You’ve probably heard me talk about one of my favorite people in this world… my niece. She’s [almost] 5, she’s the first kiddo that made me an aunt, and she’s in kindergarten (where they’re probably doing calculus these days).
Now that she’s gone all day, you’d think that she’d have a ton to tell about. Every time I call her (which is minimum 3 days a week!), I’ve had to get more creative about the questions I ask to get her to spill the beans about her day.
“How was school?” I ask…. “Great!” she says. I follow up with, “What’d you do?” And sometimes I get details, but a lot of times… crickets…
We’ve got be more creative with the questions we ask our kids.
It’s gotta be open-ended, but specific so that you can get some details. It’s gotta be kind of funny to keep them interested too.
Here’s what I’ve been trying out:
- What was the best thing that happened today? What was the worst?
- Did you laugh at school today? Tell me what made you laugh!
- What happened that made you or someone sad today?
- What happened that made you or someone angry today?
- Did you help anyone today?
- Who had the best snack at lunch?
- Did anyone do really good (or not-so-good) listening to the teacher today?
- Tell me someone who you forgot to talk to today
- When was your teacher serious today?
- What made you feel proud today?
- Tell me three times that you used your pencil
- What do you think the teacher will talk about tomorrow?
My favorite thing to do is answer my questions before she answers. So if I say, “Tell me about a time you felt embarrassed,” I’ll jump in with “Me first. Today I spilled coffee on my white shirt and my shirt was dirty all day, and I felt sooo embarrassed. Your turn.”
Any other ideas? What works for you to get your kid talking about their day? Leave a comment below and tell me what gets your kid talking.
