Due to work and other commitments, parents have limited bonding time with their children who, in turn, are often left to play online games and watch online shows. To help them spend quality time with each other without involving screentime, McDonald’s launched the Happy Meal O’clock program in partnership with Shoppertainment Live. 

Making bonding sessions more memorable with Happy Meal 

With Bea Fabregas and Gino Quillamor as hosts, Happy Meal O’clock taught parents how to nurture creativity with their kids for its September. 25, 2022 episode. The duo recounted how they helped their kids stay creative during the pandemic, as well as how honing their creativity served as a good bonding moment between them. Children’s Book Illustrator Rev Cruz, the episode’s special guest, explained the benefits of showing kids traditional creative activities while sharing his own personal experience of teaching art through workshops and teaching professionally. Teen Titans, which came with crayons and sticker sheet, was revealed to be the Happy Meal of the day. 

The next Happy Meal O’clock session, streamed on October 12, tapped Andi Manzano and Nish, also known as Dyosa the Momma, as hosts. Both gave tips on how to spark kids’ imagination with pretend play which can make physical playtime exciting and have kids look forward to spending time with their parents. To learn more about pretend play, Rina, one of McDonald’s GEMs or Guest Experience Managers, shared great ideas that parents can adopt for their child’s playtime. She also demonstrated how to create the mini McDo store using materials that are readily available at home as inspired by the featured Happy Meal of the episode, McDo Play Set. 

Just a few days after the Grand Halloween Fun Day event at SMX, Happy Meal O’clock held a Virtual Halloween Party hosted by Bea and Nish on November 4. Both host moms shared a glimpse of their own Halloween celebration with their families, including their experience in dressing up their kids. They also decorated their Happy Meal Boxes and transformed them into trick or treat boxes, emphasizing how having fun doesn’t have to cost much.  

Judy Ann, Luna, and Ryan Agoncillo delighted viewers with their special appearance on the last Happy Meal O’clock livestream of the year as they talked about the importance of bonding time between parents and children for its December 9 episode. Hosts Saab Magalona-Bacarro and Dani Barretto-Panlilio, meanwhile, talked about their favorite bonding activities with their kids during the pandemic like reading and playing with toys. Saab mentioned how she likes open-ended play, a kind of play that has no strict rules to follow and no “correct” solutions or fixed outcomes at the end, as it provides a safe space for children to be themselves and explore concepts and ideas. The celebrity moms also gushed about the Potato Head Happy Meal Collection, a set of 8 toys in partnership with My Little Pony and Transformers, as kids can build their own unique Potato Head characters and create endless playful combinations. 

Building the Happy Meal O’clock Habit 

More than being an affordable and convenient way to treat kids with toys, the Happy Meal O’clock initiative hopes to help parents and children create more fun, unforgettable bonding moments together. 

Want to rewatch the Happy Meal O’clock episodes above? Start here. 

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