Are you sick of asking your kids “how was your day” when they come home from school, only to be met with one-word answers? If you want to learn more about your children’s day, the answer is the switch up the questions that you are asking. Read on for 50 questions to ask your kids after school that are not just “how was your day” that will really get them talking.
Table Of Contents
Things To Remember When Talking To Your Kids After School
Avoid Closed Questions
Avoid asking any questions that can be answered with “yes” or “no”. Think about phrasing so that “Did anything funny happen today?” becomes “Tell me about something funny that happened today”. This will encourage your child to answer in fuller sentences and get talking rather than fob you off with a yes or no.
Offer Information About Your Day
As discussed in my blog post about encouraging your child’s speech and language, often the best way to get your child to talk to you is to model the sort of answers that you want them to give.
For example, if you say “I had a ham and cucumber sandwich for lunch” they may be more likely to go on to tell you what they had for lunch than if you actually ask what they had.
You can use this strategy and rephrase most of the questions listed below into statements to encourage conversation and model the sort of language your child can use to respond. Think of them more of a set of prompts and ideas rather than questions.
Keep It Light
Children are often very tired coming out of school, especially when they first go back. Try some of the questions, but don’t put too much pressure on them if they don’t want to answer. Try asking again later in the day, perhaps at dinner or before bed.
Questions To Ask Your Kids After School
- What was the best part of your day? What was your peak?
- What was the worst thing about today? What was your pit?
- What surprised you today?
- Who made you laugh today?
- What was did you find difficult?
- Who sat on the right / left hand side of you at lunch?
- Tell me one thing that your teacher said.
- Tell me about a rule that they have in school that we don’t have at home?
- What was the yummiest part of your lunch?
- What did you eat at snack time?
- What was the funniest thing that happened in school?
- Who did you see picking their nose?
- Tell me about when someone was kind today.
- Tell me about a good deed you did.
- Was anyone sad in school? Why were they sad?
- How many stars would you give today out of 10?
- What did you not quite finish today?
- Tell me something that you did today that you feel proud of.
- Tell me about something that made you worry.
- Who was missing from class today?
- Which rule did you find hard to stick to today?
- Tell me about something that you would like to get better at in school.
- Which is your favourite area to play in at school?
- Who is the best teacher in the whole school?
- Sing me a song that you sung in school today.
- Tell me about a game you played in the yard.
- What were the choices for school dinners today?
- Who was in trouble today?
- Who did some really great work in your class?
- Tell me about the maths work you did today.
- Which book did you read / have read to you?
- Tell me about someone in your class who has a name beginning with (select a letter of the alphabet).
- If you got to be the teacher for the day, what would you teach your friends?
- What could make your school better?
- What did you find really easy today?
- What is your school motto?
- How many children are in your class?
- Who is next to have a birthday in your class?
- Tell me something interesting that you learned today.
- What are you looking forward to tomorrow?
- What made your teacher happy today?
- Which word did your teacher say a lot today?
- What was boring today?
- Who do you admire in your class?
- Who would you like to play with tomorrow?
- What is your favourite thing to do during wet play?
- Tell me about something that someone else had for lunch that looked yummy.
- How would you describe your day in just 3 words?
- What could make tomorrow better than today?
- If a new kid was thinking about joining your class, what would you say to them?
Have you got any questions to add to the list? Please share your suggestions in the comments below.
Read It Next…
Get The Ultimate Mum Bundle Now
Why Not Pin This For Later?
