Coming up with conversation starters to engage with Brady after school doesn’t come easy. Like most little ones, he draws a blank when I ask him things like, “What did you do today?” I think because he does so much, he just can’t narrow in on one single thing.
I was getting nowhere with him and so as time has gone by my questions have evolved. I’ve really tried to think of ways to ask him things that will remind him of something very specific so he can easily remember the answer.
I thought that some of you may be having the same issue as well so I wanted to share my preschool conversation starters with you. I’d really love to hear if you have other ideas as well!
Preschool Conversation Starters
1. Instead of asking how his day was, leaving him open to reply with a standard “fine” each time, I got more specific. I decided to ask him, “Did you have a happy day or a sad day?” You could also replace sad with mad. I use sad because many times drop-off isn’t easy and he is upset about me leaving.
2. Although many times he can’t tell me a specific name, asking him, “Who did you play with today?” usually sparks a description like “the girl” or “the kid with glasses”.
3. I like to find out what they had for snack that day, and although I have a little fibber on my hands that almost never tells me the truth, it’s always worth a shot. I tell him what I had for a snack that day to bring his mind towards food and focus him in on what I’m asking.
4. Asking him if there was something he did not enjoy doing is just another way of finding out about his day by asking him something very specific. Like I said earlier, asking him how his day was is just too broad and gets me nowhere.
5. I’ve found a good way to find out about his teacher interaction is to ask specifically, “What did Ms./Mr. _____ say to you?” It doesn’t always get a response beyond telling me he doesn’t know, but sometimes it does! I’m looking for simple things like, “good job”, “go to the potty”, “play nice”, etc.
6. Asking, “Did you laugh today?” gives me a good indication of what kind of day he had. I am fully aware that just because he gives me a yes or a no doesn’t mean it’s true. These are just ways to try and ignite a conversation.
We also love these fun games to get our kids talking!!
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How do you get your preschoolers to open up and tell you about their day?
Liz is a just a mom trying to keep it real about how little she sleeps, how often she gets puked on and how much she loves them. You can find her here every day writing about real-mom moments.
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