60 min
Invent a Board Game
They design the board, write the rules, and then make you play it.
🍽
Run a Restaurant
A menu, an order pad, and one very slow waiter.
A long role-play that gets more elaborate every time, and it comes with genuine writing built in.
Ce qu’il vous faut
- paper
- pens
- a tea towel
- toy food or real snacks
Comment faire
- Write a menu together with four or five items and prices.
- Set a table properly, with a tea towel over the waiters arm.
- You sit down and order. Be a slightly difficult customer.
- They write the order down, however roughly, and bring it.
- Work out the bill at the end and pay with coins or buttons.
Pourquoi c’est bon pour eux
Writing a menu and taking an order is writing with a real purpose, which produces far more effort than a worksheet. Adding up a bill is applied arithmetic, and dealing with a fussy customer is negotiation practice.
Adapter selon l’âge
3 to 4 yearsDraw the menu items rather than writing them, and skip the bill.
9 to 12 yearsAdd a budget, a special of the day, and change from a note.
Sécurité
If using real food, check allergies and keep it to snacks that need no preparation.
Astuce rangement
Closing the restaurant means clearing the table.
Dans le même esprit
30 min
Write a Real Letter
A letter, an envelope, a stamp, and a reply that arrives days later.
40 min
Interview a Grandparent
Ten questions, one phone call, and a story nobody in the family had written down.
40 min
Toy Hospital
Bandages, a clipboard, and every soft toy in the house admitted for treatment.
35 min
Write Your Own Recipe
Invent a sandwich, write the recipe, then make someone else follow it exactly.
90 min
Run a Lemonade Stand
Make it, price it, sell it, count the money.