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Table Manners

The loudest fork in the house

Play this lessonNarrated out loud. No account, works offline.

Also available in Spanish. The app stops after two lessons a day and suggests something to do away from the screen.

What it teaches

These are the lines the lesson comes back to, and the ones a child actually remembers afterwards.

Manners are not rules. They are kindness, sped up.

Good manners just mean: I thought about you.

How it starts

Story time. This one is about a boy called Theo, who had the loudest fork in the whole house, and did not know it.

How the lesson goes

What Theo was doing

  1. Scraping the fork on the plate
  2. Talking with a full mouth
  3. Reaching across everybody

Why each one exists

  1. Mouth closed — so nobody sees your food
  2. Ask, don't reach — so nobody wears your sleeve
  3. Wait for everyone — so nobody eats alone

The five that matter most

  1. Mouth closed while you chew
  2. Ask instead of reaching
  3. Napkin on your lap, not your sleeve

Two more that people notice

  1. Say thank you to whoever cooked
  2. Carry your own plate to the sink

The question at the end

Why do we chew with our mouths closed?

For the grown-up

Every lesson ends by handing the child something to do off the screen, and telling you what was taught so you can use the same words.

Try this today: At your next meal: mouth closed, ask instead of reach, and say thank you out loud to whoever cooked.

Then: Carry your plate to the sink, plus one other person's.

More in Story Time

The whole library is free

Twenty-four narrated lessons for ages 4 to 9, in English and Spanish. No account, no sign-up, no ads, and nothing your child does in the app ever leaves the device — you can check that yourself with the network tab open. Open the lessons.