Questions to Ask Kids

Fun questions to ask kids

Silly questions are the easiest way in, because there is no wrong answer. The Funny category has 14 of them, like "What animal would be the rudest if it could talk?" and "If your pet could text you, what would its first message say?".

The 13 questions in What if ask kids to imagine something impossible, such as "What would you do if it rained candy for a day?" or "What would you do if your shadow came to life?". Kids who go quiet on "How was your day?" often have a lot to say about a talking shadow.

Get to know you questions for kids

The For kids category has 54 questions about the things children care about: animals, pets, food, friends and what they would build or invent. Examples are "What is your favorite animal, and why?" and "If you could have any pet in the world, what would it be?".

These work with a new class, a new babysitter or a cousin you see once a year. Ask one, listen, then use a Talking points idea to ask a second, smaller question. Two questions about the same thing feel like a chat. Ten different questions feel like a quiz.

The same 54 questions also appear on our icebreaker questions page, next to icebreakers for work and for adults. This page keeps only questions that suit kids, from six categories.

Questions to ask kids at dinner or in the car

Dinner and car rides are good times to talk because nobody has to look at anyone. Draw one question, and let everyone at the table answer it, grown ups included. Kids open up more when the adults take a turn too.

To plan ahead, set How many to 5 before you leave, press Copy all and keep the list on your phone. Press Share to send the same questions to another parent or a grandparent.

The questions here are about fun and getting to know each other, not a report on the school day. A few touch on school, like "What is the best thing about your school day?" and "What is something new you learned this week?". For the after school chat in general, ask about one specific thing ("Who did you sit with at lunch?") rather than the whole day.

Questions for a classroom or ESL lesson

In class, press Full screen so everyone can read the question, then go around the room or pair students up. For a warm up, set How many to 1 and press the Space key for each new pair.

The ESL category has 24 easy questions about daily life, like "What do you usually eat for breakfast?" and "What did you do last weekend?". They use simple words and the present and past tense, so beginners can answer in a full sentence.

To prepare a lesson, set How many to 20 and press Download .csv to paste the questions into a worksheet, or press Print for a sheet to hand out. For longer speaking practice, see our ESL conversation topics.

How to get kids talking

A good question is only half of it. These habits help a quiet kid say more:

• Answer first. Give your own short, honest answer so they hear what an answer sounds like.
• Follow up on what they said. Use a Talking points idea, or ask "What happened next?".
• Take turns. Everyone answers the same question, then the next person draws a new one.
• Let them pass. A kid who can skip a question is more likely to answer the next one.
• Don't correct the answer. Silly is fine, and a strange answer is often the start of a story.

Questions for younger and older kids

Every question here is marked as fine for kids under 12, and most of them are easy: 94 are Easy, 19 are Medium and 8 are Deep. Easy questions, like "What is your favorite food to eat for breakfast?", suit young children who can hold a short conversation.

For older kids, set Difficulty to Medium or Deep. Those questions ask for a reason or a feeling, like "What makes someone a good friend?" or "What do you think grown ups forget about being a kid?". Nearly all of them are in For kids.

Older kids who like to argue a side can try our debate topics for kids. For quick laughs with two choices, use our would you rather questions.

More questions for families and groups

Our random question generator has all 533 questions, including ones for couples, friends and work that are not on this page. For a party game with kids, our truth or dare generator has a Kids category.