Did you know family connections can increase by as much as 50% just by eating meals together?? Building connections and spending quality time with your family is important.
Let us help you understand why your family should prioritize meal time:
- They allow time to connect, share values, and problem solve as a family.
- Eating together at the same time or on certain days provides structure.
- Traditions are created at the table.
- Strong correlation of improvement for self-esteem, connectedness, communication and problem solving is benefited at family meal time.
- Children develop better eating habits when they eat alongside adults.
Make the most of your time together! When eating a meal together, it is important to be present and engage with your family. Here are some ideas and questions to get the conversation started:
- Go around and talk about your favorite moment of day, what made you proud, etc.
- Create a jar of topics or questions to keep at the table and take turns choosing and discussing.
- Take turns playing games like “Would you rather?”, “True or False?”, or “What did you see?”
- Cook the meal together! It’s a great opportunity to learn how to navigate the grocery store or kitchen and how to follow a recipe
Not sure how to start involving your children at mealtime? Check out KidsFit in the Kitchen with the Hy-Vee Dietitians!
Now that you know why family meals matter, try challenging your family to eat more meals together this month with the Hy-Vee KidsFit Family Meals Tracker Challenge.
Here’s how you do it!:
- Print off our Family Meals Tracker
- Think of your favorite family meal and draw it on the plate
- Mark a tally each time you eat a meal with your family this month
- Submit your challenge HERE
