I decided to do a finger food night instead of a sit-down dinner. It was a wonderful family time experience. The excitement was audible; my 4 year old said it just right, “WE’RE HAVING A TEA PARTY!”
Ingredients
Anything you like. This was my list:
* Spring rolls
* Carrot sticks
* Sliced Cucumber
* Chips
* Chicken strips
* Spinach and Fetta Triangles
Benefits
* NO WASHING UP! (Um… that would have to be my favourite)
* Sitting on the ground outside meant no sweeping. (Am I sounding lazy?)
* It was an intimate experience as there was no barriers (eg. table) between us all. Sitting in a circle meant everyone could see each other.
* It is FUN! A little out of the ordinary.
* There’s something about sharing food that’s special.
* Eating in this way was a precursor to unorganised family fun after dinner.
I will definitely be doing family finger food night again. A positive experience all round.
Note: As I have young children, I did not make a fuss about double dipping. Dinner was designed to be an informal experience; although, I did mention to the children that it was okay because we’re family but double dipping is not polite in public.
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we do that too. I love a platter to share with the kids. It is so much fun
Great idea, now you just need fruit with dipping yoghurt for dessert!
YUM! Second course… LOVE IT!
cool fun!
takes a while to teach a 2 year old about the double dipping – think it’ll have to wait til she’s 3! And boy does my 2 year old love the dippy things.
Yeah, my 2 year old loved dipping the cucumber in tomato sauce.
thank you for stopping by my blog! I so appreciate it! I am going to sub to yours to read it more:) So far I like what I see!
Thanks Ginger – I’ll do the same xx
What a fun idea! And you totally don’t sound lazy for not wanting to sweep!
Fun blog!
I did the finger food night tonight! The kids loved it!!!
what a great Idea. I love that everyone was interacting with eachother to grab their finger foods.
I would really love it, if there were more finger food restaurants and receipe books, because I love finger food. It just is more fun to eat.
Yum! Looks great and sounds so easy. I also like the idea of no washing up
I might mention this idea to my sons daycare as a meal idea too.
Love love love this idea! My boys will think all their Christmas’ have come at once when we give this a try. Ella can sit/lie with us, but she will have to wait a while before she can join in too!
Great idea for when mine are a little older. Cucumber with tomato sauce – my 2 year old would love that too! In fact, she would be happy to eat a plate of tomato sauce!
Hi Kelly,
This is a great idea and fantastic for insluding bubs in with dinner time if you are doing ‘baby led feeding’ as we are.
I actually blogged about a special night I had with my three year old daughter a little while ago where we did everything in reverse, including eating desert before dinner, you can read about it here http://thedailymotherism.blogspot.com/2010/10/just-little-bit-backwards.html
Ok, clearly I do not know how to link things properly just yet – sorry.
Casey
We do this every Saturday night. I call it “Picnic Night” and we put a rug on the loungeroom floor and have nuggets and chips for dinner. We used to buy McDonalds on a Saturday night but found the 4yo not eating it (even though she asked for it) and it was a waste of money, so decided to do Picnic Night! It has so far been a raging success!
Sounds brilliant Tracey! Love the term “Picnic Night”
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