Do you ever feel like dinner time is chaotic or stressful? You ask your kids about their day and they mumble, give a one word response, or seem utterly disinterested in conversation.
Learn to ask better questions. Good questions lead to good conversation and keep us away from the old and tired “How was your day?” “Fine.”
By asking better questions we are teaching our kids to have better conversation skills with others which will benefit them for life. We are also reinforcing the idea that we are a safe person to talk to thus we are deepening our relationship with them.
Find a container to put in the middle of your dinner table (I use a cute old tea tin). On separate slips of paper write the following conversation prompts. Take turns picking a slip of paper from the container using it to spark interesting discussion. (Or my favorite – whoever eats their vegetables first gets to pick first.)
- Would you rather _________ or _________? (Make up wild and crazy scenarios to fill in the blanks.)
- If you could travel to any country where would you go?
- What’s something on your bucket list?
- What’s one big goal you have for this year?
- What are some words that you think describe our family?
- Who is someone you admire and why?
- If you could pick your own name what would you choose?
- If you could have an exotic pet what would you choose?
- If you could trade places with your parents for a day what would it look like?
- If you could be an animal what would you be and why?
- What is one way that you were kind to someone today? (or saw someone else being kind)
- What are the qualities that make you a good friend?
- What is something you are grateful for?
- What is the nicest thing that someone has done for you?
- What is one thing that you could have done better today?
- Who is one person in your life you are thankful for and why?
- What is your least favorite chore?
- What is one thing you couldn’t live without?
- What is your greatest talent or ability?
- What is something you want to learn to do?
- What is something going on in your life that you would like to problem solve about?
- What is your favorite family tradition?
Feel free to come up with your own prompts! Comment below if you have some good ones that you could share with us!
