The child is now the owner. What would the restaurant be called? What changes about the decor? What three dishes would be on the menu that aren't there now? What would the uniform look like? What would the music be? What's the specialty? The game can run as one question at a time with the whole table answering, or the child can present a complete redesign vision while the parent asks follow-ups. Children are consistently more engaged when they have real authority over a hypothetical than when they're answering questions about reality.

What you need

Optional: napkin and pen for sketching the new design

How to do it

1Say: "You own this restaurant now. Anything can change. What's the very first thing you fix?"
2Follow the thread: name, decor, menu, uniform, music, specialty dish.
3Ask follow-up questions. Don't offer your own ideas. This is their restaurant.

Variations

If nothing comes to mind: flip the question first — 'what would you keep exactly the same?' is an easier entry than inventing changes from scratch.
How it ends: winds down naturally when the check comes — 'last decision: the name on the sign.'

💡 Parent tip

Ask 'what would you keep exactly the same?' as well as 'what would you change?'. It's a harder question and produces more interesting answers. The 'keep' question forces careful observation rather than pure wish-fulfillment.

What your child develops

Design thinking — imagining a better version of something real is the first step of iterative design
Autonomous decision-making — having full authority over a hypothetical builds confidence in expressing opinions
Environmental awareness — noticing what a restaurant has and doesn't have requires actually paying attention to the space