Dinner Dialogue; How to Connect with Family

Meals are a time where most people sit down in a communal space and eat together over a shared meal. Between bites some conversation can happen, but we tend to fall into the same rhythms of these conversations: “How was your day?” “Did you do your homework?” Did work go alright?” and so on. Or perhaps your family sits by the TV and watches a movie or shows while you eat- leaving minimal room for conversation. In this article we aim to give you some conversation topics, questions, and activities to bring family (and friends) closer together over a good meal.

When we connect with family through conversation, we come to understand each other better, our points of view, passions, and develop a deeper level of empathy. Below are some topics that can discussed that would involve everyone at the table:

• Talk about where the family should go or do for the next day off or vacation.

• Discuss your home. Is there anything about your home that you all love? Anything you would want to change? This can be done in hypotheticals or real planning. 

• Share a favorite memory at the table and ask if others remember it. Have them recall how their memory of the event goes.

• If you all were to start a business together, what would you do? What would you name it? Go into as much detail as you would like. 

Sometimes topics can be too open ended if people are unsure of a direction for the conversation to go, and some people might be left out entirely. Get-to-Know-You questions are a great way to learn about each other as individuals. Go around the table or ‘Popcorn’ from person to person by calling on each other so everyone can participate. Here are some example questions below:

• If you could have any animal as a pet, what would it be? And what would you name it? 

• Favorite type of weather? Why? 

• If you were a plant what type of plant would you be? 

• Do you believe in aliens? What are your reasons? 

• What are some of your goals for the next week, month or year? 

• What are some of your favorite ways to spend your free time?

• Favorite pasta shape? Why? 

• If you could learn any skill instantly what would it be? 

• Did you read or watch anything interesting recently? Briefly describe it! 

• What song is your ‘pick me up’ song when you are feeling down? 

Finally when I think of dinner, I think of connection over a common meal. Activities at the table are usually frowned upon: games, phones, books, etc. Even though this can be true, we have a couple of dinner time activities that would be fun and engaging to do at the table listed below. 

• Play ‘Would You Rather’ where the people at the table take turns providing two options and then everyone else responds with what they would rather do or have. Example: would you rather go to space or into the deep ocean? 

• Make a ‘Gratitude Circle’ where each person at the table takes turns naming something or someone they are grateful for. You can select whether it’s from over the past day, month, or even lifetime. Take turns until you run out of ideas or everyone has said a certain amount of answers. 

Even if you just take these suggestions once a week with a sit down dinner- connections between family members can flourish. Try out some of the above suggestions and let us know how they go! Or use them as inspiration for your own dinner dialogues!