27 Engaging Questions To Ask Kids After School

Have you ever picked up your child from school, asked about their day and got a “good.” as a response? Welcome to parenthood.

It can be a challenge to get a straight answer out of a child after school. When you find just the right combination of words, you can get your kids, and teenagers to open up and share the details of their day with you.

I wish this wasn’t the case. I wish that all kids just jumped into the car or ran into the house at full speed, just waiting to tell you about their day.

*Que memories of Kindergarten*

I truly believe the challenge kids face when answering a large question such as “How was your day at school?” is that the topic is too broad.

Often times, when I ask my spouse how his day was at work, he will also respond with “Good” because it’s easy and requires no thought.

So how do we get our kids to open up to us about their school day and let us know about bullies, insecurities and victories?

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Questions To Ask Your Kids To Open Up About School

1. Do you ever see kids being mean to each other?

2. What do most of the kids play during recess?

3. How do you feel your day went on a scale of 1 to 10? Why?

4. If anyone in the world could be your teacher for a day who would it be?

5. What is your favourite class?

6. What is your least favourite class?

7. What subject is the easiest for you?

8. If you could stop doing anything in your school day, what would it be?

9. If you could add anything to your school day, what would it be?10. Do you ever feel left out at school?

11. Would you do anything differently in your classes if you were the teacher?

12. Does everyone follow the rules in your class?

13. Who do you want to make friends with that you haven’t already?

14. did you feel scared or alone during your day?

15. Did you help anyone out today?

16. What did you learn today in ____ class?

17. Tell me something that makes you feel smart.

18. What was the most challenging thing you worked on today?

19. Did you start any new projects today?

20. How did _____ (project, presentation, event) go today?

21. Did you have fun today? What was the best part?

22. Did anything happen today that made you feel brave?

23. Did you enjoy your lunch? Is there anything different you would like for your lunch kit?

24. Who did you hang out with at lunch?

25. Did you make any new friends?

26. Did anything make you laugh today?

27. What was the most boring thing?

These are some pretty great conversation starters for kids that can get them talking and talking, hopefully. Not every day will be an epic talk fest after school. After all, school is exhausting, just like a work day can be, sometimes they need a little quiet before they are ready to talk.

Let Me Know If There Are Other Questions That You Ask Your Child To Help Them Open Up To You About Their Life At School.

Dive into “Parenting with Heart,” your go-to guide for nurturing deep connections with your children, packed with practical tips for every stage of their growth. It’s a lighthearted and insightful read that promises to enrich the parenting experience with joy and understanding.

References

1. Parent-Child Communication Processes: A review highlights the importance of parent-child communication in preventing health-risk behaviors in children. It suggests that improving communication can reduce individual risk factors and facilitate discussions about health-risk behaviors, indicating a broader application to everyday topics like school experiences (S. Riesch et al., 2006).
2. Quality of Parent-Provider Communication: Effective communication between parents and healthcare providers is linked to parental satisfaction and adherence to recommendations. This research could be applied to educational settings, where effective communication between parents, teachers, and children can enhance understanding and cooperation (C. Nobile & D. Drotar, 2003).
3. Communicating with Vaccine-Hesitant Parents: This narrative review identifies promising approaches for patient-provider communication, including the use of a presumptive format, motivational interviewing, and tailoring information to increase message salience. These strategies could be adapted to encourage children to share more about their school day by using direct, open-ended questions and actively listening to their responses (R. Limaye et al., 2021).
4. Family Communication during the Covid-19 Pandemic: The pandemic has highlighted the importance of family communication in reducing anxiety and fear in children. Strategies to improve effective communication within the family, such as open and honest dialogue, active listening, and focusing on positive aspects, can be applied to daily conversations about school (Puri Kusuma Dwi Putri, 2021).
5. Effective Communication for Newly Diagnosed Pediatric Patients With Cancer: Although focused on pediatric oncology, this review discusses the importance of communication among patients, caregivers, and medical teams for support and well-being. Adopting a whole-team approach, building trust, and starting conversations early can also apply to fostering open communication with children about their school experiences (S. Dobrozsi et al., 2019).