1. Treating Cafeteria Employees with Respect
You can tell a lot about your child’s character in how he treats the cafeteria employees. A simple please or thank you goes a long way. Remind your child to share gratitude, with staff :)
2. Obeying Cafeteria Rules
Hopefully your child’s school makes school cafeteria expectations clear. Tell your child to look for rules posted on the cafeteria walls so he or she knows what’s expected in the cafeteria. Guidelines may also be outlined by teachers or cafeteria monitors at the beginning of the year. This is one of the few times kids get to socialize during the school day, so let's make it pleasant.
And it’s worth noting that in some schools, the teachers rotate cafeteria monitoring responsibilities. Please remind your child that these teachers are sacrificing their typical lunch break, so let's show them kindness!
3. Cleaning Up Your Own Mess
This one is brilliant because it works everywhere: at home, when you’re dining out at a restaurant with your family, and yes, in the school cafeteria. Teach your child to clear his trash away and wipe up any mess he/she might have (probably) made.
What’s the kindness spin here? Well, cleaning up after yourself shows respect and kindness to the school staff who would have to clean up extra mess otherwise. Some schools even share the table-wiping responsibility with the kids, which I think is a brilliant move toward teaching kids to live with awareness for others around them.
4. A colorful plate
What does it mean to have a colorful plate?
It has been said that the more colors on your plate -- and the more shades of vegetables and fruits your meal includes -- the more nutrients you're eating. This means that an easy way to make sure that you're eating a healthy meal is simply to look at how many different colors your food represents
5. Inclusion of everyone! The lunch bunch!
Lunch time helps assisting in social skills. Encourage students to include everyone and promote positive social interactions, with all. This can help students feel seen, build positive coping skills, and form trusting relationships. Share some happy! Parents write happy notes, in lunches/backpacks. Share a joke! A friend from TPES shared this happy/joke: What kind of sneakers does a chicken wear? Ree bok bok bok lol
6.Using your manners...Say please and thank you: Saying "please" when asking for something and "thank you" to show appreciation are basic manners that children should learn early. Sharing gratitude/thanks with cafeteria staff, too!
