Family Dinner Conversation Cube - Family Night (she: Adelle)

Family Night is a great time to teach values and bond together as family. Hosting a formal, sit-down lesson is a great method for teaching children and talking together as a group. However, if you have a week that is stuffed so full of activities that you can barely come up for air, adding another activity to the calendar might be more a burden than a buoy.

Today’s Family Night post is dedicated to all of the parents out there who are feeling busy, because, this activity can be done while you are eating dinner! Everyone needs to eat. Make mealtime special with our free printable Dinner Conversation Cube. It is easy to assemble and fun to use!

Did you know that regular family dinner is actually considered one of the most important activities that families can do together? It’s true!

Check out this pretty cool research from the Family Dinner Project Foundation:

“Recent studies link regular family dinners with many behaviors that parents pray for: lower rates of substance abuse, teen pregnancy and depression, as well as higher grade-point averages and self-esteem. Studies also indicate that dinner conversation is a more potent vocabulary-booster than reading, and the stories told around the kitchen table help our children build resilience. The icing on the cake is that regular family meals also lower the rates of obesity and eating disorders in children and adolescents. What else can families do that takes only about an hour a day and packs such a punch?”

Who knew that food could be the answer to so many prayers!? It doesn’t even have to be chocolate! Actually, the study goes on to explain that the TIME together is what makes the biggest difference. It isn’t what fancy meal you serve to your children that helps them to develop into amazing young adults. It is the fact that you are eating it together that makes the impact!

Most American families are starved for time to spend together, and dinner may be the only time of the day when we can reconnect. At mealtime, family members take a break from their personal activities and become invested in the group. Be sure to put aside work, email, video games, homework, and other distractions and take time to catch up with each other.

This is where the Dinner Conversation Cube comes in handy! It gets you talking and laughing together! Each side of the dice has a unique question or prompt that will start positive and entertaining conversation for the group.

The conversation questions include:

Say something nice about a person at the table.
What have you done recently that you are proud of?
What is your favorite vacation memory?
Tell one good thing that happened today.
Sing a line from your favorite song.
Name something you are thankful for and why.

Building the dice is really simple. First, download and print the template here. If you can print the template onto cardstock paper it works best! You want it to be sturdy. You can get the free download by clicking HERE.

Cut the dinner conversation dice out along all of the solid lines. Do NOT cut along the dashed lines. Those are for folding.

Then, fold all of the dashed lines up away from the printed side of the paper.

The parts of the cube will fit together perfectly to make a dice! Put a little bit of glue or double sided tape on each of the tabs and secure them in place. It is pretty simple.

Now, your cube is ready for action!

During family dinner tonight, take turns rolling the cube and answering the prompt on the side of the dice that lands “face up.” Listen to each other’s answers and see what new things you can learn about your family.

I tried it with my kids and they thought it was fantastic. I think the fact that they got to do something different during our meal made it special. They each wanted a turn to roll the cube. We had plenty of giggles. I was even surprised by some of the answers!

President Uchdorf said, “We build deep and loving family relationships by doing simple things together, like family dinner…and just by having fun together.” It doesn’t take big elaborate plans and outings to bond your family together. It just takes time. And-in this case it also involves food! A perfect combination.

I hope you can find time this week to sit down together as a family to enjoy a meal and good conversation. Relax. Enjoy. Unwind from the day. Connect with each other as you use your Dinner Conversation Cube to add a little bit of extra fun to your mealtime.