Here’s a great family activity we like to call “Restaurant Night”.

This activity helps kids with math, reading, planning, and life skills – as well as helping them learn about good nutrition. A sort of “home-ec” lesson that’s a lot of fun! And you never know… you might just end up with a professional chef in your family!

Here’s how it works…

Restaurant Planning and Preparation:

• Schedule – One Saturday night a month, each kid gets to run his own restaurant – right at home. They become the restaurant owner, chef, host, and waiter.


• Cuisine – Provide the kids with cookbooks that they can use to plan their meal.


• Groceries – After reviewing the cookbooks, help the kids make a grocery list of the ingredients needed, and have them help you shop for the groceries.


• The Name – The restaurant “owner” chooses a name for their restaurant, and then uses an Art Board to design a sign for the restaurant. This is a great way for kids to be creative! They get to practice different lettering styles, experiment with colors and logo designs, and learn marketing skills!


• Branding – The owner also uses larger Art Boards to create custom placemats to be used by family members. TIP: Use both sides of the art boards – one side for one restaurant, and the other side for a different restaurant.


• Menu – The owner uses a sheet of paper from a Sketch Pad to create a custom menu to present to the rest of the family. Just fold the paper in half, design a cover, and write the menu on the inside.


• Ambiance – Kids might want to create additional artwork to hang on the walls or windows in your diningroom to help create the desired ambiance for their restaurant. The pages from the sketch pad work great for this! They might also like to choose music to play in the background during a meal – this can really add to the experience!

Preparing the Meal:

• Once all the above steps are done, and the scheduled date arrives, the restaurant owner becomes the chef and is ready to prepare the meal!


• Let kids experience as much of the cooking and meal preparation as possible, but because a kitchen has certain hazards, be sure to supervise this step, and assist when needed.


• While the meal is cooking, the restaurant owner decorates the restaurant with their signs, placements, posters, and menu. Depending on the meal, this step might need to be done before the meal preparation begins.


• When the meal is finished, the owner/chef becomes the host and can seat family members in the diningroom restaurant. Then the host becomes the waiter and serves the meal. Bon appetit!

Tips:

• Our family likes to have Restaurant Night on a Saturday night. We find this allows for greater flexibility because Saturday evenings are usually the least hectic. Pick a night that is relaxing and fun for your family!


• Take pictures! Make sure to capture your kids restaurant experience on camera. It’s fun to look back on how they decorated their restaurants.


• Remember to give your kids lots of praise throughout this activity, even if the meal doesn’t turn out to be 5-star restaurant quality! They’ll take great pride in their restaurant endeavor, if you support their efforts.


• If your children are too young to do this activity on their own, it’s a lot of fun to help your kids and work along side them, giving them opportunities to mix, measure, stir, etc.


• If preparing a dinner seems intimidating to your kids, try this activity with breakfast or lunch, as these are generally simpler meals.


• Use this opportunity to help your kids learn about safety in the kitchen. Show them the proper way to use kitchen tools and utensils.

Adult supervision with this activity is a MUST – stay safe!

You May Also Like:

Real Slate Chalkboard and Chalk Board Holder – Use this chalk board and holder to write your weekly menu on.

DIY Drinking Strawz – These unique straws making any meal more fun!

Cool Jewels – Make a batch of diamond-shaped ice cubes to serve in your favorite mealtime beverage!

United States Cook Book – A fun cookbook with recipes from every state in the USA.

US History Cook Book – A cookbook with recipes from various historical places and events.

Healthy Body Cook Book – A cookbook full of healthy recipes that are easy for kids to make.

Cook it in a Cup – This activity set provides a fun way to introduce your kids to cooking!