How often does your family eat together? For many families, dinners on the run due to busy schedules have replaced the act of sitting down at the family dinner table and enjoying a meal together.
But consider this: Statistics show that families who eat together 4-5 times a week produce kids who are much less likely to be involved in illegal drugs, tobacco and alcohol use, premarital sex, and other high risk behavior. It is a time when children feel connected to each other and their parents, where communication can take place and children learn values in an informal environment.
How's that for some motivation to get your family together around the dinner table?
Here are some of the ways we connect as a family at dinner:
But consider this: Statistics show that families who eat together 4-5 times a week produce kids who are much less likely to be involved in illegal drugs, tobacco and alcohol use, premarital sex, and other high risk behavior. It is a time when children feel connected to each other and their parents, where communication can take place and children learn values in an informal environment.
How's that for some motivation to get your family together around the dinner table?
Here are some of the ways we connect as a family at dinner:
- Share the highs and lows of your day — both kids AND parents.
- Discuss different scenarios and ask the kids how they would handle the situation (bullying, not sharing, meeting a stranger, etc).
- Write a story as a family or play "finish this story."
- Play iSpy.
- Spread out a blanket and eat on the floor.
- Make a game with manners! The first person to break a table manner has to hold a specific object. As table manners are broken, it is passed around. The last to have the object has to clear the table, do the dishes, etc.
- Use quiz or trivia questions from a book or game or make some up.
- Talk about old memories ... past vacations or holidays, funniest or most embarrassing moments, the day each child was born.
- Put numbers in a jar and have each child pull a number. Then talk about something with your child and that number. For example, if they pull a "4," tell a story about them being four years old, four things they do well, or four feelings you have toward them. Or have them tell you four things about their day, four things they want to do before they get married, four things they like about school, and so on.
