Please Pass the Crayons

Ok.  Family dinner doesn't happen at our house as much as it should. Between crazy work schedules, trumpet lessons, and kids who just want to play outside, we often eat on the run. When we do get everyone around the table we want to get them engaged instead of secretly texting under the table.

Making family dinner more fun than eating out is easier than you think.  You'll still have to deal with the dirty dishes, but you'll be chuckling over the evenings activities. Here's a great tip I got from the book, The Secrets of Happy Families.  We tested it out and had a blast.

Buy a roll of craft paper (I got mine at Staples) to use instead of a table cloth.  When you set the table for dinner make sure to include a box of crayons.  Then, anything goes as long as everyone knows that the crayons only go on the paper.

... And then start all over again

The possibilities are endless. 

We found that every age has a blast, even older kids managed to put away the cell phones for an hour and join civilization.  It works in restaurants, why not at home?  

How do you make family dinners interesting?  

P.s.  on a scale of 1-10 I give the book a 10.