Beautiful Table Settings

I have entered a few Meal Prep competitions in 4H when I was younger, and at BYU we had to do fancy table settings for a Meal Management class I took, but I didn't know about the hobby (craft? sport? haha) of "Tablescaping" before this. People do it at competitions at places like County Fairs. They create such elaborate table settings with beautiful themes and centerpieces. I would like to see some in person sometime!

Examples:

https://mantelandtable.com/2023/08/31/2023-tablescape-competition/

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/tablescaping

https://archive.ph/rEktC tablescaping

https://www.elledecor.com/life-culture/a65371937/royal-dining-rules-etiquette/ other dining etiquette

We didn't go that far, but I did have each of the kids create a formal place setting with a theme and a written menu, if desired, using things we already had around the house. It was really fun to see what they came up with!

Goldie's menu

Goldie's setting

Gus worked hard on making his place very fancy

And so did Clementine!

Teddy's place setting featured bunnies

Daisy's had a "summer garden party" theme

Ziggy's was police themed

Junie's had a beautiful Ocean theme

I loved all these pretty table settings and would be happy to eat at any of them!

Etiquette Unit

 

One of the kids requested doing another Etiquette Unit. It was really fun! I like being able to customize our topics to any that are, ahem, more relevant for certain individuals. There are lots of things I want the kids to be able to do in public or with other people that we just don't always think to practice! So this unit was a good chance to be intentional about that.

We did this scavenger hunt for Family Home Evening during the unit. It's always good to practice being grateful for the things around us!

One day we all chose people we might not usually appreciate and wrote thank-you notes to them. Gus chose to write his to the Garbage Truck man. I love the recycling sign he drew from memory on the back of the card. When garbage day came, Gus waited eagerly outside, and then Teddy helped him run out and give the note to the garbage truck driver. I wonder what he thought of it?

One fun thing we did was go out to several stores and let the kids practice buying things, ordering things, asking questions of the employees, etc. I would coach them before we went inside, and then withdraw and just let them do it all by themselves (with an older sibling hovering nearby if necessary). I reminded them to speak up, speak clearly, and use polite words like "excuse me" and "could you please." They all did so well! And I think they were very proud of themselves.

(The picture is just of our picnic afterward, where we ate some of the things the kids had ordered or bought. Then we played on a playground and the kids had a few things to say about the other kids' etiquette, or lack thereof! Ha!)

At Scheel's we practiced elevator and escalator etiquette

We also liked doing this "Compliment Board." Anyone in the family could write something nice about anyone else in the family, and we put those things up on the board and then took them off and read them aloud occasionally. It was fun to see the good things people noticed, and I think it helped people want to do good things, too!

A few videos about etiquette:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLtI3PoRzPI etiquette in different cultures

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZrCvlcUxfA more rules

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K41JehFXMI8 girls teaching etiquette

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCo3wSGYRbQ gestures

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edSkl9iZfFs Greetings

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WItQ6KpI3cg&pp=4gcKEghzdWJzdGFja4oIAkAB Fixing vocal fry