These days, it seems that everyone is always on the go and distracted during meal times. Dinner is certainly no exception. Even if the entire family is at home during dinner time, each person can be off doing their own thing. Maybe your spouse is noshing in front of the computer, and the kids are eating a quick meal in front of the TV in the den. You might start to wonder how you can gather everyone up together so that everyone can be involved at dinner time. Here are some ideas for getting your entire family involved in dinner.

Cook a Great Meal

Instead of the usual pre-cooked meal for dinner, take the time to cook a great meal that is fresh and healthy. Plan meals ahead of time, create a grocery list and buy all the ingredients you’ll need. Opt for meals that are healthy and satisfying. If you’re short on time, you might want to consider ordering a meal delivery service like Blue Apron or Green Chef. These meal kits come with pre-measured ingredients and easy-to-follow recipes that make getting a homecooked meal on the table in under an hour a reality. Plus, many offer family plans at a lower cost per serving. Check out reviews and meal delivery comparisons at Boxed Mealz.

You may also want to have a theme set for dinner for every day of the week. For example, make an Italian style meal on Mondays, a great chicken meal on Tuesdays and so forth. Ask everyone in the family what they prefer. No doubt, each person has a specific favorite kind of food that they would love to eat every week.

Be Consistent

Consistency is key when it comes to engaging your family at dinner time. Be sure to set a specific time for dinner and let everyone know when to be at the table. If you don’t do this, it can result in family members grabbing something on the way home or snacking at the wrong times and spoiling their appetite by the time dinner rolls around. You can even place a meal menu on the refrigerator so that everyone knows what kind of meal to expect.

Forget the Electronics

Dinner is a time when everyone should forget about their smartphones, leave the TV off and get off the computer or tablet. Everything is digital these days, which means this can be a tricky one. However, one way you can all enjoy dinner together as a family is to leave the phones in another room, turn them off or even hand them in. Not only will everyone enjoy each other’s company, but it can even make dinner that much more delicious when you savor it because you won’t be distracted by text messages and emails. Try these tricks for getting your family unplugged at dinner.

Engage in Conversation

Start up the conversation when you sit down to dinner. Talk about your day and ask each other member of the family how their days went. Dinner time is the time for quality time and catching up with a great conversation. Even if something is bothering someone, it’s good to get everything out when the whole family is together. Here are some great topics to get the conversation started.

Have Fun

You can really get the whole family together for dinner time when you make it fun. That will make it a time to which everyone looks forward. Play music in the background, but keep it low enough that you can hear each other during dinner conversation. You might even want to consider games during dinner, such as Geography or Guess the Animal, which are particularly great if you have young children.

These are a few great ideas for involving the whole family at dinner. You will be pleasantly surprised once you try them.