Quite often when you ask a preschool child “what was your favorite part of the day?” they reply “lunch!” Well, quite frankly, it’s my favorite part of the preschool day, too.
Connecting as a Family
I love snack and lunch time because when we sit down at the table to eat, we become a “family.” After a busy morning, this is a time to connect.
The manners practiced, the discussion between bites, and the self-help skills mastered make this time the perfect blend of learning, experience and fun.
Fostering Communication
It is the best place to foster communication. The snack and lunch table is the place where each child can make eye contact when speaking and know they are being truly listened to by friends and their teacher.
In these times, where it has become “normal” for children to eat alone in front of a screen, we are happy that our meals are a shared experience the child is a part of.
You’ll Never Know What You’ll Hear
While sitting at our table, you will hear polite conversation, information sharing, and intelligent discussions. Conversations are spontaneous and unpredictable, though steered in certain directions, and negative topics are cleverly discouraged.
Traditions Make Us Smile
It feels like the past, a time when the entire family would gather at the dinner table for meals. At snack, the plates, cups, and napkins are passed, and as with traditional family meals of the past, nobody eats until the adult sits down to join the “family” and the blessing is said.
At our table, you see appropriate-sized bites being taken, utensils being used, and smiles. Our smiles may be coated in food, but yes, we have smiles.
