One way to begin including your children in meal planning is by asking them engaging questions. You can practice this throughout your day, during mealtime, or while preparing the next meal.

Too often when we ask our kids open-ended questions they answer with “I don’t know,” “I don’t care,” or with a shoulder shrug. Other times our kids give us the same old answers. The good news is we can ask questions in a way they are sure to have answers. We can even get them to give us more creative answers. 

Ask questions designed for success

Asking questions with specific examples is more likely to be successful than asking “what kind of vegetables should we have?” Also, asking questions this way will give the kids a choice while you direct the overall plan.

The easiest way to do this is to include an "or" in your questions. 

For example, instead of asking the kids, “What do you want for supper tonight?” you can narrow down the options.

Try presenting questions in the following way: 

“Would you prefer to have meatloaf or hamburgers?”

“Should we have apples or oranges?”

“Should we cook the cauliflower or eat it raw?”

Try these questions for older children: 

“Do you think baked potatoes or mashed potatoes would be best to serve with our meatloaf?”

“Should we have the grilled chicken on Tuesday night after choir practice or on Sunday for lunch?”

“When should we have our leftovers meal, for dinner on Friday or lunch on Saturday?”

“Should we barbeque the chicken or bake it?”

This works for meal preparation too!

Instead of: 

“What do you want to do?” or “Are you going to help me?” 

Use one of the following instead:

“Would you please help me scoop the flour and dump the oil into the batter?”

“Do you want to help me wash the vegetables or set the table?”

“Would you rather get the onions for me or compost the carrot peels?”

“Are you going help me set the table or load the dishwasher tonight?”

Being specific with your questions will help your kids get involved. Learning to ask questions that contain the answers is a helpful parenting skill.