Mealtime "More"



The other day as my family was sitting down to dinner, I did something that I always tell parents not to do...I noticed my son's high chair tray was empty, and absentmindedly scattered a handful of Cheerios for him to enjoy.  I immediately realized my mistake, and scooped up all but a few of them.  When those few were finished, I had him sign "more" before giving him any more Cheerios. 

The point is, mealtime is an excellent opportunity for communication with your children.  If you don't already, I recommend having at least one meal a day together as a family.  Sit down around the table, and if you don't have a kitchen table, at least sit around the coffee table, or on a rug on the floor.  The point is to be together, not each person in a separate room, not kids eating alone first and adults later, not kids wandering the room to eat.  Turn the TV off for those 30 minutes and enjoy conversation.

With older children, conversation is of course answering and asking questions.  You can get your little one in on the action as well, by teaching them the skill of turn-taking and requesting.  They can be required to ask for "more" by either verbalizing or signing.  They can say please and all done.  You can ask them "what's that?" questions to address the skill of answering questions and labeling. 

So far I haven't touched much on receptive language (understanding spoken language), but mealtime is a good opportunity to ask your child quesions such as "where's mama?  Where's dada?" as well as names of siblings and pets. 

There is so much communication that can occur during meal time--I could go on and on--but I will save this for a later post.  For now, remember to take advantage of the daily routine of eating, and enjoy this time as a family! 

Time to share:  What's your favorite way to get your littlest family members to communicate during mealtimes?