It is the wish of many parents to have a good meal with their children in the restaurant, because every moment is full of challenges from waiting for a table, waiting for a meal to eating. Parents are very headache!
It will even reduce the frequency of taking children out to eat, and choose to eat at home instead of taking children to restaurants.
Although dining in a restaurant is full of "stimulation", it is also a good opportunity for children to learn, because the environment is the third teacher of children. As long as parents learn the principle of high-quality stimulation and create a suitable environment to help children explore, it will naturally help children in all aspects. develop.
Eating at a restaurant is far less comfortable than eating at home. Children tend to lose their patience. They want to leave the dining chair after sitting for a while, interrupt the conversation of adults, beat dishes and chopsticks, cry loudly, etc. Parents have no way to deal with it.
To have a smooth meal time with their children, parents can help them actively explore and enjoy the parent-child time outside as long as they master the following three principles of high-quality stimulation and create a high-quality environment for their children.
Principle 1 of high-quality stimulation: the location is convenient and accessible
If you want to take your children out to eat, you should plan well in advance, and the location of the restaurant should be convenient and accessible.
It is advisable to arrange a location that is about 15 minutes' walk away from home to make the arrangement easier and more flexible.
In addition, the choice of several places should be increased, and it is necessary to avoid going to restaurants that require a long wait with children, or let children participate in long meal gatherings. The younger the children, the shorter the time for dining out. For young children 1.5 hours is near the limit.
In case the meal takes a long time, it is advisable to prepare simple activities in advance for the children to entertain themselves, and bring a variety of styles and things that the children are interested in, such as picture books, books or simple puzzles. "Electronic pacifiers" are not suitable.
Principle 2 of high-quality stimulation: parents are fully committed
When dining out, it is easy for adults to get carried away chatting while ignoring children. In addition, children have not yet understood what the adults are saying and cannot participate in it. It is inevitable that abnormal behaviors will occur and attract attention.
Parents only need to be physically and mentally involved, try to maximize the opportunities to communicate with their children during the meal, and regard it as a rare parent-child time, such as watching the menu with the children, asking the children what food they like the most or least, and let the children participate You can also discuss the preparation of meals together, etc.
During the period, the nuisance of electronic products should be rejected, and both parties should focus on the same thing at the same time.
Parents should also become role models for children, reduce the use of electronic products, and express to children their enjoyment and expectations of parent-child meal time in a timely manner.
Quality Stimulus Principle 3: Clear and Deterministic Expression
Eating in a restaurant is not like free play time, children must sit in the dining chairs and not move around, and it involves different waiting.
Sometimes it's not that children can't wait, but that they have different perceptions from adults on the issue of "how long to wait".
Parents should clearly express the time in the communication. Only saying "wait a minute" is an ambiguous way of expressing time, which can easily make children lose patience, because they do not know how long "wait a minute" will take.
Parents can describe in specific ways, such as "Leave when the long needle reaches the 3 position", "Wait with you after Mommy finishes eating", and try to make children more willing to wait.
In fact, eating out is a good opportunity to practice high-quality stimulation. Ms. Zheng Yunyi, educational psychologist of the Jockey Club Tongliang Project, said that taking children out to eat can help build a parent-child relationship, because it is a precious time for parents and children to spend time together. Parents can use the opportunity to talk and understand Likes and dislikes, share feelings, create opportunities for communication.
At the same time, help children strengthen social communication, learn appropriate social skills and behaviors, create opportunities for communication and practice, such as asking waiters to bring water.
Ms. Zheng reminded parents that when children lose patience and lose their temper in the restaurant, they can refer to the "Four Steps of Emotional Training" to help children control their emotions:
After understanding the 3 principles of high-quality stimulation and expert opinions, parents may wish to practice more!
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(Information and photos provided by customers)