Family Style Meals

12/30/2021

If you really want to make a friend, go to someone's house and eat with him...the people who give you their food give you their heart.
Cesar Chavez

“Imagine an adult who can make an awesome construction paper heart, but can’t sit still for a meal.” Gigi Schweikert offers this provocation as she makes the case for family style meals in early childhood programs. “During meals, children learn social skills, language, fine motors skills, math concepts like one-to-one correspondence and ordering objects. They learn how to make choices, to develop greater self-confidence and the list goes on. Perhaps as educators, we should invest as much planning, preparation, and evaluation in meals as we do for other activities.”

Schweikert provides several tips for making family style meals work with young children – from providing more time to respecting children’s choices. Above all, “if the idea of family style is overwhelming, start small. Have children set the table and assist you in cleaning up. But most important, sit down and enjoy. And remember, naptime always comes right after lunch.”

Explore these ideas further in an Out of the Box Training based on Schweikert’s article, “Who Needs the Mess? Family-Style Meals.”

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