Progressive Family Dinner

Are you looking for a fun alternative to your family dinner time? I know we tend to get into our routine which can get boring after a while. Well, here is a fun idea we did recently:

Progressive Family Dinner!

The idea behind this, is that we got to enjoy our favorite foods but at different locations!

To make the meal even better…
try leaving your phones and devices in the car!
This IS all about time together after all!

Appetizer:

We started out our dinner with an appetizer. This was a special treat for us because we typically skip the appetizer (both to save the money and the unnecessary calories an appetizer brings). However, on this night, we decided to include it to make the progressive dinner even more fun! It was a great opportunity to try a new appetizer we had been eyeing on the menu for quite a while!

We shared just 1 family sized appetizer amongst all of us. Keep in mind, you will be eating your main entrée before too long. So, just a small appetizer and water for everyone will help keep the cost of this fun night manageable!

Dinner:

After the appetizer, we packed up and headed to Applebee’s for the next portion of our progressive dinner. Be sure to check out what restaurants are offering free or reduced meals for kids on that day. It’s a great way to save some money on this outing. Here is a link to check what is available in your area: mykidseatfree.com

Another way to make your family progressive dinner fun, is by playing some simple games together.

Here is a great resource for games to play at dinner sorted by age group: https://www.thefamilydinnerproject.org/fun/dinner-games/

One of our favorites is a scavenger hunt.

See who can find things like:

1. someone eating a cheeseburger
2. a desert menu
3. food dropped on the floor (hopefully not at your own table! ha)
4. the letter “A” on a sign
5. a man wearing a hat

You can make this really simple if you have smaller kids. Or, you can make it a bit more of a challenge by keeping score. You can even start it at one restaurant and continue on at the next! Maybe the winner gets to choose dessert!

Speaking of dessert…what a better way to end the progressive dinner than with dessert!

Dessert

Dessert is another thing we typically skip when we eat out. My family is typically pretty healthy and this is an easy thing to skip to stick with our healthy lifestyle. However, once in a while, we DO love to splurge on some hot chocolate brownie sundaes! We usually get one to share. But, you may want to order a few and share them all. That is fun too!

While eating our dessert, we played another game. This time, we played “Would you Rather.” The kids had a great time coming up with some pretty outrageous questions! It brought some great laughs to our table!

This night is all about having fun together as a family.

Choose an old family favorite or venture out and try a new spot in town! Anything goes! Be mindful of each other.

Focus on one another.

Use this time to grow closer together.

Use this time to open up conversations with your kids you may not have time to do otherwise.

Our kids crave our attention. What better way to give it to them without distractions?

If you decide to try this out with your family, I would love to hear how it goes! What games did you try? And, more importantly, what foods did you eat? Haha!

With Aloha,

Lacy

Featured Blog Posts:

The Ultimate Little Mermaid Birthday Party

From Hawaii to Nebraska: Adjusting to the Cold Weather

I Needed God’s Gentle Reminder