Fun Mealtime Conversation Ideas for Toddlers and Preschoolers

The benefits of family mealtime such as increased vocabulary, healthy eating, reduced anxiety, and increased resilience, only happen when mealtimes are positive.  Many parents have told us and we have experienced it ourselves that children enjoy being with us at the table when we are relaxed and talking about ANYTHING but eating.  Boy, does the mood change at the table when I say “Come on, try the carrots” or “Look at your baby brother eating the broccoli!”  This type of conversation is often met with “I’m not hungry anymore” or “Can I go play now?”.

It got me thinking, are there great conversation ideas out there that can make family mealtime fun and help us to avoid the parent trap of talking about what our child is eating?

Nicole told me about a simple game her family plays at dinner where one family member states 3 facts about their day, 2 that are true and one that is false.  The other family members have to guess the false fact/fake news.  We gave it a go and our 5 year old loved it!

Here are more tried and tested ideas [thanks friends for sharing].

For children aged 2-3  years old:

• Guess the animal:  Take turns eating or acting like an animal. The family members have to guess which animal you are.
• Mixed-up nursery rhymes: Say/Sing a nursery rhyme, changing one word. Your child has to guess the word that you mixed up. For example: “Twinkle, twinkle little sheep”.
• Family quiz: Ask fun simple questions about favourite nursery rhymes, books, or daily events. E.g. “What does Incy Wincy climb up?” or “Who got mail today?”

For children aged 3+ years old:

• I spy (colours, shapes, or alphabet): One family member chooses an item in sight. The other family members have to guess the item based on the clue provided such as “I spy something that is green”, “I spy something that is a circle” or “I spy something the begins with A”.
• Don’t say it: Choose a word that the family is not allowed to say for the whole meal. Have fun trying to get your family members to use that word.
• Continue the story: Each person takes turns adding a line to a story. For example, I say “One sunny day I was at the beach when….” And my 5-year-old says “A big shark came along…” etc.

If dinner-time games aren’t your thing, these are great conversation starters for any age:

• Name the favourite part of your day.
• Name 2 things you are thankful for.
• What made you laugh today?
• What would you like to do tomorrow?
• If your pet could talk, what would he say?
• Name your superpower. What would you do with it?

A few handy tips about family mealtimes:

• Family mealtimes don’t have to be fancy. Your family can be any size and choose any meal to be together. If you want to introduce family mealtimes into your routine, there are some tips to get started here.
• Aim to avoid focusing on what your child eats or does not eat. When children feel pressure to eat certain foods their anxiety will increase and you may witness a flight or fight response such as leaving the table, becoming upset, avoiding coming to the table, or being quiet.
• ·Avoid distractions such as the TV. Studies have found children are more likely to have unhealthy eating habits if there are distractions such as screens during dinner

If you would like more ideas to create happier mealtimes, come along to our Fussy Eating workshop. You can find the details here.

Have a chat and enjoy your meal together.