed as a child, you don’t have to give up on your hopes of your children enjoying the same sort of experience. It is possible for parents to ensure their kids’ experience and love Christmas traditions from a bygone era and time, and a personalised letter from Santa can make all the difference.

If you have been worried about the pessimism and cynicism surrounding the festive period these days, you don’t have to sit back and accept it. There are ways that you can help to create the magic and love of the year that you are familiar with and want youngsters to experience today. It is only natural that many people hold a pessimistic view of Christmas and carry a cynical view on the commercialisation of the season but by tapping into the magic of the season, you can make a Christmas that your kids love.

It has never been easier to create a genuinely personalised letter from Santa that your kid will instantly recognise as being true to their life. No matter the message you want to spread, this gift delights the recipient and other family members who enjoy the magic of the season coming alive once more.

If you’re looking to sprinkle some Christmas love on to the people you care about, a personalised letter from Santa Claus, via Lapland Mailroom, may be exactly what you need.

It is normal to be very frustrated when you have spent time preparing a meal and your toddler simply refuses to eat it. Approximately 90% of children go through at least one lengthy phase of fussy eating. Eating habits and tastes are formed at an early stage therefore it is important to offer a variety of foods from the start. Learning to eat is like any other learning process, it takes time. While it can be very annoying when your child rejects the food we prepare for them, their eating habits are hugely influenced by our reaction to the situation.

Don’t get emotional

This sounds easy in theory, but actually the practice of it is very hard.  Usually by the time parents look for help about their child’s “fussy feeding” the patterns of conflict are well established and parents’ stress levels about food have usually soared to serious heights. If arguing with your child about eating or not eating has become a battle of wills, then you are probably finding that it’s one of the few areas where your child’s will is prevailing. Children realise very soon that there are few things they can control, one is what goes into their mouth and the other is what comes out. Children if left alone will regulate their own food intake to ensure that they are not left hungry and they will in general get enough energy to live, grow and move.

It is understandable that eating habits are worrying for parents, however it is important to park up emotions at mealtime. All parents become anxious when their children do not eat properly. Don’t pander to a restricted diet, instead offer a variety of balanced meals.

Try and develop a daily routine of three meals and two snacks around your toddlers sleeping pattern. Your child will then know when to expect food. This will also encourage your child to eat, depending on the age of your child, you might want to explain to your child  that you are no longer going to feed them, allow 15 -20 min for each meal and take the plate away  even if the plate is not empty. Praise your child when he eats well or tries something new and try hiding your frustrations. This may mean that you have to ignore some behaviour.

There is no magic solution to fixing a fussy feeder, especially if the pattern has been going on for some time. It takes a lot of patience and consistency to ensure parents turn the situation around.  Once you decide to take control stick with it.

Knowledge of child growth and development will allay anxieties for parents. Young children vary in what and how much they are willing to eat. This unpredictability is due in part to their inconsistency about independence, and eating is an area where they can act out this confusion. So don’t be surprised if your child eats a large plate of food one day and practically nothing the next, loves parsnip on Monday and refuses it on Friday, will self-feed at one meal and wishes to be feed in the evening. Try to simply “go with the flow” and don’t take your fussy feeders habits too personally.

Relax

Children sometime between their second and third birthday become set in their ideas on just about everything, including the way food is prepared. Expect food fixations i.e. cheese first and then a slice of ham in a sandwich. Don’t see this as being stubborn. Toddlers have a fixation about the order of things in their world.

Food refusal is a normal phase that most toddlers pass through. Fear of new foods in the second year may be a survival mechanism to prevent increasingly mobile toddlers from poisoning themselves through eating anything and everything. Toddlers may limit the variety of foods they eat. This phase will normally pass without too much fuss but it may last for a few years and be more visible in some toddlers than in others. Your child may refuse food if it is new. Remember they need to taste it a few times to learn to like (up to 10 times) so offer it the next time you are eating it. Some children eat less than other children of a similar age. If your child is growing and developing normally then it is most likely that he or she is taking the right quantity of food for his or her own needs. Don’t just look at the daily intake but look on previous week. It may be helpful to keep a food diary, you may be surprised at the amount of food your child actually takes.

Stay positive and focus on enjoying healthier options, and don’t dwell too much about the unhealthier choices.  The important thing to remember with any changes is to try and persist with them; it can take up to 10 times before you succeed.  The more frequently children can try healthier foods, the more likely they will eat them – but discuss and compromise a little as this is also part of role modelling a healthy approach.

Explore the Laya Healthcare site for more information on family health insurance cover options or to get a health insurance quote online today.