Eating together can happen at breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Choose the meal that gives you the most time to talk and connect.
If you don’t usually eat together, start by scheduling one meal per week and increase the number as you are able.
Circle your friends and family around healthy foods as often as you can. The more you eat together, the more you benefit.
Try to schedule activities so that they don’t interfere with mealtimes. If that’s not possible, create a meal together around a picnic table in a park on the way to piano lessons or rink-side before hockey.
Tip: Once you decide what meal you are going to eat together, mark it on your calendar like you would any other event. If you have a plan, it is more likely to happen.
The Dressing Table is a great cookbook to start with and have better ideas for your meals.
Everyone Can Help Plan & Prepare Meals
- Eating together is more likely to happen when everyone helps.
- Involving kids of all ages in this with more experience in the kitchen can do the planning, shopping for, and preparing meals. These are important life skills that can help us eat well.
- Children and others new to the kitchen can help in the following ways: take foods out of the fridge or cupboard, tear up lettuce for a salad, sprinkle cheese on a pizza, help wash fruits and vegetables, layer fixings in a sandwich, or put muffin liners in the pan.
- Kids with more experience in the kitchen can do the following: crack eggs, toss a salad, measure in ingredients, stir ingredients in a bowl, put the batter into muffin tins, roll balls of cookie dough and put them on the baking sheet, or pick herbs from the garden.
- Children are more likely to eat the foods they help you to prepare.
- Cooking together is a great way to connect with each other and have fun!
- Use a combination of fresh ingredients and ready-made foods to make fast, easy meals. Over time, make more from scratch. Remember, the meal doesn’t have to be perfect. It’s the time together that’s important.
- Cooking is a great time to teach about food safety. Remind children to wash their hands before and after preparing food, to wash vegetables and fruit before eating, and not to mix ready-to-eat foods with foods that need to be cooked.
- Cooking together is also a great way to teach kids about kitchen safety. Always supervise their activities. Getting burned or cut puts an end to the fun fast!
- Tip: If you aren’t confident in the kitchen, choose simple and familiar recipes. This will help you enjoy your time together instead of trying to figure out the next step in the recipe.
Make Mealtimes About Being Together
Eating together provides a time to be connected. This helps children feel loved, safe, and secure.
Focus on enjoying each other’s company, not on what or how much each child is eating.
Use meal times to teach children about family values and traditions.
Keep mealtime conversations positive. Encourage children to talk about their day. This helps to develop more communication between family members.
Schedule difficult or disciplinary conversations for some time other than meals.
Tip: Turn off distractions like the TV, computer, tablets, and phones during mealtimes. Keep toys and books off the table.
About the author: Bruce Austin is a graduate of San Diego State University and a blogger online. He loves to write about tech, business, marketing, and many more. I've been working for companies like PSD to WordPress, Christian Marketing Experts, Gospeletters, and many more.