Family Activities
Talk about AI at the kitchen table.
Children meet automated systems long before anyone explains them: the video that plays next, the voice that answers back, the door that opens by itself. You do not need to understand the technology to help a child think clearly about it. You need a game, ten minutes, and a few good questions.
Every activity here uses things most homes already have, or nothing at all. None of them needs a phone, a tablet, or a spare device, because a lot of families do not have one to spare. Pick one tonight. If it works, try another next week.
What your child practises
One sentence on the thinking skill underneath the game, so you know what to listen for.
What you need
Household things: socks, snacks, a pencil. Several need nothing at all.
How to play
A few short steps you can read once and then put down.
Talk about it
Questions for afterwards, plus an honest answer for the question children ask most.
At the Table
Ten to twenty minutes, with things from the kitchen or the laundry pileThe Very Literal Robot
Your child gives the instructions for making a snack. You follow them exactly as spoken, and nothing more. Expect laughter, and a first real feel for what an algorithm is.
One adult, one or more children View activity Ages 4–8 15 minutesThe Laundry Sorting Machine
Your child sorts laundry by a rule, then meets the striped sock, the glove, and the sock with no partner. A first look at what a sorting machine does with the things that do not fit.
One adult, one or more children View activity Ages 6–11 15–20 minutesGuess My Rule
You sort household objects by a secret rule. Your child tests new objects until they crack it, then it's their turn. Detective work for figuring out a system that won't explain itself.
One adult, one or more children View activity Ages 5–11 15 minutesFair Shares
Share a snack three ways: equally, by who's hungriest, and by who helped. Then argue about which was fair. A first taste of why fair has more than one honest meaning.
Two or more family members View activityOut and About
On a walk, at the shops, or across a weekMachine Spotting Walk
On any walk or errand, hunt for machines that count, recognise, recommend, or decide. Most children find far more than they expected.
One adult, one or more children View activity Ages 6–12 During any shopping tripWho Put That There?
At the shops, look at what sits at a child's eye level and right by the till. Somebody chose that order. The same question applies to every feed and search result.
One adult, one or more children View activity Ages 9–14 One week, a few minutes a dayOur Family Data Trail
For one week, list on the fridge every time your family's information is written down, scanned, or saved. Then ask: who keeps it, why, and could we have said no?
The whole household View activityTalk Games
Nothing needed but each other: car rides, queues, bedtimeFinish My Sentence
Start a sentence and let everyone guess the next word. Familiar phrases are easy, surprising ones are not. The same trick powers chatbots and phone keyboards.
Two or more players View activity Ages 7–14 10–15 minutesTwo Truths and a Fake
Tell three things about your day, one made up. Everyone guesses the fake and says what gave it away. A family game about why convincing is not the same as true.
Three or more players View activity Ages 6–14 10–20 minutesCould a Robot? Should a Robot?
Name a task. Everyone votes twice: could a machine do it, and should it? The gap between the two votes is where the good conversation starts.
Two or more players View activityBefore you start
You do not need to be the expert.
Most adults feel unsure about AI, and that is fine. These activities work best when you think alongside your child rather than explain to them. Every one is also a single-page PDF you can print and stick on the fridge. No account, no email address, no tracking.
"I don't know, let's find out" is a good answer
Children learn more from watching an adult reason through a question than from hearing a confident answer. Each activity ends with a plain explanation you can borrow.
No device in the house required
Nothing here asks for a screen, a download, or a login. The ideas behind AI are about rules, patterns, and choices, and those fit on a kitchen table.
Easier and harder in the same game
Every activity has a way to make it simpler for a younger child and a twist for an older one, so the whole family can play the same game together.