Nothing ruins mealtimes faster than rowdy, ill-behaved children. SIOW YUEN CHING says it’s never too early to teach your kids how to behave at the dinner table — here, some ideas to make it fun.
Table manners isn’t about demonstrating the most sophisticated knowledge of dining etiquette, but about behaving with a certain poise and graciousness during mealtimes. You can actually teach your kid basic table manners when she’s old enough to sit and eat at the table, says principal consultant and trainer Catherine Ong of QML International, a consultancy that provides coaching on social graces, dining etiquette and business communications.
Once the habit is internalised, children will display good table manners subconsciously. “It’s possible to inculcate table manners when a child is older but she will then need to ‘unlearn’ and then, re-learn her skills. This is always harder than learning the correct manners right from the start,” explains Catherine.
> YOU’RE INVITED TO TEA!
Let your kid throw a tea party and invite her dolls and furry friends. Using masak masak (toy cutlery) pieces and play food, you can teach her what utensils to use for the different foods, how to politely ask for a dish to be passed to her, and how to spoon food from the serving dish to her plate. Show her, too, how to sit properly at the table and explain why it’s important not to shout or speak with her mouth full.
> DESIGN HER OWN PLACEMAT
Get your kid to draw or cut out pictures of children with proper table manners; then laminate it and use as a placemat. Every time she displays good table manners, reward her with a sticker on the placemat. The goal is to collect as many stickers as possible.
