7 Ways to Make Family Dinner Successful

It is interesting to me which memories stand out from our childhood. I remember waiting for my dad to come home from work so that we could sit down for dinner together as a family. Since the majority of my extra-curricular activities took place during the school day (music lessons) or during the summer months (baseball) I don’t remember any nights where we didn’t have supper together as a family until I got a job.

Eating dinner together every night is not a realistic option. Trust me. Once our kids started their extra-curricular activities we found it hard to sit down together every night. Right now we are lucky to have 5 out of 7 days available to have supper as a family. Some weeks, those 5 days turn into 2, 3 or 4 but we always eat together when we can!

Here are 7 Ways to Make Family Dinner Successful

#1) Get the family involved in shopping and food preparation. Kids love to help out in the kitchen. And if your kids are anything like mine, they are guaranteed to eat a meal they helped plan or cook.

#2) Turn off cell phones and the TV. When you aren’t distracted by electronic devices you can connect with your kids and vice versa. Unless you are a doctor or have a profession where “on-call” can’t wait, the world will not fall about in a 1 hour time period 😉

#3) Conversation Starters. Printing out a list of conversation starters is a great way for you to keep the line of communication open with your kids. While it is a great way to get to know little details about your kids, it is also a great way for your kids to learn more about you!

#4) Make dinner fun with theme nights. Plan a dress-up night. Whether it be formal night, pirate night or some other fun theme, your kids will love a fun theme night surprise.

#5) Keep it realistic. Younger children will find it hard to sit through family dinners. Don’t expect too much from them. Try printing out a few colouring page placemats or fun activities

#6) Keep it simple. Sometimes all you need is a great base to make your next family meal perfect. Happy Planet not only has great grab-and-go soup options, but also has fabulous, fresh, family size soups as well!

These soups from Happy Planet are not only delicious, but healthy for you!

Made with fresh, premium, natural and certified organic ingredients

Contain NO preservatives, artificial ingredients, colourings or anything that you can’t pronounce!

Organic, gluten free, dairy free, vegetarian, and vegan options

Delicious, nourishing, and convenient meal solutions – just heat and enjoy!

Proudly Canadian & made in small kettle batches in BC & Ontario