Mealtimes with Small Fries, Montesori Style

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Something I love in Montessori classrooms is how “real” snacks and meals are for children. Young children- even toddlers!- are setting tables, sitting at the table, and eating nicely. In some schools, a community meal is even shared and passed along the table. Watching a 2-year-old politely ask for the milk pitcher is precious.

The Benefits of Shared Meals

While I understand the challenges of sharing a meal as a family, it is something we strive for. When everyone is sitting at the table together, one of the first things a child can learn is table manners. Children see how to sit at the table, how to use utensils, and hold polite conversations. The expectations I have of my children vary with developmental ability, but we are always modeling the behaviors we want to see at the table.

In our house, breakfast and lunch is left up to individual choice. Dinner, though, we share the meal. When my children were very young, I prepared the meal, served it on plates, and put the plates on the table. This worked well for us most of the time, but I have since changed to putting serving platters and bowls right on the table.

Setting the Table

To start, each child should have a placemat. There are many placemats available for Montessori homes. These in particular are silicone, so they will hold up a long time and can even go in the dishwasher. Look for a placemat that has outlines for dishes, silverware, and the napkin.

Serving bowls! I love my matching set of serving bowls. It makes it easy for me to grab exactly what I’m looking for every night. For some families, it might make more sense to use a food storage container for easy clean up, but love how nice these white bowls look on the table.

Like many Montessori teachers, I prefer breakable dishware. This often comes as a shock to parents, as we have been conditioned to believe we need durable, plastic dishware. Observations in schools and at home has led me to believe this only causes children to be more careless. After all, if you know it won’t break, why bother being careful? Breakable dishes, however, need to be treated with care and children often take that responsibility seriously. While breaks do happen occasionally, I have found that there are fewer drops and spills overall. That said, when there is a break, I ask them to let an adult clean up the mess.

I like the Corelle brand of dishware in my own home. It is fairly sturdy and holds up to everyday bumps. These white plates and these white bowls are a perfect size for young children and will complement most dishware you have for the adults in the house.

Drinkware

Expecting a 3-year-old to pour a glass of milk from a gallon jug is setting the child up for failure. Instead, I keep small, glass pitchers on hand for the children. During meal times, I can put these on the table for the children to use. At other times, they are kept on a low shelf in the fridge. This small, glass pitcher from For Small Hands (not an affiliate link) is one of my favorites! Here you will find a similar pitcher from Amazon.

For drinking glasses, I look for glasses with a heavy base. This makes them more stable when a child is pouring and drinking. The ideal size for a preschool child and older, in my opinion, is a “juice glass”. These are often around 5 or 6 ounces. These Libbey Heavy Base Juice Glasses are perfect. I use them myself frequently!