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Gather 'Round Dinner Game by FAMILYTIMEFUN Add some fun to your family meals with this distinctive game to play while
you eat. With just a push of the button, the game lights up and selects one
of 132 dinnertime activities. It's quick and easy-to-play. Gather 'Round breaks
up dinnertime routine and adds fun to family meals. No game board or game pieces
required — just food and family. The game even encourages kids to eat
their veggies and finish their milk. Launch date: February 17, 2008.
Is the idea of the entire family gathered around the dinner table conversing and sharing their day a thing of the past? I don't mean the act of everyone eating at the same time somewhere. I mean the scene right out of an Andy Hardy movie, where everyone is a little kooky and everyone talks at the same time, where children listen to their elders to find out about the adult world and adults listen to the children to stay involved in their activities. If your family is anything like ours, getting everyone seated at the table at the same time for a meal is rarely anything like it was at the Hardy's. Ball practice, Ballet lessons, someone working late, someone leaving early, there is always a reason for the meal to get rushed or sometimes skipped altogether. Even when we do get together, the focus tends to be on getting the food down quickly so we can get on to the next thing we need to do. The result is that food gets consumed so bodily process can be nourished, but little of the family interaction that we tend to associate with a "family dinner" and the emotional and intellectual nourishment that could also be found. We have only a couple of rules at our dinner table, no hats, no toys, and talk nice (Cole went through the common stage where he loved to say "poop" often to see how shocked he could make us). We never had to make a "no games" rule, and it is a good thing because the Beginner Dinner and Dinner game sets are a real hoot. Each set has a deck of 51 cards with a game specifically meant to be played at the dinner table. There are silly word games, games meant to get your kid(s) to eat (without them realizing it), counting games, thinking games, and most importantly, games designed to encourage family interaction.
Beginner Dinner Games, and its precursor, Dinner Games, are a cute concept - brief, interactive family activities designed for dinnertime packaged as cards in a recipe-box-style tin. We don't go much for cute for its own sake. We also don't go for gift items that are designed to be snagged while waiting to be checked out at the bookstore, gifted with good intentions, and never used. But Beginner Dinner Games, which we've been playing occasionally for the last few months at our house, rises to the challenge of its cute concept. Card after card offers engaging ways to enjoy your three- to six-year-old's comany at the dinner table, and the mealtime context is not wasted. An "If I had three wishes" discussion centers around a "magic spoon" used as a wand; "The Royal Crown" invites family members to secretly pull a folded napkin from a person's head and hide it under the table. But they aren't all prop-based. A couple of recent favorites: Face Off: Someone chooses an emotion or reaction (i.e. 'Ouch, I stepped on a bee'). Have a "Face Off" between two people to see who makes the best facial expression to go along with that emotion or reaction! Vote on the best expression. Whoever wins, they get to "Face Off" against someone else. For example: finding your lost teddy, getting kissed by a puppy, hearing a monster's footsteps, stepping on hot sand at the beach, losing your ice cream money, hearing a funny joke.... Silent Dinner: For about 1 minute, everyone must be completely silent. No talking or making noise, just eat, drink and listen to sounds. After a minute, let the youngest person begin by talking about what he/she heard. Go around the table to find out how many different sounds are heard. (i.e. refrigerator noise, washing machine, birds outside, plane overhead...) Here's an example card, from the Family Time Fun Dinner Games website:
Z wishes she had "a mountain cupcake," a "cupcake of spoons," and "a kiss from daddy." The third I was able to deliver. The Beginner Dinner Games box has 51 different "games" for families to play, and there are very few with the air of filler; for a full deck of activities, it's an impressive ratio. The box states these activities are for ages 3-6. One of the benefits of the recipe-box format is it discourages commitment to any single game idea. It is easy to browse and scan and pick out something that looks right for your child. Many of the question-based games were particularly engaging for us because we couldn't imagine what Z would say, or wondered if she was "ready" and would even understand the question. This is a great opportunity to let your kids surprise you with what's going on inside their heads.
Eating and playing are allowed at the dinner table with the Gather ‘Round Dinner Game by FamilyTimeFun. It comes with push-button action that selects one of 12 activities from more than 130 different dinnertime activities for families with kids ages 5 and up to play while they eat dinner. No game pieces are required! Many of the activities are educational and promote creative thinking, social and communicative skills.
Make every night Family Game Night with Dinner Games. The 51 quick, easy to play games will have your family talking, laughing, learning and spending quality time together. The 5x3 cards are easy to read, spill-proof and come in a compact tin box. Whether you play them at the table, in a restaurant or in the car, Dinner Games are a recipe for family fun!
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Preschool Game Review - Beginner Dinner Games Conversation during mealtimes is one way to help preschoolers sit still and focus on something other than what they don't want to eat. With Beginner Dinner Games, by Family Time Fun, you'll never run out of topics that appeal to a preschooler's curiosity and silly side. Pick a card and start the family dinner fun! About Beginner Dinner Games Beginner Dinner Games is a set of 51 games designed for preschoolers and young children (ages 3-6). Each card has one game idea and most include variations to provide an endless supply of dinner time fun. The cards are the size of index cards and come in a recipe card style tin. Games are color coded by educational skill and cover social skills, creative and critical thinking, expressive language and listening, memory, the five senses, and just for fun. Some games make use of a story or picture on the card and others, once you've read the card, can be done anywhere. From the Reviewer Not only did I find Beginner Dinner Games to be a helpful mealtime activity, I found the 51+ games to be a great resource of unique activities to do anytime with your preschooler. Both my preschooler and first-grader loved the games - it was hard to do just one! While all the games are quick and easy, you'll find they range from as simple as Best Bed Time Ever where each person at the table shares a favorite thing about bedtime, to My Lucky Penny, a table-top science activity using pennies and ketchup. If you're in the mood for a thinking game, several cards offer a short story to tell and a list of questions to ask. If you're feeling silly, choose Face Off where everyone competes to make the best facial expression to represent a given situation. You'll also find several games that involve food. For instance, Guess What's Cooking is a fun little recipe test and Silly Supper offers ways to "change up your dinner routine." Games like The Last Bite and Thumbs Up can even be used to help picky-eating preschoolers try new foods. And picking a game card can be a game in itself. The set includes one wild card with a special surprise if picked! by Kati Chevaux
FamilyTimeFun’s Original Dinner Games features 51 quick and unique games to play while you eat, for kids ages 5 to 12. The cards area easy to read and spill-proof. Most games do not require any materials that aren’t already on the dinner table. The games are educational; some are thought-provoking conversation starters, while other are just intended to be fun. Beginner Dinner Games are also available for kids ages 3 to 6.
FAMILY Magazine editor, Amy Bevins, shares her favorite “Must Have”
holiday toys in a video at:
FamilyTimeFun Dinner Games Let the dinner games begin! Sitting down and having dinner as a family is a wonderful opportunity to spend time together. But with busy schedules, and picky eaters, sometimes the dinner table isn’t as much fun as it can be. FamilyTimeFun Dinner Games will add fun to your next family meal. With younger kids you can play Beginner Dinner Games, and with older kids Dinner Games & Activities are more suitable. Whichever level you choose, you are bound to have fun with your family. Each game card will help improve family communication as well as nutrition and good eating habits. You’ll learn more about each other and everyone will enjoy the clever activities. From critical and creative thinking, to numeracy and literacy, and even encouragement to eat more veggies, FamilyTimeFun has created the perfect way to create wholesome family fun! Mom Tip: FamilyTimeFun Dinner Games come in a recipe-style tin box with spill-proof cards that are easy to read. Don’t miss out on quality family time at the dinner table – buy a set today for your family! And, these make great hostess gifts for friends and family members with children!
"FamilyTimeFun Dinner Games encourage discussion but not chaos at the family dinner table. They also help bring closeness during mealtime."
April 24, 2007
Friday, March 16, 2007 John Pandiscio thinks that children should play with their food. Their parents should get in on the game, too. Two years ago, as a laid-off advertising executive, Pandiscio developed a series of games that could be played at the dinner table. He gave up looking for a day job and found a couple of companies to buy the concept to put on their packaging. His entrepreneurial dreams nearly came to an abrupt end when his contacts at those companies moved on to other jobs. They took with them any enthusiasm for the project and he was back at square one. This is the point at which many would-be entrepreneurs give up. Pandiscio thought about doing the same. “I was devastated,” he said. But there had been so much enthusiasm for the concept from his family and from friends, as well as others, that he decided to take a risk and create the product himself under the name Family Time Fun. The ability to switch gears sets apart those who will succeed and those who will crash, says Jack Calkins, chair of the Boston chapter of SCORE, Counselors To America’s Small Business. He has advised Pandiscio since the entrepreneur first decided to pursue the games concept. “You need to realize going into it that things are going to change,” Calkins said. “You will have to constantly evolve.” The original games concept spawned from conversations Pandiscio’s wife had with their children at supper. She would ask them about the best thing that happened to them and then the worst. Pandiscio developed a game using a ketchup bottle. The person holding the bottle at the dinner table gets to make a smiley face with ketchup after saying something about his or her day. In another game, players go around the table counting, only they have to say “moo” instead of the odd numbers. Pandiscio created more than 50 games and had them printed on spill-proof cards. The cards are packaged in a small tin box, the size used for recipe cards. He cautiously started with an order of just 5,000. “Because I’m paying for this myself, I can’t afford to make mistakes,” he said. He relied on free publicity and low-cost advertising to get the word out - a big change from the big budgets of his days in the corporate world. Still, the lessons learned there helped, and his game cards sold. His second order was for 10,000, and then 25,000. The company lost money in the first year, but Pandicscio says it’s since started to turn a profit. Dinner Games & Activities is sold mostly on the Internet, and through independent stores and catalogs. Pandiscio is developing another type of game for the dinner table while looking at new ways of promoting the first effort. He is talking with companies, including a restaurant, about how they might use it. He’s also trying to find new ways to get the word out. Now that the business is taking off, he’s more sure than ever that he doesn’t want to go back to being a small cog in a big wheel. “This is what I want to do for the next 10 years or more,” he said.
Designed for families with kids 3 to 6 years old, this set includes 51 quick
and easy games for families to play while they eat dinner.
Recipes for Dinnertime Fun
FamilyTimeFun Dinner Games
What: FamilyTimeFun Dinner Games Why: Does it sometimes seem like everyone’s snarfing down dinner to get to watch television or the next rushed evening activity? Family Time Fun Games encourages you to serve up conversation, wit and amusements along with your meat and veggies. Entitled “Dinner Games and Activities,” this little tin box includes 51 games to play with your 5-12 year olds while eating. You can partake in a virtual game of hide and seek as one person imagines herself “hiding” somewhere in the house and everyone has to guess where she is. Or, encourage creative problem solving and find out what your kids are really thinking by setting up “Situation Challenges” like “The new kid at school doesn’t seem very friendly, but he has no one to play with at recess. What would you do?” In the best of times, dinner features both slow food and slow eating; these games give you fresh ideas about how to make dinner time fun family time.
Want the kids to stop playing with their food? Start playing some games at the dinner table! Ok, so it might sound a little odd to play games at the table, but I'm telling you, it's great. The award winning company, Family Time Fun, has a unique product called Dinner Games & Activities. This great little "recipe-style" tin is filled with 51 quick and easy games for families to play while they eat. Designed to improve family communication, each game is printed on a sturdy, easy to read, laminated card (so spills won't destroy them). The games are easy to play, there are no gameboards or pieces, and most take just 1-3 minutes to complete. The games are designed for ages 5 and up, but even kids as young as 2 1/2 to 3 can play some of them. My boys, ages 5 & 2 1/2 LOVED virtual hide and seek. I think we've played about 100 times in the past few days! Have someone pick a "hiding" spot in the house, think of it, but don't tell. The rest of the family takes turns trying to "find" you. The games are educational; they utilize creative thinking, math, memory, vocabulary, & social skills. You can visit the Family Time Fun site for sample games and try them for yourself. Personally, I think this is a GREAT item for on the go. Many of the games can be played in the car. I have added some of the cards to my purse. When we go out to eat, I plan to whip them out before the boys get "board." Keeping them occupied keeps them out of trouble! Dinner Games & Activities would make a unique gift, fun for the whole family! Pick up a few tins today, you won't be disappointed. Stock up, until December 31, you can buy 3 and get one free! December 2006 Dinner Games & Activities So - you were able to schedule a family holiday dinner on a date that everyone could make it. You've served up a meal fit for a king, and everyone is silently eating.... Why not add some fun into that meal? We found Dinner Games & Activities: 51 Fun & Easy Games To Play While You Eat. Though the games are designed for families with children ages 5-12, you can change some of the games slightly to make it either easier for younger children or more difficult for the older children at your table. There are 6 categories of activities: Numbers & Math, Social Skills Games, Silly Games, Phonics & Vocabulary Games, Creative & Critical Thinking Games, and finally, Memory Games. This award winning game is one that we HIGHLY recommend for either your family or as a great gift for anyone on your list with child November 2006 Name a geographic location that starts with the letter A. Next try to name one of your children’s favorite school meals. Now, ask your children where you were born or what school you attended. These questions and conversation starters are just a sample of the various activities included in FamilyTimeFun. The game consists of 51 easy trivia questions and exercises to promote critical thinking, improve social skills and “bring families closer together.”
It’s no secret that it’s beneficial for families to dine together. However, keeping the kids at the table (after they wolf down their food) for conversation can be challenging. Enter FamilyTimeFun Dinner Games. Designed for families with kids ages 5 to 12, these quick and fun games help families interact and enjoy one another. The games are simple and detailed on spillproof cards. For example, in the “What’s in the Oven Mitt?” game, one person hides something in an oven mitt and passes it around the table for everyone to feel. The person who guesses correctly gets to hide the next item. The game comes in a sturdy, attractive tin that holds 51 cards.
November 2006
Playing games at the dinner table is not really what most families think is a good idea. However, activities that encourage family togetherness while sharing a healthy meal can aid daily family socialization. Here are some products that can help make breakfast and dinners more enjoyable. FamilyTimeFun Dinner Games. This collection of 51 activities are quick, easy to play games with the idea to encourage healthy eating and family time togetherness. One family member chooses a card and then the whole family participates in the activity listed. Game-play fosters creative thinking and socialization and strengthens personal character while providing entertainment and interaction. Starts at age 5. Testers Tip: These games encourage discussion about sensitive topics and situations. The questions get your child to open up and discuss his day during school. There’s room in the back of the tin case to hold recipe cards. Turn this into a memory maker – have everyone write a new family recipe. Other dinner time products include Table Topics and MannerMinder.
Bring some fun to the table. October is Family History Month and the perfect time to create lasting memories. FamilyTimeFun offers a set of 51 games to play at the dinner table that will take you beyond the usual question: “How was your day?” October 2006
After sports practices and commutes and full-time jobs, sit-down dinners were just another obligation for the Bontempos – until mom Donna discovered FamilyTimeFun Dinner Games. The set of stainproof cards, created by Franklin’s John Pandiscio, contains memory, vocabulary, and just plain silly games that make family dinners more fun. The cards promote a lot of laughter, a lot of interaction, and it’s a great way for us to relax at the end of the day,” says Bontempo. By fostering open lines of communication between parents and children, family meals may also help improve grades and keep kids out of trouble. According to a Harvard Graduate School of Education study, dinner table talk improves literacy development among preschools. Teens who regularly eat dinner with their families are nearly 40 percent likelier to get As and Bs in school, say researchers at Columbia University, and are less likely to do drugs, smoke marijuana or cigarettes, and abuse alcohol than those who sit down with their family two or fewer nights per week. Where FamilyTimeFun Dinner Games aims to keep kids at the table, Cape Cod-based DinnerDudes helps you get them involved in cooking. Cofounder Matt Landon, an investment consultant by day, got the idea when he asked friend Eric Jansen, chef and co-owner at Wellfleet restaurant the Wicked Oyster, for help creating simple, nutritious meals at home. Within a few months, the pair realized they were on to something. For $5.95 a month, subscribers get a weekly e-mail with advice on preparing five healthy dinners, such as this month’s baked shells with pesto, in just 30 minutes. In addition to recipes, each e-mail offers a grocery list and step-by-step instructions that cut down on shopping and cooking time, plus nutritional information. All of which make it easier than ever to get the family to the table. How you convince your kids to eat their Brussels sprouts once they’re there is still up to you.
Make sure everyone's home for a nice relaxing supper on September 25 -- it's
Family Day, when parents are encouraged to eat with their children. We don't
know about your kids, but ours get pretty antsy after about 15 minutes at the
table. Lucky for us, we recently discovered a whole slew of fun card games that
get kids to chat and chew: FamilyTimeFun Dinner Games May 2006 Snapshot Report: Playing games while you eat is not really what most families think of at dinnertime. This collection of 51 activities are quick, easy to play games with the idea to encourage healthy eating and family time togetherness. One family member chooses a card and then the whole family participates in the activity listed. Gameplay fosters creative thinking and socialization and strengthens personal character while providing entertainment and interaction. Tester's Tip: Some of the games encourage discussion about sensitive topics and situations. These questions are a good way to get your shy child to open up and discuss his day during school. Also, there is extra room in the back of the tin case to hold recipe cards. Turn this into a memory maker and have everyone help to write a new family recipe. May 20, 2006 The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.) familydinnergames.com The experts say eating meals as a family can improve nutrition and eating habits, prevent low grade-point averages and keep adolescents from drifting toward tobacco, alcohol and drugs. But once you get the family and the meal to the table, there's another habit you might need to relearn: talking. That's right -- find out what went on during the day. If getting a fun conversation going proves too challenging, check out this site, where you can order a box with a set of 51 cards containing games for families to play while they eat. For instance, there's a card titled "Get to Know Ya Trivia." It has questions for the kids such as "What do I usually play at recess?" and "What is my favorite school meal?" For the parents, there are questions such as "Where was I born?" and "Where were my parents born?" May 18, 2006 As someone who cherishes the dying tradition of the sit-down family meal, this seems like a good time to promote its resurrection, with the school year ending and busy family schedules letting up a little. I've run across a few tools to help get families back together at mealtime, starting with a new magazine by Better Homes and Gardens, EAT -- Easy Family Food. Published quarterly, it's geared to busy parents, offering simple recipes and inspiration for planning family-friendly food. You'll find shopping lists, time-saving tips, step-by-step cooking techniques and ideas for picky eaters -- and the editors have kept an eye to nutrition. Perusing the first issue -- on newsstands for $4.99 -- I zeroed in on a story titled ''Sunday Dinner Together'' that had this menu: Creamy Cheddar Dip, Fruit and Broccoli Salad, Maple Chicken Fettuccine, Parmesan Dinner Rolls and Brownie Walnut Pie. It included a schedule for doing some of the prep work the day before, two hours before and 30 minutes before, and suggested things kids could do to help. I found the meal delicious and easy to prepare. Shortcuts included using store-bought broccoli slaw mix for the salad; boxed hot-roll mix; frozen stir-fry veggies for the entree; and a refrigerated pie shell for the dessert. (I've included the recipe for that addictive dessert.) Once you get the family and the meal to the table, there's another habit you might need to relearn: talking. If getting a fun conversation going proves too challenging, check out www.Fami lyDinnerGames.com, where you can order a box with a set of 51 cards containing games for families to play while they eat. For instance, there's a card titled ''Get to Know Ya Trivia.'' It has questions for the kids such as ''What do I usually play at recess?'' and ''What is my favorite school meal?'' For the parents, there are questions such as ''Where was I born?'' and ``Where were my parents born?'' Order the set online or by calling 1-508-346-3844. Cost is $15.95, plus $5 shipping. May 2006
As parents we know that the most reliable family time is the time spent at the dinner table. Many parents want to make it a time for fun, not just eating and rehashing the day's events. Our testers were intrigued by this set of ideas for transforming dinner time into playtime. Their intrigue turned to delight when they shared these easy to play game ideas with their families. We received reports how dinner time had become the most eagerly anticipated time of the day, and not because Mom's cooking got significantly better! There are challenges and other ideas that keep everyone engaged, involved and laughing. This one tip: try to time the laughs to a moment when someone isn't drinking their milk (if you know what we mean!). Recommended Age: 5 to 12 May 10, 2006 That’s according to University of California-Berkeley journalism professor Michael Pollan in his new book, “The Omnivore’s Dilemma.” Now, I suspect those meals eaten in a car are not lovingly prepared by someone interested in the health benefits of what’s being eaten; most likely, this is food picked up at a drivethrough window. Nor do I think these on-therun meals do anything to foster what mealtime should be: a chance to connect with family and friends. As someone who cherishes the dying tradition of the sitdown family meal, this seems like a good time to promote its resurrection, with the school year ending and busy family schedules letting up a little. I’ve run across a few tools to help get families back together at mealtime, starting with a new magazine by Better Homes and Gardens, EAT — Easy Family Food. Published quarterly, it’s geared to busy parents, offering simple recipes and inspiration for planning family-friendly food. You’ll find shopping lists, time-saving tips, step-by-step cooking techniques and ideas for picky eaters — and the editors have kept an eye to nutrition. Perusing the first issue — on newsstands for $4.99 — I zeroed in on a story titled “Sunday Dinner Together” that had this menu: Creamy Cheddar Dip, Fruit and Broccoli Salad, Maple Chicken Fettuccine, Parmesan Dinner Rolls and Brownie Walnut Pie. It included a schedule for doing some of the prep work the day before, two hours before and 30 minutes before, and suggested things kids could do to help. I decided to make the meal and found it delicious and easy to prepare. Shortcuts included using store-bought broccoli slaw mix for the salad; boxed hot-roll mix; frozen stir-fry veggies for the entree; and a refrigerated pie shell for the dessert. (I’ve included the recipe for that addictive dessert.) Once you get the family and the meal to the table, there’s another habit you might need to relearn: talking. That’s right — find out what went on during the day. If getting a fun conversation going proves too challenging, check out www.FamilyDinner Games.com, where you can order a box with a set of 51 cards containing games for families to play while they eat. For instance, there’s a card titled “Get to Know Ya Trivia.” It has questions for the kids such as “What do I usually play at recess?” and “What is my favorite school meal?” For the parents, there are questions such as “Where was I born?” and “Where were my parents born?” According to the Web site, eating meals as a family can promote family communication, improve nutrition and eating habits, prevent low gradepoint averages and keep adolescents from drifting toward tobacco, alcohol and drugs. Order the set online or by calling 1-508-346-3844. Cost is $15.95, plus $5 shipping. May 2006 April 2006 Product Review Report
Summary: If you are looking for a fun way to keep the intrigue in dinner time, and keep the family wanting to come to the table, here is a great way! Family Time Fun offers 51 games in a box - all prepared for the family dinner. Great for ages 5 to adult, this game has cards in multiple categories. They add a bit of learning (to make the parents feel good) but add a LOT of fun! March 3, 2006 Family Time Fun Dinner Games and Activities: If you're looking for dinner games which the whole family can join into, take a look at the Family Time Fun Dinner Games and Activities. These are a set of extremely simple, and yet highly enjoyable dinner games and activities for families with kids aged 5 to 12. These dinner games promote unity within the family, and make dinner time pleasurable and fun. Description: The set of game cards is nicely packaged in a colorful metal tin. The games and activities are of a wide variety, ranging from puzzles, to counting, to naming your favorite things, to guessing games and more. There are more than 50 colorful game cards which your kids will really enjoy. The games are simple, and take a few minutes each. The Good: The dinner games and activities promote a healthy interest in dinnertime with the family. Young kids are even encouraged to eat their veggies and drink their milk via the fun games and activities. The games encourage the kids to open up, share their experiences, and get to know a lot of things about each other and their parents. The games are good for a wide range of ages, and definitely make dinnertime fun! The Not So Good: Not all of the games are suited for all families. Some games may be better received than others. However, to be fair, there is a good mix of interesting games and activities to choose from. Play Possibilities: The Family Time Fun Dinner Games and Activities is easy to carry around. In addition to dinnertime at home, these games are also great to play with at a restaurant, at grandma's or even during travel. Where to Buy: The Family Time Fun Dinner Games can be purchased at a variety of different stores all over the country. For the list of places where you can pick one up, click on Where to Buy. December 22, 2005 Download video clip (.wmv) (1.22 MB) (Used with permission)
December 2005
December 8, 2005 FRANKLIN - Rolling dice on the kitchen table as a diversion to get little ones to eat their veggies or pouring uncooked macaroni into a glass and guessing the correct number are some of the games you might see played during dinnertime at the home of John Pandiscio. The 41-year-old Franklin resident recently launched FamilyTimeFun Dinner Game, a collection of 51 games printed on spill-proof game cards that come in a recipe-style tin box with attached lid. Easy and quick to play, the object of the games is to keep young children at the table. "The game was created to add fun to dinnertime, but at the same time it also helps promote creative thinking and helps improve children's vocabulary, math and social skills," said Pandiscio. No game board and no pieces are required. Some games use food, utensils and condiments on the table and take only a few minutes to play. While the games are designed for families with children ages 5 to 12, the games can be slightly changed so they are easier or more challenging depending on the ages of the children. The rules are simple: Sit down to dinner, pick a card, read it aloud and play! A former advertising executive, Pandiscio and his wife Sandi, who works in finance, always made it a point to be home for dinner with their young children. At meal time, they thought up simple games like passing the ketchup bottle as a way to engage their children in a fun activity and promote family interaction. The couple found that when their children played a game, they lingered longer at the dinner table. "We talked more at dinnertime than when we didn't play a game," said Pandiscio. It wasn't until Pandiscio was laid off from his advertising job with Dunkin Donuts that he considered parlaying his family's love of game playing into creating an actual product. After researching the toy market, he found that there was no such thing as a game to be played exclusively while eating. "There's a million games out there, but this is the only one that's played during mealtime," he said. He started brainstorming game ideas, expanding on some tried-and-true ones that the couple had already been playing with 8-year-old Kyle and 4-year-old Jami, and creating some new ones. "For months we played tons of games, maybe 200 games, or more," said Sandi with a laugh The couple's son, Kyle, was dad's toughest critic. "I valued his input," said Pandiscio. If the third grader at Helen Keller Elementary School turned his nose up at a game, Pandiscio ditched it. If Kyle gave a game a thumbs-up, though, the game was then shared with other family members, friends and neighbors who filled out a questionnaire rating the game. Pandiscio got back a lot of enthusiastic comments. Once it was decided to offer 51 different games - "it just sounded like a good number," said Pandiscio - the next step was to get it into production. It took several months to design the compact tin recipe box with bright, primary colors that fits nicely on any kitchen table or countertop. The game's logo: a knife, fork and spoon personifying a family including dad, mom and kid. Each of the 51 games is printed on one card that is color-coded. There are six color-coded categories. Silly games are printed on yellow cards; memory games are printed on purple ones and so on. One game on a blue card that falls into the social skills category is called "Pass the Pepper." Before passing a pepper shaker on, tell the best and worst thing that happened during the past week. Another suggestion: Tell what was the funniest or strangest thing that happened. Whether dinner is a delivered pizza or a home-cooked meal, the Pandiscio family enjoys popping the lid of the tin recipe box, flipping through the cards and playing a game or two. "They're fun games," acknowledged Kyle, who said he enjoys playing games - especially the one he thought up, which is appropriately named "Kyle's Lucky Vegetables." Pandiscio sold his first games at a trade show he attended in New York in September. Since then, other retail stores have begun selling the game in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. More recently, a local chain restaurant bought several to hand out to visiting guests to play while they dine. When Pandiscio got his first check for the game, he said it was "kind of a good feeling that you created something people enjoy," which is exactly the point of the game. FamilyTimeFun Dinner Game costs $15.95 and can be ordered at www.FamilyTimeFunGames.com. December 2005
November 20, 2005 Sometimes the main course is French toast. And sometimes, 9-year-old Madison and 5-year-old Alex bicker, or activities from karate to dance gum up the evening. But Kim Sloan still makes sure that she eats nightly with her children, and her husband joins in as much as possible. "That seems to be the only time we can sit down as a family together," says Sloan, a stay-at-home mother in Medway who also has an 18-month son, Trent. For those who can manage it, the family dinner is a lifeboat in a sea of busy-ness, a time when the many obligations and distractions pulling us apart today are at least temporarily stilled. As I mentioned in a previous column, the benefits are dramatic: Family meals help protect children from drugs, depression and alcohol, and foster better grades, eating habits and levels of self-confidence. But how do you get into the habit, especially at this extra-busy time of year? A big holiday feast is tough enough. Pulling off a nightly dinner can seem impossibly daunting. And yet nurturing the routine isn't as hard as you think, if you take the right approach. Here's how: Make a commitment. We schedule so much else of our lives, why not the family meal, suggests Miriam Weinstein, a filmmaker and author of "The Surprising Power of Family Meals" (Steerforth Press, 2005) who's based in Manchester-by-the-Sea. By marking ''family dinner'' on the calendar, then you are more committed and can plan ahead. ''If you don't have the institution in place, it's much less likely to happen,'' says Weinstein, who ate dinner regularly with her now-grown children. Set the stage. You don't need to be fancy, but try to be civilized. Grabbing pizza slices from the kitchen and disappearing to separate rooms doesn't count, nor does snacking in the minivan. Put out place settings. Light candles. Set the stage for a good experience. ''Everybody likes having a place where they are welcomed and wanted and where they belong,'' says Marialisa Calta, author of ''Barbarians at the Plate: Taming and Feeding the Modern American Family'' (Perigee, 2005). Create refuge. My mother used to walk off an imaginary line across the kitchen, showing us where we could and couldn't play while she was preparing dinner. Today, we need to draw ''lines in the sand'' around meals if we want to create the peace needed to connect with each other. That means switching off the television, phone, and other devices during meals and focusing on one another. Kempton Flemming, a City of Boston Treasury Department worker, says he and his family sometimes watch the news during dinner but always ignore the phone. ''That's the time you can share ideas, converse, and discuss family matters,'' says Flemming, who eats at least four nights weekly with his wife, Cheryl, and three children, Teresia, 23, Nadane, 17, and Kempton Jr., 16. ''It's not just eating.'' Relax and have fun. Once you've carved out a place and time, chill and have fun. Some families play simple word games at the table to get conversation flowing. Noticing this, John Pandiscio, a former advertising executive and a father of two in Franklin, invented "FamilyTimeFun Dinner Games & Activities," a boxed set of 51 games on laminated cards that my daughters, ages 13 and 9, tried and loved. Dinnertime also is a great time for telling stories, about your day or your crazy Uncle Dave. A three-year study by Emory University professors Robyn Fivush and Marshall Duke found that preteens whose families tell such lore at dinner have higher self-esteem and better peer relations during adolescence, because they know their own history and identity. "Those families really seem to be installing a sense of well-being in their children," says Fivush. Starting a family meal habit may take a little effort, but it's worthwhile. If you can't gather in the evening, try breakfast. If you can't cook, do takeout by candlelight. And if you think you can't sit down together because of your family's many sports or other obligations, Weinstein rightly reminds us that dinner is an important ''practice'' too — for the time when your children have their own families to nurture. Maggie Jackson's Balancing Acts column appears every other week. She can be reached at maggie.jackson@att.net. October 26, 2005 John Pandiscio of Franklin, Mass., a former advertising executive, has introduced the answer to keeping young children at the table. He launched FamilyTimeFun Dinner Games for families with young children to play together at the dinner table while they eat. It's a collection of 51 games printed on spill-proof game cards that come in recipe-style tin box with a divider card. There is no game board and no pieces required. One game is called "What's Missing" and asks one person to close his eyes while the others hide something from the table (spoon, napkin, ketchup bottle). The first person opens his eyes and tries to guess what's missing. All games are quick, taking 1 to 3 minutes to play. It's for families with kids in kindergarten to fifth grade. The game set cost $15.95 and can be ordered at www.FamilyTimeFunGames.com.
It's sold at Brainwaves Toy Shop in Narragansett, the Toy Mill in Tiverton,
Walrus and Carpenter, Newport, and Biggles in Providence. |
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