This idea was inspired by a comment made by Lisa Pietsch, on my Home and Garden Blog. She suggested having children draw plates, forks, knives, spoons, etc. on paper placemats to help teach children the proper placement of utensils in relation to other tableware.
I thought it was a great idea, but I also thought it would be fun to make custom placemats, which can also help teach kids proper table setting methods. Instead of paper, foam core can be used to create these placemats. A 10″ x 16″ piece is perfect, but if you can only find foam core in 12″ x 12″ squares, you can cut sections from these pieces and glue them together to achieve the appropriate size. Attaching more than one piece is fun, since you can use different colors and create a multi-colored placemat. You can also use vinyl or other washable fabric instead of foam core.
Have your child trace a plate onto the placemat with a marker. Your child can paint in the area, cover it with fabric or embellish it, or you can use permanent marker so the shapes won’t wash away when you wipe off the placemat after meals. Once the drawing of the plate is centered on the placemat, show your child where the utensils should go and have him or her trace spoons, forks, and knives in the appropriate places. These can be colored in, or for a little more sparkle, cover each utensil shape with a thin layer of glue and let your child sprinkle it with silver glitter for bright, shiny silverware.
Another cute idea is to glue a napkin ring to the top left corner of the placemat. Your children can then feed napkins through the rings when they set the table. Even paper napkins will work, and this is a good way to keep napkins handy and to keep them from falling on the floor. You can find a variety of cute napkin rings, or purchase unfinished wooden ones that you and your children can paint and decorate to add even more fun to your table settings.
Placemats can also be decorated using other methods, and different designs will be preferred by older children. Let them use their imagination to customize their placemats.