Christmas dinner is the biggest family dining event of the year in the UK, yet many parents find it a stressful time. As well as cooking for a large group and trying to coordinate timings, for many there’s the added difficulty of a non-compliant or fussy eater toddler.

With Christmas fast approaching, here are six parent hacks to help families over the festive period.

1. Involve your child with Christmas dinner prep

With their growing sense of independence, control is a common theme with toddlers. Involving your child in the preparation and process is key to this. For instance, get them to lay the crackers on the table, or perhaps choose where everyone sits, or maybe pick out the vegetables for cooking. Giving them some autonomy, choice and involvement can help get them on board.

2. Get the kids to eat sprouts!

We all love a traditional Christmas dinner, right? So, if you want the kids to eat sprouts, you better tuck in yourself, because kids follow by example. On the upside, studies show that families that dine together tend to have better eating habits and consume more vegetables, so you’re halfway there already!

3. Make mealtimes fun with Munchy Play

The best way to bring kids, toddlers and fussy eater to the table for Christmas dinner is to make mealtimes fun. From Munchy Play kids’ plates with a built-in track for toys and cars, to playing games like ‘here comes the aeroplane/Santa’s sleigh’, there’s no limit to how creative you can get. Thanks to the high-sides there's also generous space for serving to weaning babies - if you decide to start blending roast dinner for baby.

4. Let them try a bit of everything

Whether you're cooking a turkey or chicken dinner for baby, little kids especially like finger foods and using their hands to eat with. Let them experiment with lots of different tastes and textures. Rather than overwhelm their plate with a big portion, give them little bits of everything to try, or better still let them choose what they want on their plate.

5. Food art

Food art is a great way to inject some playfulness into dining. There’s plenty of festive themes too – funny faces with Brussels Sprouts, a kiwi Christmas tree, and a snowman made from roasties! The good news – it’s a lot easier than you think, just check out #foodart on Instagram it's full of fun Christmas dinner ideas for family.

6. Let them be excused

With so many exciting new toys to play with, Christmas Dinner is one day when children can be excused from the table early once they’ve eaten enough. Children’s attention spans at mealtimes may only be 15-20 minutes long, and this is one day we can all relax a bit more.

And finally, if none of that works and  you wonder how much is Harvester Christmas day menu.... well, it's just £24.99 for kids!

Munchy Play is one of the best toddler gifts for Christmas this year, check out more here.