Father/Daughter Dinner Ideas
According to "Healing Hearts and Family Counseling," girls who spend quality time with their fathers tend to do better in school, learn to navigate social roles better and avoid some of the pitfalls of youth, like drug abuse. Father/daughter dinner outings offer fathers and daughters the chance to develop the connections necessary to build these skills in a way that's fun and non-threatening. Different types of father/daughter dinner outings help teach daughters different skills.
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Culture Fest
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With globalization has come the need to navigate new cultural skills as well as languages and customs. For the young woman who's interested in making her mark in the international world, a taste of culture makes a wonderful father/daughter dinner outing. Depending on your hometown, you can find a diversity of foods such as Chinese, Indian, Middle Eastern, Greek, German or French, plus a whole lot more. To make the dinner more meaningful, do a little research into the culture before going to try out the food. Discuss cultural differences, explore what it would be like to live in that country and ask yourselves how you think you'd respond to the culture shock that comes with foreign travel. This type of conversation builds trust as well as encourages healthy daydreaming about future goals.
A Sense of History
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At some point in a daughter's life, she's bound to wonder a bit about what makes her Dad tick and about his history. The inevitable questions that all kids seem to have about their identity stems in part from wondering who their parents were when they were young and what life was like. Some local diners offer retro decor and activities like sock hops that allow a daughter to stand in her Dad's shoes for a bit. This night out might include ordering a dinner that was popular in Dad's day as well as a trip to the local history museum afterward. Conversations about what life was like when he was her age will help a daughter build her understanding of her father's life as well as how she wishes to form her own identity.
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Father/Daughter Cowboy Dinner
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According to "Science Daily," sporting activities are said to increase a girl's self-esteem, and a father/daughter dinner that incorporates this aspect will build skills of self-reliance that she may have difficulty developing on her own. Arrange for an evening horseback riding trip that culminates in a cowboy-themed dinner afterward. You and your daughter will get to spend time outdoors, experience an oft-forgotten culture in the United States and exercise your bodies.
Formal Dinner
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A time comes in everyone's life when they need to understand social skills such as what fork to use when and what kind of conversation to make at a formal dinner. A formal father/daughter dinner teaches a young girl about social graces, how to dress well for an important occasion, how to interpret gender roles and to develop communication skills with individuals outside of her normal social strata. Arrange a dinner at a nearby fancy restaurant that requires formal dinner attire and offers formal dinner service, and prepare for this dinner together by reading up on etiquette and formal dinner protocol.
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References
- Greenwood Publishing Group: Food Culture Around the World
- Healing Hearts and Family Counseling: The Importance of the Father/Daughter Relationship
- The Idea Door: Daddy / Daughter Activities
- Sugar Doodle: Father/Daughter Activity Ideas
- Science Daily: UF Researcher: Participating In Sports Gives Girls Strong Self-Images
Resources
- Photo Credit child and father image by Renata Osinska from Fotolia.com
