Mealtime Fun
Keep dinner exciting! Spice things up with a theme night dinner! Pick a suggestion below or create your own! Let your kids decorate the table with their own personalized placemats. Make a menu so everyone knows what's for dinner!
Coloring Downloads
Theme Night Ideas
A Night at the Beach
Have everyone wear beach attire, sunglasses, hats, shorts, swim cover-ups and sandals!
Serve a seafood dinner — fresh fish with sauteed "seaweed" (also commonly known as spinach!) and "sand" (also known as brown rice).
Family members can share their favorite family vacation stories, or where they might like to go someday, maybe the beach!
Mardi Gras Night
Everyone can wear lots of beads, masks, feather boas, and plastic crowns!
- Play some Zydeco music
- Use the colors of green, gold, and purple.
For dinner serve some gumbo, shrimp or, jambalaya. Dessert can be fresh made beignets!
(see our recipe section for an Easy Beignets Recipe)
Movie Night
Have each family member come dressed as their favorite movie star or movie character to the table!
Create trivia cards about your family members’ favorite movies. Provide 3-D glasses for everyone to wear at the table.
Serve hot dogs, soft pretzels, and fresh fruit for dinner with popcorn for dessert.
After dinner have everyone gather around the "movie screen" (also known as the family TV) for a family favorite movie.
Sports Night
Everyone wears their favorite team jersey to the table!
During dinner, each family member can talk about their favorite memory of a sporting event — either a national event, or maybe a great little league game!
- Grill out hot dogs and hamburgers
- Cut up some fresh fruit
- Chips make an easy and great side
- Cracker Jacks or Ice Cream Sundaes for dessert
After dinner, get the whole family outside for a fun game of touch football or to shoot some hoops!
Western Night
Everyone don their favorite pair of jeans, a bandana and boots — if you got ‘em!
Rustle up some good grub like bbq pork sandwiches, baked beans and corn on the cob. Add a side of applesauce for a yummy cowboy supper!
For dessert, make S'mores out over a firepit or charcoal grill. Sit around and tell stories from "out on the cattle drive".
50's Night
Girls can wear Poodle Skirts or rolled up jeans. For boys - jeans, t-shirts and leather jackets. Have everyone wear "shades". Except Dad — in the 50's dads wore suits to the table!
Set the table with a checkerboard tablecloth and play 50's music on the "jukebox" (also known as a CD player or satellite radio).
Serve hamburgers, fries, and shakes or rootbeer floats!
Backwards Dinner
Set your table backwards, eat dessert first, use spoons when you would normally use a fork. Everyone can come to the table dressed backwards!
Serve breakfast for dinner and Pineapple Upside-down Cake for dessert (but maybe serve the dessert FIRST!)
Be sure to give a big Goodbye to welcome everyone as they come to the table and a hello as they leave.
Try having each person tell the events of their day from end to beginning.
