Focus On Family Dinner

Conversation games brought us together
"With three active children, dinner time with our entire family is sporadic. However, on those rare occasions when we can sit down together, my husband and I make mealtime fun by using conversation games to get each member involved in the discussion. One idea we often use is to ask each child to share his/her "high" and "low" for the day. A "high" is something good that has happened to the child whether at school or at home, and the "low" is his/her low point for the day. This allows each child -- and us parents -- to share a little bit of the day with the rest of the family, and it's also a great way as parents to learn more about our children's lives while getting the conversation started at dinner. Other great games we've used -- especially as the children were growing up -- was to integrate learning games with mealtime. One such idea was called The Rhyming Game. A designated member of the family would choose a starting word. Each family member would take turns saying a word rhyming with the starting word. The last person to have a word rhyming with the starting word was the winner. In our house, dinner isn't just about the food. It's about using the time together to share our lives through conversation. What better way to bring everyone together than through a fun mealtime game!"
- Carla O., Indiana

The Best/Worst Game
"My husband and I often found talking to our children was like pulling teeth. They would often answer our dinner time questions with, "nothing" or a shrug of the shoulders until we came up with the WORST/BEST game. Every night we gather around the table for dinner and on odd numbered days my daughter picks the sharing order while my son picks the order on even numbered days. We then share the worst part of our day. These worst parts turn into full conversations with ways to deal with our worst parts. We then share our best parts. We always end on a positive note, and often hear stories of success in the classroom that we would otherwise hear nothing about. We have started a tradition that the kids yearn for, and look forward to nightly. As parents we have learned so much about their daily events, and are so thankful for the communication this simple game has brought to us."
- Jennifer R., California

Truth or Fib?
"Our home is no different than the typical American frenetic, crazy household. We are a busy family of six - or seven by our 12 year old Luke's account because he'd include his Bearded Dragon, Raptor. So when dinnertime comes, it is important that I'm prepared with a healthy meal to fix - like Dream Dinners - or it would be easy to miss out on this special family time. With four children, games are always a hit and one of our favorites around the table is "truth or fib". We each get a turn as we go around the table and we tell something noteworthy that happened that day to us and then we tell an untruth - something did not happen. The goal is to try to confuse the other family members as to which is the truth and which is the fib. The ultimate "winner" is the family member who guessed correctly the most times. Not only is this game good fun with a lot of laughter and good storytelling yarns (very similar to the famous story and yarn by Dr. Seuss, "And To think It Happened On Mulberry Street"), but it also lets us share a slice of our day in a creative way with each other. It connects us as a family over yummy nutritional food. And the memories are unforgettable. Oftentimes, the general enjoyment of this game is so great that we'll continue playing with different variations. The categories are limitless: Favorite actor, the place you'd most like to vacation, the best day of your life, your most embarrassing moment, your favorite animal, color, etc.. In a world where everyone is dashing in a million different directions laughter around a healthy meal is priceless! And not only are we being nourished physically and emotionally, but we are learning the particular details, the likes and dislikes, the hopes and fears, about every individual in our unique but delightful family."
- Kristen H.