Benefits and Steps for Family-Style Dining

Infants & Toddlers Healthy Environments Lesson 5 Learn Benefits and Steps for Family-Style Dining Guide	WWW.VIRTUALLABSCHOOL.ORG ACTIVITY ID: 14951 Name Certifier Date
Developmental Benefits: The Importance of Family Style Dining Small and Large Muscle Development (motor development) Encourages children to serve themselves, which develops their eye-hand coordination. Encourages coordination of body movement to move chair, sit, and stand from chair. Helps children learn manipulation of utensils. Social Development Allows time for conversations about food, the events of the day, the events to come, and things that occurred at home—conversations that can happen by the time children are toddlers. Encourages interactions with adults and peers. Promotes social identity, an indicator of infant and toddler social development. The child develops increasing awareness of his or her relationship to others in the group. Cognitive Development Promotes use of tools and problem solving through manipulation of utensils. Promotes imitation, the ability to repeat and practice actions modeled by another. Language/Communication Development Promotes the rules of language (how to participate in interactions with language) through listening and participating in conversations. Exposes infants and toddlers to a variety of vocabulary. Allows participation in adult-child exchanges and the following of directions. Promotes peer-to-peer exchanges. Emotional Development Promotes a sense of competence. This is an indicator of infant and toddler emotional development. The child recognizes his or her ability to do things. Promotes self-awareness. This is an indicator of infant and toddler emotional development. The child recognizes himself or herself as a person with an identity, wants, needs, interests, likes, and dislikes. Encourages impulse control. This is part of a child’s emotional development. Infants early on show signs of controlling some impulses when supported by a care teacher. By 36 months, a toddler has internalized some rules so he or she doesn’t always need as much support when trying to control his or her behavior. What Family Style Dining Looks Like Eat in small groups at child-size table and chairs (adult may use adult-size chair). Care teachers sit with children. Realize the smaller the group, the less hectic the meal. Eat the same food that is served to children at same time children eat. (This should not be the care teacher’s lunch break.) Encourage self-serving, and assist if help is needed. If children are unable to feed themselves, then they are not developmentally ready to serve food to themselves. Set tables with serving platters, bowls, and milk pitchers all small enough to be managed by toddlers so they can serve themselves. Consider that children enjoy helping to set the table and serving themselves. Encourage social interactions and conversation. Talk about the food (temperature, taste, color, shape, size, quantity) and events of the day. Do not make it a “quiz.” Ask open-ended questions, not “yes or no” questions. Follow the child’s lead on conversation topics. Provide extra help and allow for time for slow eaters.

Guide

WWW.VIRTUALLABSCHOOL.ORG

ACTIVITY ID: 14951

Name

Certifier

Date

Developmental Benefits: The Importance of Family Style Dining

Small and Large Muscle Development (motor development)

Encourages children to serve themselves, which develops their eye-hand coordination.
Encourages coordination of body movement to move chair, sit, and stand from chair.
Helps children learn manipulation of utensils.

Social Development

Allows time for conversations about food, the events of the day, the events to come, and things that occurred at home—conversations that can happen by the time children are toddlers.
Encourages interactions with adults and peers.
Promotes social identity, an indicator of infant and toddler social development. The child develops increasing awareness of his or her relationship to others in the group.

Cognitive Development

Promotes use of tools and problem solving through manipulation of utensils.
Promotes imitation, the ability to repeat and practice actions modeled by another.

Language/Communication Development

Promotes the rules of language (how to participate in interactions with language) through listening and participating in conversations.
Exposes infants and toddlers to a variety of vocabulary.
Allows participation in adult-child exchanges and the following of directions.
Promotes peer-to-peer exchanges.

Emotional Development

Promotes a sense of competence. This is an indicator of infant and toddler emotional development. The child recognizes his or her ability to do things.
Promotes self-awareness. This is an indicator of infant and toddler emotional development. The child recognizes himself or herself as a person with an identity, wants, needs, interests, likes, and dislikes.
Encourages impulse control. This is part of a child’s emotional development. Infants early on show signs of controlling some impulses when supported by a care teacher. By 36 months, a toddler has internalized some rules so he or she doesn’t always need as much support when trying to control his or her behavior.

What Family Style Dining Looks Like

Eat in small groups at child-size table and chairs (adult may use adult-size chair). Care teachers sit with children.
Realize the smaller the group, the less hectic the meal.
Eat the same food that is served to children at same time children eat. (This should not be the care teacher’s lunch break.)
Encourage self-serving, and assist if help is needed. If children are unable to feed themselves, then they are not developmentally ready to serve food to themselves.
Set tables with serving platters, bowls, and milk pitchers all small enough to be managed by toddlers so they can serve themselves.
Consider that children enjoy helping to set the table and serving themselves.
Encourage social interactions and conversation. Talk about the food (temperature, taste, color, shape, size, quantity) and events of the day. Do not make it a “quiz.” Ask open-ended questions, not “yes or no” questions.
Follow the child’s lead on conversation topics.
Provide extra help and allow for time for slow eaters.