We come with 5 ideas to play and educate at the table that will be very useful these days together with our children. Exceptionally, we will be able to enjoy your presence and your company at mealtime.
Let us take advantage of the opportunities of this exceptional situation, which forces us to stay at home, to live the moment around the table in a more enriching and creative way.
How old are your children?
From 4 to 8 years old . Set of cutlery and napkin.
They are still young to understand table etiquette, we can try to transform some rules and customs into a fun game that should not be without a reward at the end.
Before we start eating, we will establish the rules of the game: it is about not forgetting, being attentive and not failing. Whoever manages to pass these tests will have won the game:
- Place the napkin on the legs before starting to eat, it does not matter if it is made of paper. Remember to take her to the left of the plate at the end.
- When the second plate is finished, place the cutlery together on the plate to one side marking four twenty.
- The bread on the left. Better if we have a plate of bread , but simply that they already know from a young age that it is placed on the left.
For large families we can set the figure of the inspector, who will change every day and will be the one who "denounces" whoever fails to comply and, if applicable, deducts points.
From 8 to 12 years old . Set the table with imagination.
We are going to give you the freedom to set a table creatively! They can do it individually, “today Luis designs the table”, or together. The table must be set at least an hour before eating to make it look good. Then we will take a souvenir photo.
It is convenient to provide them with ideas to awaken their creativity like these:
- Make a letter or menu that will be placed on the plate.
- Create name tags and make a seating plan.
- The message center cannot be absent ... we can start from an original salad bowl .
We can give them resources such as garlands of lights if it is a dinner, fruits to create a center with nuts, or with apples…. They can also make decorations with Legos or Playmovil elements ... They will surely surprise us!
From 12 to 15 years old . Hosts for a day.
We can sophisticate the subject a little more. What if in addition to taking care of the table they take care of the plating?
It depends on the age and the abilities we can propose to prepare a surprise lunch or dinner. It would be nice to leave them the ingredients that they can use in sight and a couple of envelopes, with idea cards, to help them in the mission and that it is not difficult but fun.
We will be well dressed and groomed to the appointment.
From 15 to 18 years old . Set the table seriously.
Learning the basic rules of protocol at the table is something that never hurts. It will be useful when they have to attend a business lunch, or even important… if the interview for their future job is done at a restaurant table.
This can be a good time to learn. How about playing table setting following protocol?
- On the right: The knives are placed to the right of the plate with the edge facing in, arranged so that those farthest from the plate are the first ones we will need. On the right will also be the spoon.
- On the left we will find the fork or forks also attending the same order.
- The dessert cutlery: The fork closer and pointing to the right, and the dessert or coffee spoon behind and in the opposite direction.
- The glasses: they are to our right and diagonally starting from the fork; the closest is that of white wine, the next that of red wine and then, and larger, that of water.
Every day it is more frequent to replace the glass of water with an original design glasses . In this case it is allowed to place it on the right first.
Do we put it into practice?
From 18 to 100…. The Trivial on the table.
Food worries us, the act of cooking at home is going viral and in many houses sitting down to eat has more prominence than ever.
How about using google to research curiosities around the table? In India you always eat with your right hand, and your family may not know it. You already have the first question for your list.
"In which country in the world can you not use your left hand to eat even if you are left-handed? France, India, Mexico or Japan?
Who dares to invent the table trivia for their home?
These are 5 ideas to play and educate at the table, but surely we can incorporate many more. ! These days there will be time to think!
