No, this is about how to <i>describe</i> Godel's incompleteness theorems to a 12 year old. The moment s/he asks why or how Godel's two papers managed to demonstrate this insight, the conversation is going to come to a sudden halt. I was hoping for at least a cursory reference to Godel numbering or Peano arithmetic, but the actual reasoning behind Godel's theorem's didn't even get a look-in.<p>I think a more productive way to communicate the idea might be to leave a copy of GEB sitting about in a conspicuous place but hiss that it's 'unsuitable for small children' in response to any questions and leave the room on some fictional and complex errand shortly afterwards.