Holiday meals when the family all gets together in one home can be a joyous occasion but also a very chaotic and hectic occasion. If you have a big family like I do then you usually have to get very creative when it comes to seating everyone at the table, and sometimes you have to use two tables to allow enough room for everyone to sit. On top of trying to prepare the meal, set the table or tables, and keeping children from being under foot, you have to deal with where everyone is going to sit. The children usually fight over who gets to sit next to who and that creates even more chaos.

Placing name cards in front of each plate can do away with all the fighting. You simply explain that everyone is going to sit where their name card is placed, no arguing, and no trying to switch name cards. Using name cards should eliminate that chaos. But, you have to create the name cards first. This might be something that the children can do while you prepare the meal. It should keep them occupied for a while.

Depending on how many family members you have joining you for the meal, you are going to need one or two packages of card stock, markers, and Christmas cookie cutters such as tree, snowflake, candy cane, and angel. The children will need a large hardback book or something solid to lay the card stock on and create the name cards.

Creating the name cards is very simple. All you have to do is fold the card stock in half so that the name cards will be able to stand up on their own. Using the Christmas themed cookie cutters, choose one cookie cutter for each name card. Lay the cookie cutter on the front side of the folded card stock directly in the middle and trace around the cookie cutter. Using the markers let the children color and decorate the shape they traced on the front of the card. Once they have colored or decorated the traced shape, let them write the name of the family members on each name card, one card for each person.

Now that the Christmas name cards are finished, designate one of the adults to begin placing the name cards in front of each place setting so that everyone will be able to tell where they are supposed to be sitting. By the time the children have put away all of the markers and cookie cutters, and the name cards have been placed, the meal should be ready to serve, so everyone can be seated without the chaos of who gets to sit next to who.

Jonathan Pitts

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