How to Ask Your Child Questions That Don’t Suck!

It’s like a mother’s dream to be able to engage on a deeper level with her child.

Have you ever asked your kid, “How was your day at school today?”

And they answer, “Good.”  

And while you would want nothing more than to start banging your head against the wall… instead you just stare at them.  Baffled. And with pure frustration.

Can they seriously only come up with ONE WORD to sum up eight entire hours?!?  Can they seriously not think of anything more specific that is worth mentioning?!?  Even for their own mother?!? 

The key is asking the right types of questions.   

Questions that can be answered with a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ are not the right types of questions.  As parents, we have to outsmart them with wittier questions… with open-ended questions that are more thought provoking.  

Heads up!  These types of questions might also require a little bit more “wait time” before your child is able to fully answer you.  

Hopefully these questions will help you avoid the dreadful generic responses that give you absolutely zero information whatsoever about your child’s day. 

So next time, choose one of these questions to try to get them talking!

How To Ask Your Child Questions That Don’t Suck

→ What did you like about school today?
→ What didn’t you like about school today?
→ Who did you play with at recess today and what did you all do?
→ Tell me what happened at lunch today.
→ Describe your teacher today.
→ What did you learn from your teacher today?
→ Can you teach me anything that you learned about today?
→ Can you tell me about any accomplishments you had today?
→ What’s something you read about today?  
→ What’s something that happened today that made you upset?
→ What’s something that happened today that made you laugh?
→ What’s something that happened today that embarrassed you?
→ Was anything hard for you to do today?
→ What’s something at school that you’re getting excited about?  
→ What’s something at school that you’re dreading?
→ When did you smile the most today?

Click here to get this list in a free and printable form!

More Ideas To Get Your Kid Talking…

The High-Low Game

At our dinner table, we have a family tradition of playing the High-Low game.  It’s a pretty simple concept. I think anybody can easily get the hang of it. We go around the table and everyone gets to mention their HIGH (the best part of their day) and their LOW (the worst part of their day).  

It is by far one of my favorite things that we do as a family as it often informs me to deeper parts of my children’s days.  Things they wouldn’t have naturally thought to tell me are often the things that come out during this activity. A friend that hurt their feelings, a teacher who complimented them and made their day, etc.  

My kids have also added an addition to the game.  They now add their “SILLY PART”… a.k.a. the funniest thing that happened to them.  This is wonderful because it almost always gets them laughing at the dinner table.

Table Discussion Questions

If you are in need of some conversation starting questions, try these!  They take the brain work out of thinking up a question!! Just pull a card and enjoy the conversation that follows!

LINK: Table Discussion Questions

Added Bonus: If you tell your kids that they can only pull a card when they’re done eating their dinner, it might actually motivate them to eat faster as well!  Way to knock out two birds with one stone mama! Also, it’s super fun when friends come over for dinner and they get to join in on the fun!

Q&A Journal

If your child isn’t good at always talking about their day, you could have them write about their day instead!  This Q&A journal is filled with loads of prompts that get your kid thinking.  If they’re not old enough to write their own answers, you can ask them these prompts and write down their answers for them until they’re old enough to do it on their own. 

LINK:  Q&A a Day for Kids: A Three-Year Journal 

Cheers to no more “I dunno” types of responses! 

Do you have any other ideas for questions to add to our list?!?  Comment below!