Cut here

✂ Cut along the dashed lines. Little hands: a grown-up runs the scissors; kids run the thank-yous. Write big — the chain gets read out loud.

How to run it

1. Before guests sit: put 2–3 cut strips and a pencil at each place setting. One roll of tape or a glue stick goes in the middle of the table.
2. Kick it off early: while food finishes, read strip 1 out loud, answer it yourself first, and pass yours to the person next to you to start the chain.
3. Link as you go: loop each finished strip through the last one, tape or glue the ends, and let the chain grow down the center of the table.
4. Finish at dessert: read the chain end to end — or hang it in the doorway and let people read it on their way to seconds.

If the table needs a spark

• "What's a tiny thing from this year that turned out to be a big thing?"
• "Who taught you something this year — and did they know they were teaching?"
• "What's a smell, a song, or a taste that instantly feels like home?"
• "If the chain had one link for next year, what would you want written on it?"

No wrong answers, and passing is always allowed — a drawn picture on a strip counts in full. Keep last year's chain if you make one; reading old links is next year's best strip.