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Why can't I play with my food? |
Growing Up
You’re probably familiar with some things that help you be polite, such as saying “please” and “thank you” to show appreciation. Even though it might seem like a lot of fun, not playing with your food is another way of showing good manners!
When someone at the table is making creatures with their food or chewing with their mouth open, it can make the meal less pleasant for the other people involved. You probably wouldn’t like it very much if your uncle was talking with his mouth full of food and accidentally spitting it all over you! (Yuck!!) It can also be wasteful to play with your food. In order to buy food, grown-ups have to work hard and earn money, so when you play with food instead of eating it, that time and work ends up being wasted! There are also places in the world where food is harder to come by, so eating your food instead of playing with it is a good way of showing that you are thankful for what you have!
As a kid, it might be hard to understand what is so bad about eating with your fingers or building snowmen out of mashed potatoes. But try to remember that learning good table manners will pay off when you’re older. Plus, once you’ve finished your meal politely, you can be excused and then go play with your toys!
Fun Food
Even though playing with your food at the table isn't very polite, you can sometimes have a little bit of fun with it before you sit down to eat!
For example, try using cookie-cutter shapes on peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches – cutting your sandwich into special shapes might make it more fun to eat, without losing any table manners! Don't forget to save those discarded pieces around the edges of the cookie-cutter – you can probably make something cool with those too! You can even think about cutting the sandwich into the shape of an animal or a person and using other edible items like berries to give your creature eyes, nose, and mouth!
Or, the next time you're buying an apple or an orange at the supermarket, see if the piece of fruit doesn't look like a fish or a bunny! Can you think of any edible items you could attach which would make your snack look fun??
Remember, food can be a lot of fun! Just keep the playing for play-time, and the eating more meal-time!
