Dinner Time Activities

When you bring six children to the dinner table you need a formula that works.


My formula is to keep trying to make it work......keep trying to make it nice,

happy, right....As long as you set your intention on a nice family dinner, it can

happen.



POPCORN PRAYER





My Thirteen year old introduced us to this last year. Whatever religion you are
this is a chance to share with your family that you are grateful for something.

At minimum you can just be grateful to be offered a meal (even if it is a yucky one)

Mostly I try to use this example of giving thanks as a chance to teach. As a chance for
children to understand that everyone can have something to be grateful for. I am grateful my teacher called on me today, I am grateful I had a playdate, I am grateful.. How it becamecalled a popcorn prayer is that one person starts and goes around the table and everyone pops something that they are grateful onto the prayer.


CANDLELIGHT DINNER


Bring candles to your family dinner table and dim the lights if you can, not too much
maybe just unscrew one or two lightbulbs in the room to make a statement. Light a few candles.
Kids see candles at the table for birthdays......they already know that it means an occassion,
the occassion is Dinner Time and you are important enough for me to make it a candle dinner night !


CONVERSATIONS CARDS

I love shopping for conversations cards. On top of the Piano in my dining room I have several boxes of conversational cards which I purchase mostly at book stores. Once a child can read youknow how much fun they have in reading fortune cookies. The concept is the same but the conversational cards ask obscure questions that spark silly answers......They make people laugh and I like to bring together six children and have laughter.

I take a card and place it on everyones plate. For the children who cant read, I read theirs to them in their ears and they laugh for me and share with their siblings !

ARTISTIC DINNER


How the table looks is important to kids.....as important as it is to you. When you arrive at
a table with flowers, with a nice folder paper napkin, with ice in the cups, it feels important!


THREE PLATES ARE BETTER THAN ONE

One of my greatest tricks to make take out/delivery food more exciting is offering up three desert plates in front of each child instead of one dinner plate. Usually deliveries like Chinese Food offer more than one choice for people to select and its fun to have more than one plate infront of you to seperate your food in!

Have Fun with your dinner activities and share with us a comment
of one of your favorite dinner routines !