Dinner Discussions

Kids have a lot of great ideas and deep thoughts- tap into those with some intentional dinner discussions!

As a mom and educator, I know how important it is to practice what researchers called “serve and return” where you keep a conversation going back and forth (like a tennis match- hence the “serve and return”). I also know how hard it can sometimes be to figure out how to tap into a child’s interests to get them talking.

One of my favorite stories to share in my training for early childhood educators is about my mom calling to talk to her grandchildren and getting one word answers to her heartfelt questions sometimes and a torrent of chatter at others times. What was the thing that determined which kind of conversation she had? It was the type of questions she asked. When she asked yes/no questions, “Did you have fun at the school fair?” She got the simple answer, “Yes”. But when she asked an open-ended question like, “Tell me about the school fair…” she was rewarded with much more information which then gave her more opportunities to respond and keep the conversation going.

A good rule of thumb is to STRIVE for FIVE– each topic bouncing from person to person for 5 rounds.

Try the 40 Dinner Questions below to get a lively conversation started!

Reach out to us #PlayAheadBlog  and let us know which ones resonated!