While children don’t quite take a joy in dining as many adults do, they do seem to love the social aspect of gathering around a dinner table, especially when there are other kids joining. If you have children, or are simply looking to provide a kid friendly dining room for when you have friends and family over, then consider making a few small investments that will make dining at your house easy and enjoyable for people of all ages. Here are just a few ways to set up your child friendly dining room.
Lose the upholstery
One thing that you can be virtually certain about when entertaining kids at the dinner table is that spills will happen. The best way to mitigate the damage that spills cause is by removing surfaces that stain easily, such as upholstered chairs and carpeting. This will both reduce the amount of clean-up work after meals and reduce stress during them.
Create a small play area
If you have small children and need to maintain supervision then having a play area in, or adjacent to, your dining room will prevent children from getting fidgety at the table. It’s also a good idea to keep smaller toys within arm’s reach, so that children can have something to do at the table while they’re waiting for their food, and between courses.
Avoid electronics
Many parents use today’s mobile electronics as a solution to child boredom, but at the dinner table this is not rude to guests, but also a major distraction. Even if children are wearing headphones, which they tend to hate, these can easily slip out and interrupt dinner with a range of movie or game sound effects.
Use plastic instead of glass and ceramic
Children enjoy being treated as adults. The more you offer them the chance to act maturely the quicker they tend to take up that challenge. But when it comes to dining there are a whole range of problems that can occur by trusting young ones with adult glasses and plate ware. The best move is to give children plate ware that has the appearance of being the same as the rest of the table, but won’t break when it is dropped or squeak beneath a knife and fork — usually the best bet is plastic.
Decorate with family photos
One way to make your dining room appear family friendly and warm to visitors is by decorating it with photos and mementos that are important to your family. A few pictures of you and your loved ones around the dinner table will make the mood light and happy as you enjoy your meal.
Begin planning your kid friendly dining room today, and you’ll soon find your eating experiences to be more relaxed and maybe even a little tastier.
Images by Aidan-Sally, quinn. anya and familyhodgson, used under Creative Commons license
