Songs

Table talk with small children

Table talk.  What’s yours like?  Sometimes fascinating chat round the table with children just happens.  But often, especially if you’re eating out, children might be more interested in digging your iphone out of your bag to play games on.    I’ve tried politics, plants, what-would-you-do-if? games and which-would-you-rather? tests (shark attack or death by strangling).  Lately a table discussion we call  ‘what’s it made of?’ has turned out to be good while waiting for the waiter to bring the pizza.  The table?  That’s easy.  Wood = trees.  The napkins? Cotton = plants.  The knife and fork?  Everyone knows it’s metal.  Or more precisely steel, made from iron.  Where do they get it?  How do they make it?  Check out http://www.xomba.com/where_does_steel_come for a brief and clear answer.  The glasses? Well, made of glass but how? Answer – melt sand, soda ash and limestone.  The plate?  Clay. The menu? Paper = trees again. And once the pizza’s in front of you, well then it’s easy – tomatoes, cheese, dough, salt, oil, pepper and so on.

Recently I read about children who didn’t know that chicken nuggets come from birds. But do many kids know that chocolate comes from a plant?

Simple questions.  Interesting answers.