This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #BackToPlay #CollectiveBias Thank you Back to Nature Macaroni & Cheese for sponsoring this post. Try the new Back to Nature Made with Organic Macaroni & Cheese Dinners!
My oldest is six years old and it’s a daily battle to keep him in his seat for a full meal. His high energy and short attention span makes for an impatient kid that just wants to stand up, walk around, play, dance, or anything besides eat. One of my personal parenting mantras is to “meet them halfway.” Instead of demanding that he sit still and finish his food in silence “because I said so,” I needed to find a solution that worked for both of us. Thanks to Back to Nature Mac & Cheese, I had a great idea!
I decided to try incorporating an activity at the dinner table by adding a tear-off paper roll to the table. It doubles as an activity mat AND a place mat to catch all the mess. In just a few easy steps, you have an easy solution to make dinner time fun.
1 | Designate your child’s dinner place and set it up for creative fun with paper and crayons and maybe part of the dinner ingredients, like noodles You don’t have to have a roll, you could also just lay down sheets of paper.
2 | Spark their imagination with an idea or prompt. In these photos, I had asked Grayson to start with an outline of a face and see how many ways he could change the expression using the noodles.
3 | Serve them their dinner and allow them to multi task!
4 | After dinner, clean up is a breeze. Just fold up your paper and toss it in the trash. Voila! Meal time was fun, and everyone is happy.
One of Grayson’s favorite dinners is Back to Nature USDA Organic Mac & Cheese. I must admit, as a child at heart, I love the creamy, cheesy deliciousness too! It’s non-GMO, organic, and is a great source of calcium and protein. There are no artificial flavors, preservatives, or synthetic colors. It’s convenient for me to make as a busy work-at-home-mom, which is key! It’s also the perfect meal to make for inspiring creativity in the littles, since they can use the noodles to make so many things!
What meal idea do you have for your kiddos to get creative and have fun?
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