Madeleine West shares the simple trick that keeps her six kids at the dinner table

Ask any parent, and they’ll tell you getting a child to stay at the dinner table and finish their meal can require United Nations levels of negotiation. 
 
So, as you might imagine, convincing six of them to stay in their chairs takes the challenge up a notch (six notches, to be exact).

LISTEN: On the new Honey Mums podcast, Deborah Knight and Jo Abi discuss the niggling fear all mothers have. (Post continues.)

RELATED: How to stack your fridge so your kids eat well

With six children ranging in age from three to 12, things can get a little, well, chaotic at home for the former Neighbours star and her husband, chef Shannon Bennett.

Over time, she's found a simple trick to help family dinners run more smoothly: playing board games while everyone eats.

“I always recommend that to parents,” Madeleine, who has just released a series of children’s books called Lily D V.A.P., tells 9Honey.

“Make sure all of them stay at the table and make some loose rules, like, ‘You have to eat three mouthfuls of your dinner before it’s your turn’, ‘You can’t touch the dice until you’ve eaten three big mouthfuls’.”
 
This has the added benefit of allowing the busy mum to carve out some quality time with Phoenix, Hendrix, Xascha, Xanthe and twins Margaux and Xalia.

When it comes to those one-on-one moments with each of her kids, Madeleine says the key is taking advantage of moments where everyone is occupied.

WATCH: How to draw up a household budget. (Post continues.)

“I’ll have half an hour with them before I have to pick up the next child. We do something, talk about their day, have a snack and spend some quality time listening.”
 
The family’s daily routines are structured in a similar way. Every morning Madeleine goes from room to room, giving each of her kids a cuddle as they wake up. 

“Same thing at bedtime - I spend 15 minutes with each of them, to read some picture books to the younger ones and do some readers with the middle-aged kids,” she explains. 

“With the older ones, it’s making a point of talking about their day and what projects they’re working on.

“And answering their questions, they always have so many questions. Sometimes it’s so busy that it’s like, ‘Ask your father’.”

LISTEN: Keep up with all the big parenting news and views with our Honey Mums podcast. (Post continues.)

It’s those tricky questions that inspired Madeleine to create the character of Lily D, a nine-year-old method actor who walks in each of her characters’ shoes to better understand their experiences.

Madeleine says each book is based on a famous play, all of which explore issues that remain relevant for children today - everything from illness and death to friendship, same sex relationships, bullying and body image.

“Most of what’s in the book is inspired by their curly questions, like, 'Sam has two dads, that’s a bit different to us, why is that?’” she explains.