Questions to Ask Kids: 133 Questions by Age and Moment

Good questions to ask kids are short, specific and a little bit silly. "What made you laugh today?" gets more than "How was school?", and "If your stuffed bunny could talk, what would she complain about?" can carry a whole dinner. Below you'll find 133 questions sorted by age and by the moments you actually have together: car rides, dinner, bedtime and the walk home from school.

What questions should you ask your child?

Ask questions that leave room for a story. Open questions ("What was the best part?") beat yes-or-no ones ("Did you have fun?"), and specific ones ("Who did you play with at recess?") beat broad ones.

A few habits make any question work better:

• Ask one, then wait. Kids often need a few seconds longer than feels comfortable.
• Answer it yourself first if they freeze. "My best part was the dog that sneezed at me."
• Follow their answer instead of your list. If a question about lunch turns into a ten-minute theory about why ducks have no ears, you won.
• Drop it if they're done. Tomorrow brings another car ride.

Questions to ask kids by age

Pick from the band that fits your kid, but don't treat the ages as rules. Plenty of 3-year-olds love the "what if" questions, and plenty of 6-year-olds still want to talk about which spoon is the happiest.

Questions for toddlers (ages 2 to 3)

Toddlers answer best about things right in front of them, sounds, colors and pretend play. Expect one-word answers, and enjoy them.

1. What sound does a happy dog make?
2. Which shoe is your fast shoe?
3. What color is your tummy feeling today?
4. Can you show me your silliest face?
5. What does the moon eat for breakfast?
6. Who's your favorite person at the park?
7. What's in your pocket? (Even if they have no pocket.)
8. Is your teddy hungry? What does he want?
9. What's the biggest thing you saw today?
10. Can you roar like a dinosaur? How about a tiny dinosaur?
11. What should we name the bird outside?
12. Which song makes your feet dance?
13. What's the yummiest food in the whole world?
14. Where do you think the bubbles go when they pop?
15. Who do you want to call on the banana phone?
16. What does the cat say when nobody's listening?
17. Which is your favorite truck?
18. What do you want to dream about tonight?
19. If you were a bunny, what would you eat?
20. Can you tell me a story about your blanket?

Questions for preschoolers (ages 4 to 5)

Preschoolers start explaining their reasons, and those reasons are the best part. Ask "why" after their answer and stand back.

21. If you could shrink to the size of an ant, where would you go?
22. What would you do if you were the boss of our house for one day?
23. What's something you can do now that you couldn't do when you were little?
24. If animals could talk, which one would be the funniest?
25. What do you think grown-ups do at work all day?
26. What's the best thing about being 4 (or 5)?
27. If you had a pet dragon, what would you name it?
28. What makes a good friend?
29. What are you scared of, and what helps when you feel scared?
30. If you could eat only one food forever, what would it be?
31. What do you want to be when you grow up? Why?
32. What's the funniest word you know?
33. If you could have any superpower, which one would you pick?
34. Where do you think rain comes from?
35. What would a perfect day look like?
36. What's something that makes you feel proud?
37. If our car could fly, where would we go first?
38. What's the hardest thing about sharing?
39. What would you put in a sandwich if there were no rules?
40. Who's the kindest person you know? What do they do?
41. What do you think your baby toys are doing right now?
42. If you could invent a new holiday, what would we celebrate?
43. What's your favorite thing about our family?
44. What would you say to a monster under the bed?
45. What job would your favorite stuffed animal have?

Questions for kids 6 and up

Early school-age kids like questions with a little weight: opinions, rules, fairness and big "what ifs." Treat their answers seriously, even the ones about lava.

46. What's one rule at school you'd change?
47. If you could ask anyone in the world one question, who would you ask and what would you say?
48. What's something you learned this week that surprised you?
49. If you could live inside any book or movie, which one?
50. What do you think makes someone brave?
51. What's the most unfair thing that ever happened to you?
52. If you had a hundred dollars, what would you do with it?
53. What's something you're really good at that nobody notices?
54. Would you rather explore space or the bottom of the ocean? Why?
55. What's one thing grown-ups get wrong about kids?
56. If you could design your own school, what would be different?
57. What's a mistake you made that taught you something?
58. What does it feel like when you're really, really happy?
59. If you could talk to yourself as a baby, what would you say?
60. Which friend makes you laugh the most? What do they do?
61. What would you invent to make life easier?
62. What do you think you'll remember about being 6?
63. If you could time travel, would you go to the past or the future?
64. What's the best compliment someone ever gave you?
65. What's something you want to learn how to do this year?
66. If you ran a restaurant, what would be on the menu?
67. What do you worry about sometimes?
68. Which family tradition is your favorite?
69. If you could swap lives with an animal for a day, which one?
70. What's a question you've always wanted to ask me?

Questions to ask kids in the car

Car rides work well because nobody has to make eye contact, and kids often open up when they're looking out a window. Keep these light and quick.

71. What's the weirdest thing you can see out the window right now?
72. If you could rename our street, what would you call it?
73. What would happen if cars could talk to each other?
74. Which song should be our family song?
75. If we kept driving forever, where do you think we'd end up?
76. What's one thing you'd add to every car?
77. Which store would you open if you could own one?
78. If clouds were made of food, which food?
79. What's the best place we've ever driven to?
80. Who would win in a race: a cheetah or a race car?
81. What do you think that person in the next car is thinking about?
82. If you could drive, where would you take me?

Dinner table questions for kids

Dinner questions work best when everyone answers, grown-ups included. Go around the table and let the youngest answer first.

83. What was the best part of your day, and what was the worst part?
84. Who made you smile today?
85. What's something kind you saw someone do?
86. If this food could talk, what would it say?
87. What's one thing you want to do this weekend?
88. Which would you rather eat for every meal: pancakes or pizza?
89. What's something new you tried today?
90. If you were a teacher, what would you teach?
91. Who's someone you miss right now?
92. What's the funniest thing that happened this week?
93. If you could invite anyone to dinner, who would you pick?
94. What should we cook together next?

Bedtime questions for kids

Bedtime brings out the big feelings and the strangest theories. Ask softly, keep it to one or two questions, and let the answer be the last thing before lights out.

95. What was your favorite moment today?
96. What's something you're looking forward to tomorrow?
97. What do you think your toys do after you fall asleep?
98. Was there a moment today you felt sad or worried?
99. Who do you want to dream about tonight?
100. What's something that made you feel loved today?
101. If you could have any dream, what would happen in it?
102. What's one thing you did today that was hard?
103. Where would you go if your bed could fly?
104. What are you thankful for tonight?
105. What do you think the moon sees from up there?
106. What's one thing you want me to know?

Questions to ask kids about their day after school

Kids often go quiet right after pickup. They've spent the whole day following instructions. Give them a snack and ten minutes, then try one of these instead of "How was your day?"

107. Who did you sit next to at lunch?
108. What was the loudest thing that happened today?
109. Did anyone do something funny?
110. What did you play at recess?
111. What's something your teacher said that you remember?
112. Was there a moment you felt left out?
113. What was the easiest thing you did today? The hardest?
114. If you could do one part of today again, which part?
115. Did you help anyone today? Did anyone help you?
116. What's something you learned that I probably don't know?
117. Which classmate would you like to have over to play?
118. If today were a color, what color would it be?

How well do you know me questions for kids

These work as a game. Your child guesses your answers, then you guess theirs. Keep score if your kid likes scores, and expect to lose.

Questions your child answers about you

119. What's my favorite food?
120. What's my favorite color?
121. What do I always say when I'm tired?
122. What was my favorite toy when I was little?
123. What makes me laugh the hardest?
124. What's my job, and what do I do there?
125. What song do I sing the most?
126. What am I scared of?
127. What would I pick for dessert?

Questions you answer about your child

128. What's my favorite animal right now?
129. Who's my best friend?
130. What's my favorite thing to wear?
131. What's the one food I'll never eat?
132. What do I want to be when I grow up?
133. What's my favorite thing we do together?

Kids remember the misses. Get "favorite animal" wrong and you may hear about it for weeks ("It's a hammerhead. Regular sharks are boring.").

How to remember their answers

Write down the answer that surprises you. One line counts: the question, their exact words, their age and the date. "Age 4, asked what the moon eats for breakfast: 'Stars, but only the crunchy ones.'" A year from now, that single line will bring back the whole moment.

Ask the same few questions every so often and the answers change in ways you'd never notice day to day. That idea turns into a yearly tradition in our guide to birthday interview questions. If you'd rather not juggle notes apps and scraps of paper, Sprout Diary lets you post a quick line with the date attached, right after your kid says it.

For more ways to catch the good stuff, see funny things kids say and journal prompts for parents.

What questions should you ask your child?

Ask open, specific questions that match their age, like "What made you laugh today?" or "If you could shrink to the size of an ant, where would you go?" Skip yes-or-no questions when you want a real answer.

What are good questions to ask a toddler?

Keep them short and concrete: "What sound does a happy dog make?", "Which shoe is your fast shoe?" Toddlers answer best about things they can see, touch or pretend.

What are good how well do you know me questions for kids?

Ask your child to guess your favorite food, color, song or childhood toy, then swap and guess theirs. Kids love catching a parent getting one wrong.

How do I get my child to talk about their day?

Swap "How was your day?" for something specific, like "Who did you sit next to at snack?" or "What was the loudest thing that happened?" Timing helps too: car rides and bedtime often get more than the minute after pickup.