40 ways to get kids involved & eating at teatime

How do you get back into teatimes routines with your family during back-to-school season? At our #afterschoolchefs Twitter party, mums shared how they make teatimes easier and how the kids get involved. You told us what your children enjoy eating and how you get them helping in the kitchen.

The #Afterschoolchefs party was sponsored by Birds Eye. Birds Eye understands that teatimes can be stressful. Birds Eye provides busy parents with helpful solutions, including its classic peas, chicken dippers, fish fingers, waffles and more.

The best ways to eat fish fingers (everybody’s got one)

1. Fish fingers with onion & tomato slices, cool mayo & tomato sauce in whole wheat baps. Delicious. @dr-reenu

2. Try this fish fingers in a wrap ideas @carmstrong2

3. My kids love fish fingers in a wrap with plenty of gherkins, lettuce and sauce of choice. @MammaMummyMum

4. Fish finger gratin here. Bed of spinach, tomato pasta sauce, grated cheese, cooked fish fingers cheese grill. @ETusty

5. Have you tried a fish finger sandwich with waffles instead of bread? Mine love it! @mazfelix

6. The husband particularly likes a good old fashioned fish finger butty! On white country bread. Simple pleasures! @cafebebe

7. Yep, gotta agree, these are staples in our houses! http://bit.ly/1DsekoP @KerryBrearley

Ways to eat potato waffles

8. We experimented with potato waffle sandwiches last week. Used tuna mayo as a filling with cheese. @TheLsMum

9. Ever chucked a waffle in a burger? DELICIOUS! @Luckysammystarr

10. Waffles make a great dipping agent for soups instead of bread.  @TheLsMum

11. Am craving gooey eggs on waffles now! Know what my #afterschoolchefs tea will be ;). @catharmstrong2

12. You know you can also use waffles instead of mash on top of Shepherd’s Pie? @domesticgoddesq

13. Waffles topped with cheesy beans then fish fingers on top! @JanBTweets

14. My little ones are tech savvy. They love @BirdsEyeUK Mashtags – waffles in the shape of smileys & hashtags. @inverleny

15. My lot love @BirdsEyeUK Mashtags with fish fingers. A fun teatime meal where plates are guaranteed to be empty. @inverleny

16. Top your own @BirdsEyeUK waffle put out a selection of healthy toppings and let their imaginations run. @hoogervaaner

17. My #afterschoolchefs like to cut Potato Waffles into a pineapple shape and arrange fish fingers as the fronds. @mazfelix

18. I use waffles instead of bread for some things. Grilled cheese on waffles – yum. @goriami

Meal ideas with Chicken Dippers

19. Homemade egg fried rice with Chicken Dippers. @JAZZ¬¬_SHOEDANCE

20. We love Chicken Dippers in a wholemeal pitta and salad delicious and they choose their own filing. @JanBTweets

21. My kids love putting their Chicken Dippers in a fajita wrap. They don’t like spice, so it’s a great alternative @Luckysammystarr

22. Chicken Dippers with chili rice and sweetcorn…my kids love it! @mazfelix

23. We love Chicken Dippers in a wholemeal pitta and salad delicious and they choose their own filing @JanBTweets

24. Make a Chicken Dipper sunflower: dish of dippy sauce surrounded by dipper and crudite petals @domesticgoddesq

25. Bowl of Chicken Dippers, cucumber and a dollop of sauce greets my boys from school and stops the moans. @CarteBaileysMan

26. Crispy Chicken Dippers, chips and beans is a firm favourite here with lashings of tomato sauce. @TheRealSupermum

How kids eat (and style) their vegetables

27. Frozen peas make a great snack just as they are – even for my girls who are not huge veggie fans! @stephc007

28. All the family love vegetable fingers – a great way to top up the 5 a day. @clarateddy

29. I swear by frozen peas – nutrients still there and excellent value when I get portion out at a time. @JanBTweets

30. The mystery food game! Each select an unusual fruit or veg, find a recipe/use for it, score points. @hoogervaaner

31. My husband made a bearded face using frozen peas nuggets cucumber carrots and sweet corn http://t.co/QsXF7ZSfQG @etspeaksfrom

32. They love to help we make islands with mash potato and hidden veg treasures in the mash with fish for boats. @zmatthewman

Getting your #afterschoolchefs to help in the kitchen

33. Here is the toddler helping out yesterday – She loves to help. http://t.co/NnZYBSHQ4t @MommaMojoBlog

34. Around the world in 80 foods blindfold sticker on map food from that country is Friday dinner. @hoogervaaner

35. My 2 have helped in the kitchen since they were big enough to stand on a chair and stir. @Bdonna191

36. Hard at work in the kitchen. http://t.co/sIJic3T0Co @vaichin

37. I’ve printed out food pictures to help the kids get involved with meal planning @MeTheManandBaby

38. Each girl will pick a whole meal that is their favourite and they are in charge of prep for that day @MommaMojoblog

39. We have a menu board so we can chat about what we want. I can fit meals around after-school clubs @monkeyfeettweet

40. I love my sons helping in the kitchen. I hope they make awesome chefs/dads one day @JuicysBack