Each person points at three words on the menu without looking. Those three words become the title of a short poem — four lines minimum, three minutes to write. Children under six dictate to a parent who writes it down. The constraint of menu vocabulary produces stranger, more original poems than any open prompt would.

What you need

menu (already on the table)
napkin or paper
pen

How to do it

1Say: "Close your eyes, point at the menu three times. Whatever you land on is the title of your poem."
2Write them down. Four lines minimum. Three minutes starting now.
3Read each poem aloud, title first. Clap after each one. No ranking. Just hearing.

Variations

If writing feels too hard: they dictate the poem line by line while you write it down for them.
How it ends: 'last poem before the food arrives' turns the wind-down into one final reading instead of a stop.

💡 Parent tip

Write one yourself. A parent who produces a four-line poem under the same time constraint — and reads it without embarrassment — gives every child at the table permission to try. The worst poem in the group is always more interesting than none.

What your child develops

Constrained writing — random source material produces more original results than a blank prompt
Poetic form — four lines with a beginning and end requires structural thinking even at minimal length
Reading for detail — scanning the menu for pointed words produces close attention to the actual text