Spark Better Family Dinner Conversation With These Tips
Family dinners are not always stuffy, nor do they ever really need to be. If your family is stuck in a rut and you find yourself hearing more of you chewing than any real family discussions at the dinner table, try something new. Studies have shown that families who have dinner together and who discuss their days together often have healthier relationships. The importance of family dinners is proven beyond a shadow of a doubt, so get started right away by discovering ideas to spark new family dinner conversation.
Fun family dinners are possible for every type of family, and a family dinner conversation does not always need to revolve around your kids. But if you make them part of the conversation, they will likely want to participate more. Have lively discussions that keep everyone interested and happy while they enjoy their dinner. Ask your kids what they did at school, but do not pressure them too much. Then add a little bit about your day, sprinkling in a different sort of family dinner conversation. Make sure everyone gets to participate, but try not to make it too formal. Let loose, and your kids will too.
Another way you could spark good family dinner conversation is to come up with some cool family dinner table games that do not take away from your meal but that entertain everyone simultaneously and perhaps in their own special ways. You and your spouse could be amused at one part of the game while your kids could be captivated with other parts of family dinner games. In short, everyone will be entertained, therefore leading to a positively memorable experience at the dinner table.
Aside from table games and talking about the kinds of days you had, you could initiate good family dinner conversation by talking about some fun things that you are kids are going through in their lives. This will not necessarily be directly related to what they did that day, but by talking about your own lives in general and by sprinkling in questions about the kinds of things your own kids like, you could have them join the family dinner conversation casually and could learn something more about them too. If your kids are teenagers, then you know already how much of a challenge this part is. But with some cool ideas and some casual ways to get the family dinner conversation going, you could open them up.
