SupperChatsSign up

Make supper the best part of the day.

Supper is the one time everyone sits down together. SupperChats gives you something worth talking about: a hand-picked story to read aloud, a little thing to try, and three questions that get the whole table going.

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Illustration of a researcher in a shaggy caveman mask shrugging under a tree while four crows scold him from the branches

Tonight at the table

  1. Read aloud2 minutes

    The Crows Never Forget

  2. Try it tonight1 minute

    Make your best “danger!” face at the youngest. Can they guess the warning without words?

  3. Talk about it3 questions

    Is it smarter to trust warnings from others, or only what you've experienced yourself?

  4. Dessertanswer tomorrow

    The more you take, the more you leave behind. What are they?

How it works

  1. Tell us who is at your table

    Your children's birth years and your country. That's it. Each story is pitched at your oldest, so the younger ones reach up a little.

  2. A story arrives before dinner

    Around 5pm your time, with a 30-second briefing for you, so you know where the chat might go.

  3. Read it aloud, then ask

    Two minutes of story, one thing to try together and three questions. The riddle waits until tomorrow.

A real one from the library

Every story comes with a briefing for you, the story to read aloud, something to try tonight and three questions. Pick an age to see what lands in your inbox.

Illustration of cheerful rats crowding a bamboo hut at dusk, one sitting beside a pot of coins

The Great Rat Tail Trick

Would you rather be paid for catching rats, or for growing them?

Hanoi, 1902. The French ruled the city, in today's Vietnam, and had built shiny new sewers. Rats loved them. They popped up through flush toilets into fancy villas, and rat fleas could spread plague.

Read the whole story

For you, before dinner

This is the cleanest real example of a perverse incentive: a reward that makes people do the opposite of what it was designed for. Once kids see it, they spot it everywhere, from star charts to school points.

Try it tonight

Everyone names one reward at home or school: stars, points, stickers, pocket money. Go round the table and, for each one, find a sneaky way to 'win' it without doing what it was meant for. Fastest loophole wins.

Three questions for the table

  • About you

    Have you ever earned a reward without really doing the thing it was meant for?

  • Think it through

    The cobra story may be a legend. How would you check whether it really happened?

  • Pick a side

    Design a rat bounty nobody can cheat. Then swap plans and try to break each other's.

Hand-picked, so you never have to think of something to say

We choose every story from a growing library of science, history, health, money, the arts, nature and games, with the odd story from the news. Each one is checked against its sources. There is nothing to set up and nothing to scroll.

Right for the ages at your table

Written for ages 5–8, 9–12 and 13+. Some stories are a little spicy, and we match the heat to your children's ages.

  • Mild

    Curious stories, no hot buttons.

  • Spicy

    Real debates, with both sides put fairly.

  • Super spicy

    Big contested issues, carefully balanced, with a tip for you on leading the talk.

Tomorrow's dinner, sorted.

Sign up in a minute. Your first story arrives before dinner.

Free. One email a day. Unsubscribe anytime.