Grocery stores can be crowded, difficult to navigate, and full of eye-catching displays of junk food and toys that make kids of all ages catch a serious case of the gimmes. That doesn't mean you have to leave the kids at home.

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Eating is an experience families like to share, so it only makes sense that food shopping should be a shared experience as well. Watching their parents stock the larder helps give children a sense of security. Seeing parents read food labels, cut coupons, and monitor the budget gives them an idea of the responsibility involved in maintaining the health and finances of a family.

It's not just the kids who can learn from the experience. More men are going grocery shopping these days, but for the most part, guys still feel overwhelmed and out of their element while in the supermarket aisle. Getting your husband involved in the shopping trip might help him get acquainted with the finer points of food shopping, so the next time you need him to pick something up on the way home from work, you'll actually end up with the right item.

From the moment you grab the cart until the time you check out, there are ways to make food shopping better for the whole family.