Whether it’s back to school time for your child or you have a new reception starter this year, there’s one thing so many of us struggle with when it comes to school. Getting your child to tell you about their school day can seem like a real mission when your questions about what they have got up to are met with “nothing” or “I forgot”.
Here are six of our best handy tips to try and get your child to open up and share their day with you!
6 Tips for Talking About the School Day
If your child has been at home with you until school, it’s a strange feeling to realise that they now have a world that you are not part of.
This is a healthy and necessary part of growing up, but it’s normal for that to feel a little bit strange at first.
1. Don’t bombard your child with a stream of questions as soon as you meet them at the school gate. Allow a little chance to decompress first. Little ones are often tired after the school day, especially in reception, so as the weeks go on you will start to recognise when is a good time to throw in one of these school themed conversation starters with your kiddo.
2. A walk can be a nice opportunity for a chat and to reconnect with your child and relax them ready to want to talk with you
3. When you ask about their day, something like “what did you do today?” is much too vague for my child. She really responds better to more specific questions.
4. You can try to ask some of the same question each day such as what fruit did have at snack time. Eventually the child when eating the fruit will think to themselves oh mum always asks about this so I will remember to tell her!
5. Model talking about your own day at home or at work so that your child sees what sort of information you are expecting them to share.
6. Here are some specific questions that work well with my daughter and help her to share with me what she has been doing at school.
Try a few a day not all at once! It’s valuable for children to know that we parents are interested about their school day, and we care about how their time was – but at the same time we don’t want to grill them!
38 Engaging After School Questions for Kids
The questions below work for kids of all ages, some are more suitable for younger kids and some for older so pick the ones that work for your family, and use these as a base to jump off and add your own questions too.
What did you have for your snack today?
What was the funniest thing that happened today?
What was the most exciting thing that happened today?
What was the best part of your school day?
What made you happy today?
What made you sad today?
What was the hardest part of your school day?
Who was the kindest child today?
Did you help anyone at school today?
Did anything surprise you today?
Tell me what you talked about at carpet time
Did you sing any songs today?
Did you have any stories today?
Did you draw any pictures today?
What did you play outside today?
What do you want to do at school tomorrow?
Who did you sit next to today?
Which child would you really like to play with tomorrow?
Do you have any homework or a new reading book?
Do you have any friends at school?
What interesting thing did you learn today?
What do you think is the most important thing to do at school?
What was the most frustrating thing to do today?
Is there anything else you’d like to tell us about your day?
Did you play any games today?
What did you do at recess / break?
What did you do at lunch?
Did any kids act out at school today?
Was there anything cool or interesting that happened at school today?
What was your favorite subject? or topic?
Do you think you’ll enjoy math when you get older?
Who was your best friend today?
Did you go to the bathroom at school?
How was your morning?
Tell me about your friend/classmate/teacher you had a fun conversation with today.
Did anyone give you a hard time?
What do you think is the best thing about school?
Do you ever get in trouble at school?
Using this type of question my daughter has given me lots of great insight into her days and told me all sorts of random things that she’s noticed, shared new songs with me and helped me to feel that I do know some of what she is up to in the new world of reception!
More For Back to School
Here are a few more back to school or starting school ideas that might come in handy!
- 15 Reassuring Children’s Books about Starting School
- Back to School Lunch Box Note Printables
- Back To School With Start-Rite Shoes
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Please go ahead and share these back to school questions to connect with your friends and family so that other parents with new school starters can benefit from the ideas.
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Thanks so much!
Anna Marikar, mum of four and seasoned blogger, has spent over a decade sharing her parenting journey and passion for kid-friendly crafts and free printables.
Her easy-to-follow craft ideas and practical parenting advice have transformed In The Playroom into a cherished resource for parents.
Thank you for sharing these helpful tips for getting children to open up about their school day. It’s important to create a comfortable environment for them to share their experiences. Engaging in a walk or using specific questions can make a big difference