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 Eating lunch with other children is a fun, learning social time. It's an opportunity for conversation between peers in a controlled setting. Children can talk about their activities of the day or anything that comes to their inventive minds. Because they are sitting near each other and engaged in an activity they enjoy and want to do, children are more able to talk and take turns listening. A shy child may find it easier to participate in the conversation because it is calmer and more structured than some other social settings during the day. Mealtime can also be an opportunity for learning. The teacher can direct the conversation to discuss many things such as a current theme of study or a recent field trip. If the class is focusing on animals, the teacher may ask the children about an animal they've seen at home or on the playground or in a book. This will open up the discussion among the children and can go in many interesting directions. The teacher may take advantage of lunch time to talk about where many foods come from, what colors of food are on the table, or what nutrition is in different foods. Most importantly, mealtime needs to be a pleasant time among friends. There should be talking, laughter, shared thoughts, interests and friendships. At Top Tots, we think mealtime should be a little loud, a little messy and thoroughly enjoyable. It takes preparation and clean-up, and is much more fun if everyone participates in the whole process. |
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There's more to lunchin' than crunchin' and munchin' |
