When the conversation is flowing, you’re delighted as a parent because your kid is connecting with you. Your child is sharing with you what’s going on in their lives— their successes and failures, hopes and fears.
All parents want to know and help out where they can. Most parents at one time or another fall in the trap of asking the type of questions that ends with a one-word response.
Some parents may even wish they had these cue cards with the best get to know questions for kids that could transform the “fine” into a real conversation. Well, we’ve compiled a list of questions in various categories that should help you get the conversation started with your kids.
Parent-Kids Conversations Can Be Tough—But Worth It
After a challenging day, sitting at the dinner table, parents are often too tired to think of interesting questions that may get a response from their tweens and teens. So, they go through the ritual of asking the same mundane questions and barely listening to the robotic answer given by their children. Maybe things will change when they are older…
Having a parent-kid conversation can be tough, but in the end, it is worth it. By asking the right questions, you’ll trigger responses from your child that may astound you and open a world of conversation for both of you.
What’s the secret?
Closed Versus Open-Ended Conversations
“How was your day,” is the classic question parents ask, and “Fine” is the typical answer kids respond with. Who would have thought that get to know you questions for kids could be such a challenge when parenting? All you want is a conversation to see how your child is REALLY feeling, but it feels more like a sparring match..
How do you solve this dilemma? The secret is in the questions parents ask. When a parent asks an open-ended question, a child cannot easily reply with a yes or no or one-word answer. The question itself inspires elaboration.
A more interesting question motivates your child to share more.
Here is a list of open-ended questions that may help to get the conversation going again.
Our Top 191 Getting To Know You Questions For Kids
Get To Know You Questions For Kids about School and Activities
Fun Questions about School
- If you could be the teacher tomorrow, what would you teach your classmates or younger kids?
- What three things did you learn today?
- If you could pack your lunch for a week, what would you eat?
- Which rule do you have to obey at school that doesn’t make sense to you? How would you change the rule?
- What would you like to learn in school?
- Who made you smile today?
- What was the funniest thing you heard or saw today at school?
- What was the smartest thing one of your classmates said today?
- Describe the best day at school.
- Who is your favorite teacher?
- If you could only have two subjects for a whole semester, which two would you chose?
- What’s your best moment at school?
- What was your favorite part of today at school, and why?
- If you could outlaw a subject, what would it be and what would you replace it with?
- What do you wish teachers at school knew about you?
Questions about Interests, Hobbies, Activities
- If you could do any sports which sports would it be?
- What is your favorite hobby?
- What hobbies and interests you have now you think you will still like in ten years?
- What hobbies or activities do you think all kids should do?
- What do you like to do the most in the world?
- If you could play any musical instrument, which would it be?
- If you could invent a new phone, what would it do?
- What’s your favorite board game or computer game?
- What new skill, hobby, or sports activity would you like to learn?
- If you could learn two new languages, which would it be, and how would you use your ability to communicate in these new languages?
Getting To Know You Questions For Kids about Them—The Kids
Questions about Emotions and Experiences
- What is the best thing that happened to you the past year, and what did you take from the experience?
- What was the worst thing that happened to you this month, and what did you learn from it?
- When you’re scared, what do you do to overcome the fear?
- Is there something that scares you, if so, what is it?
- What skills do you have that you can teach someone else?
- If you had the opportunity, how would you help someone today?
- What five things about yourself do you like?
- How would you describe yourself using a maximum of five words?
- What makes you happy? What saddens you?
- How would you describe a perfect day?
- What is the best gift you ever received?
- What will never be on your birthday list?
Questions about their Spiritual Wellbeing
- What five things are you thankful for?
- What do you believe?
- What do you think is the meaning of your life and life in general?
- What do you think is your purpose?
- What is the ultimate question you would like answered?
- Who is your favorite person in the Bible?
- Why do you think Jesus came and died for your sins?
Questions about their Future
- What or who do you want to be when you grow up? Why?
- How would you describe success?
- What kind of future do you want for your generation?
- What dreams do you have for your future?
- What kind of adult do you think you will be?
- How and where do you see yourself ten years from today?
- What do you think is different from your future than we had as your parents?
- How would you describe yourself in twenty years?
Get To Know Questions For Kids about Relationships—Family and Friends
Questions about Friends
- How would you describe a good friend?
- What makes you a good friend?
- What is the most extraordinary thing someone did for you?
- What do you like the most when you’re with your friends and what don’t you like?
- What are the most delightful things you do together as friends?
- How would you describe your best friend with three-five words?
- What is the best gift you could give a friend?
- What makes your friends so unique and remarkable?
- If you had friends in different countries, how would you stay in touch with them?
- How would your friends describe you to someone else?
- What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done that your friends like to tease you about?
- What is the best thing about having friends?
- If you could take three friends on a trip, who would you want to take?
- Which of your friends would you like to be friends with for the rest of your life?
- Which famous person would you like to be part of your inner circle?
Questions about Family
- What would you like to tell me now that you never thought you could say to me before?
- If you could ask me anything, what would you ask?
- What do you like the most about our family and each member?
- What is the nice thing about being a tween or a teen?
- What is the worst thing about being a tween or a teen?
- What are the two best things we do as a family, and what’s the worst?
- How would you describe an ideal family holiday?
- What’s your favorite family tradition, and why?
- What is the funniest family moment you can remember?
- If you were the parent, what advice would you give you and your siblings?
- If your stuffed animals could talk, what would they tell me?
- Tell me something about you that I don’t know, but you would like me to know.
- If we had to eat the same meal forever as a family, what meal would you choose for each of us?
- What do you like the most about your siblings?
- What is the favorite thing your parents do that you never want them to stop doing?
- If you talked in your sleep, what would you say?
- What do you think your siblings like the most about you? What do you like best about you?
- What do you miss about being younger, and what don’t you miss at all?
- What is the hardest about growing up, and what do you like the most?
- How would you describe a happy family?
- What do you wish we do more as a family together?
- If you could add any pet to our family, what would it be, and who will look after it?
Fun Getting To Know You Questions To Keep The Conversation Going
Fun Questions At The Dinner Table
- If you could time travel, where would you go and who would you like to meet?
- If you could have lunch with anyone in the world, who would it be and why?
- If you could only eat one food for six months, and then something else for the other six months, what would you choose and why?
- If the whole world could see everything you do, what would you keep on doing, and won’t you do?
- If you were invisible, where would you go, and what would you do for a day?
- If you could go to bed whenever you wanted to, when would you sleep, and what would you do differently when awake?
- What two things would you change in today’s world?
- Where would you want to live if you could live in any country in the world, and why?
- What would you sell if you opened a store or an online shop today?
- What sound do you like the most, and what type of sound do you hate the most?
- If you were a famous actor, who would you like to be and why?
- What is the craziest thing you’ll never eat, and what crazy stuff would you eat?
- If you could live on another planet, where would you like to live and what do you think it will be like?
- Who would you like to change place with for a day and why?
- If you were a vegetable, which one would you be?
- What’s the funniest movie you’ve seen?
- If you had to leave town for an emergency, what three things would you take?
- What would you do if you were the president of the USA?
- If you could be any fruit or vegetable, what would it be and why?
- If you could be the president of any country, which country would it be, and what would you accomplish in one day?
- Would you rather always wear clothes that are too big for you or clothes that are too small?
- Would you rather have six legs or ten arms?
Questions to Continue the Conversation
- And then what did you do?
- How do you feel about what happened, and what are you going to do now?
- So, what happened then?
- Can you elaborate?
- I see, and how would you want that person to react?
- How are you going to solve the situation?
- What is your next step?
- So, what options do you have, and which is the best choice?
- How do you think they will feel about it?
- And how can you remedy the situation?
- Would you like to help them, and how?
- So, what do you think is going to happen next?
Fun Questions Of The Day For Kids
Making it a daily ritual is an excellent way to ask your child questions that could spark conversation. Many parents don’t know when or which questions to ask kids. Setting aside time for a question of the day for kids can become a fun tradition that could be a conversation starter that gets your kids talking. These getting-to-know-you questions for kids can even take you into a deeper conversation.
Some of these questions for kids will be thought-provoking, give you insight into your child’s minds and personalities, and help you to get to know them better. Sometimes the questions to ask kids are closed questions, and adding a why could spark a conversation. Give the kids opportunities to ask their parents getting to know questions as conversation starters.
Fun Questions For Kids – Question For The Day
- What is your favorite time of the day and why?
- What life lessons would you teach your child if you were a parent?
- What do you think is the meaning of life?
- What is your biggest dream?
- Do you have an irrational fear, and how do you think you can overcome it?
- What is your go-to guilty pleasure?
- Name two pet peeves. Which is the worst?
- What makes you smile on a school day?
- If you had a million dollars and weren’t allowed to spend it on yourself, who will you spend it on, and what will you buy them?
- What is the silliest thing you’ve heard this week?
- If you wore a warning label, what would it say?
- What helps you fall asleep at night?
- If you could change something at school today, what would it be?
- What is your earliest memory or favorite childhood memory?
- What would you do if you were a cat person and someone gave you a dog as a pet?
- What advice would you give younger children about school today?
- If you were a bestselling author, what would the titles be of your award-winning books?
- What is the best dream you’ve ever had?
- Did anyone in your class get into trouble today or make the teacher laugh today?
Conversation Starters About Your Kid’s Favorite Things
- What is your least favorite or most favorite subject in school?
- What is your favorite game to play?
- What is your favorite sport to watch that you can’t play?
- What is your favorite memory when you were x years old?
- What is your favorite animal? If it is different than when you were younger, why?
- What is your favorite outfit?
- What is your favorite activity to do with family, friends, or alone?
- What is your favorite family recipe that you like to keep a family secret?
- What is your favorite type of ice cream?
- What was your favorite song three years ago, and is it still your favorite song?
- What is your favorite dessert at grandmas?
- Which favorite movie will you watch three times in a row?
- What is your brother/sister’s favorite toy?
- What is your favorite thing in the entire world?
- What is your favorite season, and what makes it great?
- What is your favorite holiday that you dream about?
- What is your favorite food, favorite meal, or favorite snack?
- What are your favorite TV and favorite movie genre? Are they the same as your favorite book genre?
- What is your favorite thing about yourself?
- What is your favorite thing that makes your family special?
Funny Questions To Ask Kids
- Where would you go if you could take a long car ride in a limousine with all your favorite things?
- How many planets are in the solar system, and how many would you like there to be? Name the new worlds.
- What funny questions would you ask your school principal, and they are only allowed one-word answers?
- If you could play games in math class, what game would you recommend, and how would you motivate it to be about math?
- What goal would you set for older kids that is a younger child’s interests?
- What would be their favorite thing to do if your toys were like Toy Story?
- Parents want meaningful conversations with their kids. Pretend you are the parent; what funny questions would you ask to engage children in a conversation?
- If you had to live with a cartoon character for a week, who would it be, and what would it be like?
- If you could rename your siblings for a day, what would you name them?
- What does your favorite color smell like?
Would You Rather Questions To Ask Kids
- Would you rather have the teacher read the most embarrassing page in your diary to all the kids in the class or the principal?
- Would you rather discover a new animal as a pet or a new holiday for the pet?
- Would you rather visit the biggest waterslide park or the best amusement park?
- Would you rather have three wishes come true or three wishes not come true?
- Would you rather be sad today wearing your favorite color or be happy today without any fun?
- Would you rather eat a spider or a bee?
- Would you rather read your favorite book or watch your favorite movie every day for a year?
- Would you rather have a child’s curiosity as an adult or be indifferent as a child?
- Would you rather taste your favorite color or hear your favorite flavor?
- Would you rather work alone on school projects or with a group?
- Would you rather eat your favorite fruit or your favorite vegetable for a week?
- Would you rather spark conversation with older children or younger kids?
- Would you rather have a tall neck like a giraffe or laugh like a hyena?
- Would you rather eat a lizard or locust?
- Would you rather build your dream house on a deserted island or in an uninhabited new world?
- Would you rather be a favorite nonfiction author or have an impressive baseball career?
- Would you rather spend a day with a famous movie star or your favorite character in a movie?
- Would you rather keep the sky blue or the grass green?
- Would you rather invent the time machine or a brilliant video game?
Conclusion
Sometimes the solution to having a conversation with your children is simply to listen to what they are saying. Your response could either stimulate the discussion or kill it. It’s not always the wisest decision to give them the right answer; sometimes, they need to discover it themselves. If their response shocks you, try to respond calmly. By continuing the conversation, you could find out more details than scaring your kid into silence.
What helpful questions for kids can you add to the list that are great conversation starters?