As the final countdown until Thanksgiving Day dinner continues, you may be slightly concerned about dining with your own children-or the children of your guests. After all, most children (my own included) can wolf down their meal in only a few minutes, then begin their quest of irritating the slow-eaters (i.e. adults) around them. How can you enjoy your meal if all the little people are squirming, and fidgeting? The entire day can be a long one for little people, so in order to save a few headaches, read on.
Over the years, I have learned a few tips that might make your Thanksgiving Day more gratifying for adults and children alike. These ideas also work well for other occasions-large dinner parties, holiday parties, family reunions, and the like.
1. Recognize the number of children and their ages. If you have mostly very small children, you may have to feed them before the big meal, and not require them to sit through the entire dinner.
2.Older children will appreciate being included as helpers. There are plenty of things kids can do to help: older kids can help "babysit" the younger ones (the offer of a dollar or two assures better treatment).
3.Children love to help out in the kitchen. Plan ahead if you think you might have some helpers-save some simple tasks for them to do-setting the table, filling water glasses, checking things off your to do list.
4.Give kids a craft project: I usually let the kids make place cards (out of plain index cards). They color them, use stickers, then sometimes I let them decide where everybody will sit. Another crafty idea is to let the children write down the dinner menu and decorate it.
5.If you are having a big crowd, you may want to have a separate table for the children. Generally speaking, children love their own "special" table. My family often does this, since there are ten adults, and eleven children. It is also fun to cover the children's table with white butcher paper, and let the kids decorate it with markers and crayons.
6.If the weather is nice, have a fall scavenger hunt for the kids. Before the big day, prepare a list of items for the hunt: acorns, different colored leaves, pine cones, etc. If there are lots of kids, divide up into teams. Purchase some prizes from the dollar store to hand out.
7.Since my family is so large, we have an annual football game-dad's against the kids. As the years have gone by, the dad's are no longer "letting" the kids win-now it's war.
8.Let an older child run the video camera (my husband would say that is why we are now on our third video camera-so choose the child carefully). Alternatively, purchase some disposable cameras for the children, and let them snap photos of the day.
9.Hand out some notepads, and encourage the children who can write to interview the guests about past Thanksgiving experiences, what they are thankful for, favorite Thanksgiving memories, etc. Then, during dinner, take turns reading the interviews.
10.Before or after dinner, play charades. If you have a large group, divide up into teams. If the children are older, play adults versus children. Do not be surprised if the children win.
11.While the adults are chatting and preparing the meal, encourage the children to make up a play and rehearse. My children, along with their cousins, routinely put on shows for the adults after dinner. We videotape these, and they are great fun to watch whenever we get together. If there will be older children in attendence, get them in on the act. Let the older kids act as directors, script writers, or technical support.
Adlen Robinson is a free lance food writer and columnist. Feel free to send her an email with your questions at [email protected].
Monday
August 4th, 2025
5:13PM
