Pass the What?

• Encourage vocabulary building with a mealtime game for kids. Serve the meal family-style, placing all of the food in serving dishes on the table. When children would like a helping of a food to be placed on his plate, he must ask for it. The twist is that he can not use the name of the food in his request but rather give a description. Instead of, "May I have some mashed potatoes," kids need to say something like, "May I have some of the white, fluffy food that tastes good with gravy." Rather than, "Pass the shredded cheese," kids say, "Pass the little, yellow pieces of fringe for my taco."
  
  

Question Bowl

• Before the meal, cut strips of paper. Write questions on them. Consider your kid's interests and recent activities when writing the questions. For example, "Which relative would you like to visit for a week and why," or, "If you could eat only three things, what would they be." Pick subjects that will provoke table talk. If older kids want to get in on the preparation for the activity, let them write a question or two to place in the bowl. At mealtime, draw questions from the bowl, then read them aloud. Let everyone have a turn answering.
  
  

Manners Police

• Teaching please and thank you, closed mouth chewing and proper use of a napkin is easier when manners are practiced during a mealtime activity presented as a game. Before the meal, decide which manners will be scrutinized by a family member designated as the "Manners Police Officer." Equip the officer with a plastic whistle to wear around her neck. Any time the officer witnesses someone committing a manners offense---open mouth chewing or napkin on the table instead of in the lap---the whistle is blown and the offender must make amends by singing a silly song. Choose a silly song your family likes, or let the offender choose a song to sing.
  
  

Mixed Up Meal

• Try an activity that turns an ordinary meal into a one of a kind culinary experience. Prepare a favorite meal for kids. Make tacos or another meal that features different items that are ultimately assembled into a dish. Write the names of the foods onto strips of paper. Place the strips into a mug. Make one for each child. At mealtime, give each child an empty plate and a mug. Let each child draw three paper strips from his mug. Read the names of the three foods, then place the three items that matched the words on the strips onto each plate. One child may have a taco shell, cheese and sour cream. Another may have taco meat, green onions and tomatoes. Let the children eat the foods, then draw three more strips and fill the plates again.