Before looking at prices or making any real decision: each person picks what they would order if money, stomach capacity, and parental approval were not factors. Then picks what they'll actually order. The gap between the two is the conversation. 'I'd want the whole seafood platter but I'm getting the pasta' opens more interesting discussion than any direct question. The menu becomes a fantasy object rather than a decision document. Works for any age that can read or have the menu read to them.

What you need

The menu

How to do it

1Pass the menu around and go first, out loud: "If money and rules didn't exist right now, I'd order every dessert on this menu and nothing else. What would you order?"
2Each person announces their dream order and explains why.
3Now: what will you actually order? The gap between the two is the conversation.

Variations

If they shrug or say 'I don't know': keep building your own dream order out loud, adding more absurd items one at a time, until they jump in to correct or top you.
How it ends: fold it into ordering itself — 'okay, decision time' as the waiter approaches turns the close into the next natural step, not a stop.

💡 Parent tip

The sillier you are, the more the child commits — if you ask seriously, you get a serious answer; if you ask playfully, you get a real one.

What your child develops

Preference articulation — naming a desire and distinguishing it from a real choice builds self-knowledge and decision-making awareness
Perspective-taking — hearing what others would choose, and why, opens a window into different tastes
Counterfactual thinking — the gap between 'dream order' and 'actual order' is a gentle introduction to constraints and trade-offs