How to Teach Kids to Set the Kitchen Table

Trying to get kids to learn a little responsibility around the house seems to be a little difficult and making it fun is even harder. You can always delegate a little task or two to the younger ones, and now all you have to do is just disguise it as a craft and game.

Let's go to the kitchen and have the younger ones in charge of setting the table. But first we need to get the tools ready.

Things that you will need for a basic place setting:

Piece of paper cut 11 ½ x 16 ½ inches (used for the placemat)

Construction paper

Scissors (preferably kids safety scissors)

Large Plate

Fork

Spoon

Knife

Napkin

Cup with wide round bottom

Markers

Glue

Roll of clear Contact paper

Picture of a basic place setting (you can easily find one typing in "basic table setting" in your search engine)

Assembly instructions:

Have the kids trace the table items on the construction paper.

If the kids are old enough then let them cut the outlines out.

Label the cut outs. This is also to teach word recognition

Glue the cut outs onto the piece of paper that is going to be used for the placemat. Remember to glue them in the proper places. Use the picture of a basic place setting as a guide to the young ones to follow.

Laminate both sides of the finished placemat with the contact paper.

Use these placemat for the young ones to learn where everything goes when setting a table.

You can also add a little twist and fun to this time and have a table setting BINGO game. Everyone wins so not to worry.

Have small pieces of paper with the name and picture of each item that is in your placemat. Put the papers in a bowl or bag and draw one out at a time and let the kids put those items on their mats.

Other options for your placemats:

Cut out a piece of cardboard and glue the entire placemat to it before laminating. This will make the placemat stiffer.

Let the kids find pictures of the items and then enlarge them to the size you need instead of using outlines.

Use different colors for your outlines and placemat depending on the season or your décor.

Have the actual placemat paper a mosaic of family pictures or other art work from the kids.

Be creative and even let the kids come up with ideas for making more placemats.