The Meal Box: Fun Questions and Family Tips to Get Mealtime Conversations Cookin'

Nicholaus, Bret ; McGrath, Tom

ISBN 10: 0829428135 ISBN 13: 9780829428131

Publisher: Loyola Press, 2009

Designed for all ages, The Meal Box is guaranteed to be a humongous hit around the table. Each of 52 cards features a question designed to spice up conversations and get parents and kids talking like never before; the reverse side offers a practical tip to help parents apply the general theme of the question to their family’s life of faith.

Sample front: If you could build a private bridge or tunnel that would take you directly from your home to any place at all, what would it connect you to?
Sample back: Prayer is one of the surest ways we connect with God. At any time, in any circumstance, you can talk to God heart-to-heart. Make prayer a daily habit in your home.

Also available in Spanish! En torno a la mesa

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author

Bret Nicholaus is the coauthor of the national best-selling question book The Conversation Piece (over 200,000 copies sold), as well as more than a dozen other books designed to get people talking. Bret and his wife are the parents of two young boys.

Tom McGrath is the author of Raising Faith Filled Kids, The Meal Box, and is one of the authors of the God’s Gift series. Currently Tom is the Vice President for Product Development at Loyola Press. He previously served as the executive editor of U.S. Catholic magazine. McGrath is an avid writer and speaker on family-life issues and spirituality. Tom and his wife, Kathleen, live in Chicago and are the parents of two grown daughters, who are still always welcome at meal time.

From the Back Cover

52 Servings of Fun and Faith!

Designed for all ages, The Meal Box is guaranteed to be a humongous hit around the table. Each of 52 cards features a question designed to spice up conversations and get parents and kids talking like never before; the reverse side offers a practical tip to help parents apply the general theme of the question to their family’s life of faith.

Sample front: If you could build a private bridge or tunnel that would take you directly from your home to any place at all, what would it connect you to?

Sample back: Prayer is one of the surest ways we connect with God. At any time, in any circumstance, you can talk to God heart-to-heart. Make prayer a daily habit in your home.

52 Servings of Fun and Faith!

Sample front: If you could build a private bridge or tunnel that would take you directly from your home to any place at all, what would it connect you to?

Sample back: Prayer is one of the surest ways we connect with God. At any time, in any circumstance, you can talk to God heart-to-heart. Make prayer a daily habit in your home.

Excerpt. � Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

How to Enjoy The Meal Box
1. Pick any card in the box at any time; there is no particular order to the questions.
2. Ask a question. Allow each person time to respond, encouraging them to expand on their answer whenever possible.
3. Watch the fun unfold! Parents are encouraged to use the tip on the back of the card as a way to nurture their family’s faith at breakfast, lunch, dinner—and beyond.

7 Ways to Be a Better Listener
1. Stop whatever you’re doing.
2. Look your child in the eye.
3. Pay attention not just to what your child is saying, but to the nonverbal messages.
4. Don’t interrupt.
5. Ask questions to encourage more conversation.
6. Check that you understood your child correctly.
7. Go to www.loyolapress.com/family-fun for more ideas and tips.

If you could carve four new faces into the side of Mt. Rushmore, whose faces would they be? Why do you believe your choices deserve such a place of honor?

Food for Family Thought
Tell your child about your favorite apostle, holy person, or hero from the Bible. Let your child know what traits you admire in that person.

If you had to describe your personality in terms of a form of transportation, which one would you choose? (Examples: airplane, bicycle, cab, camel, hot-air balloon, sailboat, skateboard, train, truck.)

Food for Family Thought
A major gift we give our children is appreciation of their individuality.
Pray that you can nurture the gifts your child embodies for the good of the world.

If you were asked to design a brand-new place for people to worship God—a place unlike anything you’ve seen—how would you design it? Be as specific as you can.

Food for Family Thought
Tell your child about the church you attended when you were young. Share what you liked best about that church—it might have been a work of art, the stained glass windows, the altar—whatever it was that appealed to you.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.