Avoiding Pitfalls when Dining with a Toddler

Who doesn’t love a dinner date? There is something so universally appealing about sharing a meal with your loved one: eating delicious foods whilst engaging in conversation and enjoying each other’s company.

Of course, most of us have a different image in mind when the meal companion is a young child. Below are the three most common pitfalls you can avoid in order to have more enjoyable meals together.

Toddlers eating according to Montessori / Batole a jídlo podle Montessori

Embrace the mess (and the cleanup). Instead of hovering over your children to make sure they won’t spill or drop food, it’s much more pleasant to relax, expect mess to happen, and make sure the child has the tools to clean up (napkin, wet sponge or cloth, sweeper and mop). Here is a promise: if the sight of a two-year-old scrubbing their chair clean won’t make you smile, I will eat this article.
Don’t sweat the calories. It takes a lot of energy to force, plead, or threaten some children into eating the “correct” amount of food. While, in fact, you want your child to listen to their body’s signals and eat only as much as they need. Unless a child has certain medical conditions, it is completely safe and natural for their appetite and nutritional intake to vary widely. If you really find yourself worrying whether your child is eating enough, track the average they eat in a week.
Take the time for meals. Food is interesting and should be enjoyed and explored. However, set the expectation that during meals, we will focus only on food and one another. Just like checking your phone is a faux pas at a dinner date, toys, screens and wandering off should not be acceptable during your child’s meal. This healthy habit is very easy to implement – simply require that a child sits down to eat and help them clean up if they leave the table.

Toddler setting a table according to Montessori / Batole připravuje stůl podle Montessori

Eating with Montessori Toddlers /Jak jí batolata v Montessori jeslích

Teaching children to use cutlery and dishes / Jak učíme děti používat příbor a nádobí

By Michaela Tučková, IMSP Toddler Teacher

Want to learn more? Read our next article:

CREATING A MONTESSORI HOME

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Cooking With Children can be fun

It is often said that “the family that eats together, stays together”. We would like to suggest taking it a step further – and encourage every family to cook together, too. In Montessori, we know that kitchen work provides a host of benefits to children, all the way from toddlers to adolescents; it is a part of the Practical Life curriculum as soon as children can walk! However, its advantages are in no way tied to the classroom and can be just as easily – if not more so – applied at home.

PEACE EDUCATION

It is no secret that Dr. Maria Montessori is known for her strong advocacy of peace education and how it relates to an essential yet often “invisible” component of the Montessori Method – Grace and Courtesy. Her vision to help all children to feel safe and cared for while preparing them for adulthood is the very foundation of Peace Education in every Montessori classroom, aimed to help cultivate empathy and kindness.