Ylimaf Gnilleps
Choose one of the dishes being served for dinner. Work together to spell the name of that dish backwards on the first try without writing it down. Everyone takes turns, adding one letter at a time to spell the word in reverse (F-A-O-L-T-A-E-M). Feel free to pronounce the foods by their backwards spellings for the rest of the meal. "Could you please pass me the RETTUB?"

Letter Line-Up
Everyone agrees on a category, then takes turns saying words that fit that category. Each word starts with the last letter of the previous word. Can you link together five different words in one minute? Can you link six?

Here are a few categories to get you started:

    *things at school
    *things you eat
    *things inside the house

"How was your day?" add-on story
Decide who will go first, then ask the classic dinner table question, "How was your day?" The first person begins with one sentence about their day. The game moves around the table with each person adding a sentence to the story. How silly will your story get? How many times around can you go? Can you find an ending?

What kind of food am I?
While sitting around the table, try to get others to guess what kind of food you're thinking of by "acting" like that food. For example, in a high-pitched voice, you might say "I'm very small. I wear a cap. I live on the ground. I can be stuffed or put on pizza." Can you get them to guess "mushroom"? Take turns acting as different foods, and award high-fives to the best actor and the best guesser.

Chews wisely
Have everyone count how many times they chew one bite of food. Next, everyone guesses who they think chews the most and the least; reveal the results to see who chews the most and who chews the least and see if anyone guessed right! Try a few rounds with each of the different foods on your plate. How many times do you have to chew mashed potatoes?