<p>A friend and I are having a Christmas Day dinner with combined families–age range 19-66. We thought it would be fun to come up with some zany or intriguing “table topics” to get out of the typical conversational ruts or generational divides…I thought this would be a great forum for generating some. And maybe a few of you could use some alternatives to steer clear of dangerous political minefields, etc. on such an occasion too.</p>
<p>Here are 2 I’ve got so far:</p>
<p>If you were to invent a new reality show/game show about some interest you have, what would it be and how would you set it up? </p>
<p>What fashion trend (any era) makes NO sense whatever. (My nominees are high heels and the bee hive hair do.)</p>
<p>We considered: What is something you did in high school that you now think was INCREDIBLY dumb or dangerous? (did this once in a group of adults and it was hilarious but I’m not sure all the kids at the table would find this comfortable yet…or that the parents really want to know…)</p>
<ul>
<li><p>What was your first (or worst) job. (It is great for young family members to see adults in a different light & realize that even the most successful among us start out with humble beginnings.)</p></li>
<li><p>What was your most embarrassing moment.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>For those of us who may be spending time with children we don’t know well:</p>
<p>Calvin Trillin wrote that when he meets a school-age child, he asks, “Who is the meanest, nastiest kid in your class?” He says that there’s no child so shy that they won’t answer that question, and the resulting conversation is never boring.</p>
<p>An icebreaker from the Junior League: everyone writes down a secret no one else knows about you, put them all in a hat, then randomly select one and have everyone guess whose secret it is. </p>
<p>On 2nd thought, this could end really badly…“your real father is Uncle Bob” etc. </p>
<p>Or same concept, but people write down what animal they would be if they were an animal, and people have to guess who wants to be the boa constrictor, the ostrich, etc. Probably safer.</p>
<p>What was your first (or worst) job. (It is great for young family members to see adults in a different light & realize that even the most successful among us start out with humble beginnings.)</p>
<p>I like this.</p>
<p>What a good thread!
We will be vacationing with D1 serious boyfriend for several days ( whom i have only met once & H has never met)- It will just be the four of us plus D BF. </p>
<p>I don’t expect any problems- D1 BF seems pretty easygoing- All three of the " young people" are in school & personally I would prefer just to listen to them talk about what is going on in their lives- but H tends to babble when he is in a group, about political crap from Air America- I don’t know how to tell him beforehand to just * zip his lips* without hurting his feelings.</p>
<p>I would go for a different direction. Who is the meanest kid seems like an opening to be mean spirited. How about
If you could learn any language what would you choose?
If you could travel anywhere in the world where would you go and why
If you could have dinner with any five people living or dead who would you choose?
What is the best gift you were ever given?</p>
<p>At a reunion last summer, we had everyone write down 2 things about themselves. The person in charge chose one and made a sheet with all of them. Everyone was to mingle and find out the answers. On day 3 we all got together and guessed as a group and went over the answers. It was a lot of fun and we learned some interesting facts about people we had known for a long time.</p>
<p>We played autograph bingo. I wrote something unique about each person who would be attending the event and everyone got a sheet that had 25 squares on it. Each square had something little-known and unusual about one (or more) of the people present and the person had to get the signature of the person that the fact corresponded with in that square. We played both 5 in a row & blackout. It was a great way to help people mingle & I had nice inexpensive gifts for everyone (mostly edibles). </p>
<p>Examples of the squares included (parent of newborn child, retired judge, RN working with special needs kids, etc.) It started a lot of conversations.</p>
<p>There are some great ideas here–and some that would be great for other occasions as well so I am making notes!. For those of you who have the table topics game, are there any all time favorites?</p>
<p>I know the “best 3 inventions in the world” would get some distance with this particular crowd we’ll be with. </p>
<p>I agree with an earlier poster that I’d love to “just hear the kids talk about their lives” but in fact these are still young enough that they are not likely to do that very openly with all of us eagerly listening (or they’ll adjourn to another room to talk). But I find that if you get a good conversation on something NOT about them going, other interesting things fall out in the the course of the talk…</p>
<p>Worst or first job might get some good distance too</p>
<p>“What’s the best decision you ever made and why?” This is a great question for any age group and brings out some really good stories about love, life and everything. </p>
<p>‘Worst decision’ is good too…but perhaps not as cheerful!</p>
<p>I was at a Christmas (work) dinner this week with fourteen women ranging in age from 25 to 75.
Oddly enough the topic that that got everyone involved (quite by accident) was
“your first car”. It was funny to hear about the year/models of many now-extinct cars that we were so thrilled to have. Even funnier were the stories everyone told of their adventures in their first car…fender benders, getting lost,dates w/ bfs, going to college,parties,road trips,etc.</p>