Family Themed Dinners:
“If you feed them, they will come.” If you make dinners fun, you’ll create laughter, happy hearts, and cherished memories!
Rules of Theme Dinners – EVERYONE Participates. Yes, even mom, dad, or grandma and grandpa. If you don’t participate, you don’t eat. Themes infuse fun, create light-hearts, and can even become educational.
Plan ahead: Prepare your guests (I mean your family), build anticipation, and get ready for some nights to remember.
“Opposites Night” – When: Any time. Dress: Come to the table dressed with a PJ top and dress pants, or a t-shirt and tie, or a dress and slippers… you get the idea. Anything that does not go together or is opposite and silly. Food: If dinner is the meal – then serve breakfast foods. Table: Mismatching placemats or varied colors would work great.
Romantic Family Night – When: Valentine’s Day. Dress: Get fancy or wear red, pink or white. Food: Prepare surf & turf, or a “once a year” special meal like Alaskan King Crab legs, Beef Wellington, or a family specialty. Table: Red or white table cloth, a centerpiece of flowers and candles with dimmed lighting.
Game after Dinner: HEART Bingo, make game cards, use red paper hearts or conversation hearts as markers. Music: An easy-listening playlist or love songs. Benefit: Your kids learn how to provide a romantic dinner for a special someone, which will prove helpful when they begin dating.
St. Patrick’s Day – When: March 17th. Dress: In green of course; wear hats, silly socks, a necklace, scarf, tie– all things Irish.
Food: Serve traditional Irish cuisine of corn beef and hash, or my family prefers all food items that are green. Start with an appetizer: cucumber, green bell pepper, sugar snap peas, celery; green tossed salad; dinner could be green enchiladas, or serve side green veggies such as green beans or grapes with a protein. Use food coloring to turn drinks green. Make green Jello or decorate cookies with green frosting for dessert.
Table: Green table cloth, a centerpiece of yellow dafadils or daisies, chocolate covered gold coins scattered around, with shamrocks.
Music: Irish tunes, River Dance, or Celtic Woman music such as, (The Voice) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdFHGFkyew4
Cinco De Mayo – When: May 5th. Dress: In a poncho, dress or colors of green, red, and white. Food: Mexican cuisine of your choice. Table: Red or green table cloth or lay out a Mexican blanket across the table. Add maracas, a Mexican flag, map, etc… Music: Mariachi band tunes.
All American Night – When: Any time, June for Flag Day, or July for Independence Day. Dress: Red, white and blue, and flag t-shirts. Food: Hamburgers and hot dogs, watermelon, skewered fruit with blueberries, mini-marshmallows and strawberries.
Table: Red, white or blue table cloth, white mums with a flag centerpiece, patriotic decorations and signs. Music: Patriotic such as “This Land is Your Land” or (Proud to be an American, by Lee Greenwood) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps7xmW-9LXQ
Summer or Winter Olypmics – When: during Olympic years. Include all of the above for American Night. Music: The Star-Spangled Banner. Game/Activity after dinner: A competition of your choosing where medals can be awarded. Example, a summer diving competition where parents judge childrens’ dives based on style, creativity, grace, or skill. Purchase large chocolate covered gold, silver and bronze coins, hot glue ribbon to the coin and use as their medal. Dramatically place the medal earners on a box or platform as they receive their award. Example of a large chocolate coin: https://www.economycandy.com/product/milk-chocolate-coin-giant-quater/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI9pPz9_7-6AIVENVkCh3ImAbkEAQYByABEgKo3_D_BwE
Crazy Hair or Hat Night – When: Any time. Dress: Come to the table with hair in a wacky style (think the Whos in Whoville). Or make it a crazy hat night and choose any creative hat. (A baseball cap doesn’t count). Dinner: Anything Table: Any style
Games after dinner- can be played any time:
Flashlight Candy Hunt: Place candy hunters (kids) in a room with the door closed. Adults hide small candy (stickers or small trinkets) in designated rooms of the house. Turn off all of the lights. Give each child a flashlight and a small bag for collecting. Give smaller children a 10 second head start, then on your command, send them on the hunt! The candy can be their dessert.
Scavenger Hunt: Make a list of household items (for indoor) or items in nature (for outdoor), at least 20-25 things. Print up a page for each participant. Hand out a pen, bag, and an item sheet. Have a prize ready for the winner! Prizes: (Double-dessert, a toy, gift card or a privilege) Then everyone else gets a special dessert to end the evening.
Enjoy making memories with your family! Take lots of pictures, they grow so fast. (Even if the teens give you annoyed expressions… you’ll laugh one day!)
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Comment with any theme night you’d like to share or if you try one on the list. God bless you and your family.
Wow! What creative ideas! Very special and those times brought fun and lasting memories! 😊