Mary Ellen and Dana Christine, family activities expert, show some clever and easy ways to make a decorative table setting.
- When setting the table for a Monday-night football gathering, try putting out props such as football cards and an actual football to decorate the party table and get guests in a lively football mood. Also look for other trimmings such as football napkins, paper plates and cups that fit within the party's theme.
- If the children are studying for something like a social studies paper on Japan, try helping them out by having an ethnic table setting for the evening meal. A coffee table with grass cloth or bamboo place mats on it, surrounded with floor pillows for the family to sit on, will set an Eastern theme for the evening meal. Finish off the meal with a cup of green tea.
- To surprise children on April Fool's Day morning, try serving their morning cereal in saucepans instead of bowls, color the milk green and put orange juice in measuring cups. Set the table so that the flower vase is upside down and the chairs for the table are backward.
- If the family is suffering from cabin fever during the winter months, try decorating the table in a summery fashion. Dish out cereal from a new sand pail, use a plastic watering can to pour milk on cereal and use a colorful beach towel as a tablecloth.
- Make dinner more interesting and fun by creating a game night. Use finger foods, vegetables and snacks as game pieces and have a tournament. Let the winner eat the pieces.
