Kids & Company Blog

Table Manners

Here at Kids & Company we have adopted the Family Style Dining structure at meal times!  Not only does Family Style Dining mean the children are learning to serve themselves, they are also learning how to engage and communicate at the dinner table.  It is important to teach the kiddies from a young age how to behave at the dinner table and table talk is the greatest way to start.

Teaching the little ones about trying all of the food on your plate, cleaning up after yourselves and having good conversations are all part of becoming a big kid! This includes “please” and “thank you’s”.  Family Style Dining encourages polite table manners as the children are constantly passing and accepting items on the table.

When a question is asked at our centres – “Can you please pass the milk?” – Our teachers help encourage even the youngest of our Kidco children to respond nicely and thank their classmates.

Here is a picture of our Family Style Dining in action – check out these children passing around the carrots and serving themselves.

Our teachers use meal time as an opportunity to interact with the children and engage them in active thinking about their food.  Here are some conversation starters we use with the kids! These questions reintegrate our nutrition curriculum programs, create excitement about what they are eating and intrigue at the table! Children wanted to know more about the food they are consuming, this helps create deeper understanding of the food they are eating and eventually………..healthy eating habits!

Daily Questions for Meal Time:

• What does it look like?
• What does it smell like?
• How does it feel in your mouth?
• What happens when you bite it and chew it?
• What does it taste like?
• What other food shares the same colour or shape?
• Is it crunchy?
• Is it soft?
• Is it juicy?
• What else do you notice?

 

Don’t forget to follow us on twitter @kidcochildcare and on instagram @cheflisaruscica!

Cheers,

Chef Lisa Ruscica

Chief Food Ambassador

Posted on: Wednesday November 25th, 2015

Posted by: Lisa Ruscica