Dinner Games and Activities

Is the idea of the entire family gathered around the dinner table conversing  and sharing their day a thing of the past?  I don't mean the act of everyone eating at the same time somewhere.  I mean the scene right out of an Andy Hardy movie, where everyone is a little kooky and everyone talks at the same time, where children listen to their elders to find out about the adult world and adults listen to the children to stay involved in their activities.   If your family is anything like ours, getting everyone seated at the table at the same time for a meal is rarely anything like it was at the Hardy's.  Ball practice, Ballet lessons, someone working late, someone leaving early, there is always a reason for the meal to get rushed or sometimes skipped altogether.   Even when we do get together, the focus tends to be on getting the food down quickly so we can get on to the next thing we need to do.   The result is that food gets consumed so bodily process can be nourished, but little of the family interaction that we tend to associate with a "family dinner" and the emotional and intellectual nourishment that could also be found.

We have only a couple of rules at our dinner table, no hats,  no toys, and talk nice (Cole went through the common stage where he loved to say "poop" often to see how shocked he could make us).  We never had to make a "no games" rule, and it is a good thing because the Beginner Dinner and Dinner game sets are a real hoot.  Each set has a deck of 51 cards with a game specifically meant to be played at the dinner table.  There are silly word games, games meant to get your kid(s) to eat (without them realizing it), counting games, thinking games, and most importantly, games designed to encourage family interaction.  Here is a sample card from the Beginner Dinner Games (designed for ages 3-6) from the Family Fun Time Games web site:

The Dinner Games and Activities set is designed for ages 5-12, here is a sample card from the Family Fun Time Games website:

The idea is to stimulate some conversation at the dinner table at a level that no one is left out.  It looks like a lot of fun, has anyone used these before?  If so, leave a comment and let us know your experiences.

 

Family Time Fun Beginner Dinner Games at Amazon.com (eligible for free shipping)

Family Time Fun Dinner Games and Activities at Amazon.com (eligible for free shipping)