Here are some great ways for your conversations to Go Beyond “How was Your Day” with Fun and Creative Questions for Kids
Does this ever happen to you when your kid comes home from school:
You are just so curious about their day and you have lots of questions to ask your kid, so you get started:
“Hey! How was school today?”
“Fine.” Your child says, already grabbing a book, tablet, snack etc…
…and then the conversation is over.
Questions for Kids About School They’ll Want To Answer
Many children love to talk about their day and what they are doing.
Sometimes it just takes a little bit of prompting and creating a relaxed and welcoming environment to get the conversation going.
Talking about school daily is a great opportunity for your child to know that you care about them.
It also gives you important insights into any problems like bullying, school anxiety, friendship challenges and more.
Here’s what might be missing
It can get boring, even annoying for your child if you grill them every day on the details of what they did at school.
It’s not that your child doesn’t want to talk to you. Maybe it’s just that they need you to change things up on what and how you are asking your questions.
The Science Behind Opening Up and Talking About Feelings
Opening up to you about fears, joys, frustrations and victories is really important for your child’s building self-esteem.
What’s more, knowing your child can count on you to talk about their feelings can also prevent after school meltdowns.
When children put their emotions into words, and share openly how they feel, they activate the parts of the brain that deal with self control.
The more children can put feelings into words, the less reactive and more aware of their behaviors and choices they can be.
While some children will happily answer questions, or open up all on their own, other children need some encouragement to start talking
Asking questions can be a great way to get a conversation going with your child.
Strive to keep questions light and simple at first.
Your goal in asking questions to your kid should be to have fun and enjoy each other.
Spending time talking can build trust and a sense of safety for your child.
Here you will find a mix of questions for kids that are fun and open ended.
You’ll also find some more serious questions to help you talk about tough topics like bullying, anxiety and fears related to school.
25 Questions That Encourage Children to Talk about School
1. What was your favorite part about school today?
2. What activity did you like the most today? And the least?
3. What did you think of the first assignment you had to do today?
4. If you could do any moment at school over today, what would it look like?
5. What was the funniest thing that happened in your class today?
6. Which assignment/activity did you feel most confident about today?
7. How is it going with your school activities and assignments?
8. What’s the most interesting thing you heard at school today?
9. If you could change just ONE thing about school, what would that be?
10. What made you laugh/worry/smile in school today?
11. What 3 words would you use to describe your best friend in school?
12. If you were stranded on a deserted island with one person from your school, who do you wish that would be? How come?
13. If you had $1,000 to buy something for your school, what would you buy and where would you put it?
14. What qualities do you like most about your teacher?
15. What is something your teacher said to you today that you are still thinking about?
16. If you could put a spell on your teacher and change tomorrow’s lesson, what would you make it all about?
17. Who did you play with/talk with at school today?
18. What is your best friends favorite part of school? Is that the same for you or different?
19. If a famous person could come to teach a class at your school, who would that be and what should they teach?
20. What parts of school today went by the fastest? Slowest?
21. When I went to school there were some kids that were a bit mean, teasing and such…have you noticed anything like that at your school?
22. There was a boy/girl in my school when I was in grade x that was bullied all the time, I never quite new what to do about that. Have you ever felt that way?
23. Was there anything you wanted to learn more about today but didn’t have time to ask the teacher about?
24. What is your favorite spot in your school/classroom?
25.What are you looking forward to learning in school tomorrow/this month/this year?
Curiosity builds Connection and Trust
Talking to children about school gives you a really wonderful opportunity to discover how your child is doing, adjusting and learning.
Taking this time to be together also helps you build a special bond of trust.
Listening to your child in these early years is a great way to make sure your child feels comfortable and ready to talk to you about important things as they grow up.
If for some reason your child doesn’t feel like talking, that’s alright too.
Some children need time to decompress after school before they are ready to get chatty. Follow your child’s lead, strive to stay curious and willing to connect.
Download a Free Printable with Questions for Kids below 🙂
Peace & Be Well,
Ariadne
Ariadne Brill
This is awesome and it actually works. I tried a few question with my kids yesterday and it actually made them talk about specific things in school (in contrast to the general talk). My kids went to a new school this year and this was beneficial to actually see how things are going for them. Thank you for compiling this.
Yana,
That is so wonderful to hear. Often children really do want to talk about school and what is going on, and these questions get them really excited to do it! So glad it was helpful to you.
I came across this list last night while scrolling through Facebook and thought #5 was very age appropriate for my 4 year old. Much to my surprise she answered, “A kid went pee pee on a tree on the playground. It was a boy.”
Hahaha 🙂
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