394 Exciting Questions of the Day to Ask Kids (Fun, Silly, Get to Know Them Questions)

We thought this was a great idea for Family Day. This post was originally published on mominformed.com

Conversing with your children can be hard at times. This is especially true for young children who may have only recently learned how to speak in full sentences. Thinking about meaningful questions to ask kids, is important for their development.

I know that I struggle to have good conversations with full-grown adults, let alone children. You may feel the same way. Just like you, I love my little ones, and I want what’s best for them.

Having meaningful conversations is essential for their development, as well as building the parent-child relationship. So I’ve come up with some questions that can lead to meaningful, development- and relationship-enhancing conversations.

Why We Should Engage Our Kids With Questions

I’ve found that it is a lot easier to feel motivated to take action when I know the reason behind the practices. So before I give a list of my question ideas, I want to provide you with a background on why using these questions is essential.

Research has shown that when kids have brief, intensive conversations with adults, rare words are emphasized. Errors are corrected by being repeated correctly, and open-ended questions are used.

Children also have improved expressive vocabulary development. This coincides well with Vygotsky’s theory that children learn best through social interaction.

Scholars on the topic of language development shed light on how this can be accomplished, suggesting some ways that parents can encourage language development while conversing with their kids:

1. utilize rich vocabulary,
2. talk about the child’s interests,
3. ask open-ended questions,
4. take turns listening and speaking, and
5. ask questions that encourage thinking.

These suggestions may seem simple, but they can make a gigantic difference. They are also not easy to do, even though they are straightforward. Having a handy list of questions at your disposal can make the process quite a bit easier.

So, without further ado, here are some questions you can ask your children to enrich their language development and relationship with them.

Get To Know You Questions For Kids

When getting to know your child, focus on learning about their likes and dislikes. I have many examples to get you started, but you probably know best which questions will get your child talking.

These questions are mostly closed-ended because they aim at giving you information about your child. But you can use these as conversation starters and turn them into a back-and-forth exchange.

Simply ask “why” when they respond with their answer. Also, I included questions that focus on the child’s likes and interests, but you can also learn about their dislikes and disinterests simply by flipping the question around.

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1. What toy do you like to play with the most?
2. What is your favorite dessert?
3. What is your favorite snack?
4. What is your favorite lunch?
5. What is your favorite breakfast?
6. What is your favorite dinner?
7. What is your favorite fruit?
8. What is your favorite vegetable?
9. What is your favorite drink?
10. What is your favorite cereal?
11. Who is your favorite friend?
12. What is your favorite color?
13. What is your favorite thing to do at home?
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside?
15. What is your favorite thing to do at the park?
16. What is your favorite thing to do at grandma’s house?
17. What is your favorite thing to do when it is raining?
18. What is your favorite thing to do when it is snowing?
19. What is your favorite thing to do when it is windy?
20. What is your favorite outfit?
21. Do you like to wear shorts or pants better?
22. Who is your favorite super-hero, and why?
23. Who is your favorite Disney princess, and why?
24. What is your favorite cartoon?
25. What is your favorite movie?
26. What is your favorite kind of technology?
27. What kind of games do you like to play on your phone?
28. What kind of video games do you like to play?
29. What is your favorite board game to play?
30. What is your favorite card game to play?
31. What is your favorite type of plant?
32. What is your favorite place to go on vacation?
33. What is your favorite thing to learn about?
34. What is your favorite book?
35. What is your favorite book genre?
36. What is your favorite movie genre?
37. Who is your favorite sibling to play with?
38. Who is your favorite cousin to play with?
39. What is your favorite season?
40. What is your favorite summer activity?
41. What is your favorite winter activity?
42. What is your favorite fall activity?
43. What is your favorite spring activity?
44. What is your favorite party game?
45. What is your favorite meal of the day?
46. What is your favorite time of the day?
47. What is your favorite place in our house?
48. What is your favorite type of craft?
49. What is your favorite subject in school?
50. Who is your favorite teacher?

Funny and Silly Questions For Kids

Sometimes kids can be reluctant to have conversations with their parents. But if you can catch them off guard with a funny question and get them laughing, you might be able to trick them into talking to you.

Here are some questions to get you started. Because kids vary so much by age, I’ll start with some funny and silly questions you can ask older kids. 

1. Who would win in a magical duel: Harry Potter or Mary Poppins?
2. Who would you rather hang out with? Lord Farquaad or Gaston?
3. If you could live in any movie, but you had to go as the bad guy, which movie would you want to live in?
4. If you had to have one embarrassing quality to have all the money in the world, what would it be?
5. If you could dance all the time without getting tired, would you?
6. What if you had magical powers, but you had to sleep 90% of the time. Would you want them?
7. If you could have a magical remote that could fast-forward through school, but you could never eat at McDonald’s again, would you do it?
8. If you could eat as much dessert as you wanted every day, but also had to go to the dentist every day, would you do it?
9. What would the world be like if little tiny leprechauns were in charge?
10. What would the world be like if children were in charge of their parents?
11. If you were an ogre, what would be your name?
12. If you were a superhero, what would be your superpower and your weakness?
13. If you could have Disneyland all to yourself whenever you want, but you could only communicate by singing Disney songs, would you?
14. If you could be a famous movie star, but you had to always smell like stinky feet, would you?
15. If you could eat anything you wanted, but you had to eat at least one worm a day, would you?
16. If you could fly, but you had to always have really bad breath, would you?
17. Why did the chicken cross the road?
18. How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop?
19. If you could eat anything every day, what would it be?
20. If you could get rid of anything in the world, what would it be?
21. If you could be invisible whenever you want, but you had to sweat constantly, would you?
22. Who would win in a sword fight: Robin Hood, or Peter Pan?
23. Who would win in a dance battle: Snow White or Winnie the Pooh?
24. Who would win in a singing contest: Olaf or Elsa?

Funny and Silly Questions For Younger Children

1. What kind of ice cream do mermaids like?
2. What does the fox say?
3. What sound do trees make?
4. What do elephants like to do?
5. What do princesses eat?
6. Where do dragons live?
7. What do crocodiles say?
8. Who lives on the moon?
9. What do monkeys smell like?
10. Why do puppies wag their tails?
11. What does the itsy bitsy spider do?
12. What do the wheels on the bus do?
13. What do little piggies buy at the market?
14. How did the big bad wolf blow down a house?
15. Can animals talk? What do they say?
16. Is snow made out of sugar?
17. Do you like to eat grass?
18. Do you like to eat bugs?
19. What do leaves taste like?
20. Why do bunnies bounce?
21. What color are unicorns?
22. What are rainbows made of?
23. Why do birds fly?
24. Why don’t fish fly?
25. Where do butterflies live?
26. Where does yogurt come from?
27. Is sugar yummy?
28. Can it rain orange juice?
29. Where is heaven?
30. Why do dogs bark?
31. Why do cats meow?
32. Why are turtles so slow?
33. Why does the wind blow?
34. Are cats girls?
35. Are dogs boys?
36. Can dogs lay eggs?
37. Do animals wear clothes?
38. Do little boys live in zoos?
39. Can ants swim?
40. Are doughnuts delicious?

Questions To Ask Kids About Life

Here are some great questions to ask your child about their daily life and routine. Asking these questions can give you a window into your child’s life. Let them know that you care about them, even when it comes to ordinary things in their life. 

1. What do you do first thing in the morning, after you wake up?
2. Are you a morning person, or a night person?
3. When do you get dressed for your day?
4. How often do you brush your teeth?
5. Do you like breakfast?
6. How do you make sure you’re ready for school on time?
7. How do you get to school?
8. Who do you sit by on the bus to school?
9. What do you do when you get to school?
10. What’s your favorite thing to do at school?
11. What is your least favorite thing to do at school?
12. What’s your schedule like on a typical school day?
13. When you get home from school, what’s the first thing you do?
14. What do you look forward to doing most after school each day?
15. What’s your favorite after-school snack?
16. When do you do homework?
17. How long do you spend doing homework?
18. When do you watch TV?
19. How long do you watch TV after school?
20. Do you like to hang out with friends after school?
21. Do you ever study with your friends after school?
22. Do you practice any instruments after school?
23. Do you have any special hobbies you do after school?
24. How often do you play video games?
25. How often do you look at social media?
26. What’s your favorite way to help with dinner?
27. Do you have a favorite dinner?
28. Do you like to watch shows while you eat dinner?
29. Do you like to talk while you eat dinner?
30. What do you like to talk about during dinner?
31. What’s your favorite way to help clean up after dinner?
32. What do you do to relax at night?
33. Do you like to spend time with family at night?
34. Do you like to play games with family at night?
35. What do you like to do before bedtime?
36. What books do you like to read before going to sleep?
37. Do you look at your phone a lot before you go to bed?
38. Do you have a special stuffed animal you like to take to bed with you?
39. Do you like to sleep above the covers or under the covers?
40. Do you like to have white noise while you sleep?
41. Do you like to have quiet music playing while you fall asleep?
42. What stories do you like mom/dad to read to you before bedtime?
43.  Do you ever have a hard time falling asleep? 
44. Do you ever have nightmares?
45. Do you ever have dreams?
46. Can you tell me about a nightmare you recently had?
47. Can you tell me about a dream you recently had?
48. What do you do when you have a nightmare?
49. What is your favorite part of the day?
50. What is your favorite thing to do before bed?

Interview Questions For Kids

1. What is one talent that you are proud of?
2. What is one talent that you want to get better at?
3. What is one subject in school that you do well at?
4. What is one subject in school that you want to get better at?
5. What is one thing you do that makes other people happy?
6. What is one thing you do that hurts other people’s feelings?
7.  What is one way that you help your parents?
8. What is one way that you help your siblings?
9. What is one way that you help your friends?
10. When you play with your friends, do you make up the games?
11. When you play with your friends, do they make up the games?
12. When you do a group project at school, do you take lead?
13. When you sit by your friend on the bus, what do you talk about?
14. Tell me about a time when you felt proud of yourself. 
15. Tell me about a time when you felt bad about something you did. 
16. Tell me about a time when you helped someone in need.
17. Tell me about a time when you saw someone being bullied, and how you reacted.
18. Tell me about a time when you felt bullied, and how you reacted. 
19. Would you rather take charge of a school project, or follow?
20. How would you react if your teacher embarrassed you in front of your class?
21. How would you react if your friends said mean things about you behind your back?
22. Have you ever stood up for someone who was being bullied?
23. When you are bored, what do you do?
24. When you have a test, do you try to study a lot?
25. When you have something important to do, do you take care of it right away?
26. Tell me about one way you are trying to become better.
27. Tell me about a time when you learned an important life lesson.
28. Tell me about a time when you felt that you made a mistake, but tried to fix it.
29. Tell me about a time when you forgave someone.
30. Tell me about a time when you did something creative. 

Open-Ended Questions of the Day For Kids

1. What makes a good friend?
2. What do you want to be like when you grow up?
3. Who is somebody you admire, and why?
4. Tell me about your best friend.
5. Tell me about your favorite hobby. 
6. Tell me about a project you’re doing in school right now. 
7. Tell me about your favorite movie.
8. Tell me about your favorite book. 
9. Tell me about what kind of music you like to listen to. 
10. Tell me about what you do during lunch at school.
11. Explain something you recently learned to me. 
12. How do you like to spend your spare time?
13. What is something you’re looking forward to, and why?
14. Who is your favorite teacher, and why?
15. Who is your favorite cousin, and why?
16. Who is your favorite aunt, and why?
17. Who is your favorite uncle, and why?
18. What is your favorite restaurant, and why?
19. Tell me how it feels to you when someone compliments you. 
20. Tell me how it feels to you when someone is mean to you. 
21. Tell me how it feels to you when you are mean to someone else. 
22. Tell me how it feels to you to compliment someone else.
23. Tell me about your favorite TV show right now. 
24. Tell me about what you want to be when you grow up.
25. Tell me about what you want to teach your kids when you grow up.
26. Tell me about what kind of person you want to marry.
27. Tell me about what job you want to have when you grow up.
28. Tell me about your favorite thing about Christmas.
29. Tell me about your favorite thing about Halloween.
30. Tell me about your favorite thing about St. Patrick’s Day.
31. Tell me about your favorite thing about Valentine’s Day.
32. Tell me about your favorite thing about Easter.
33. Tell me about your worst fear.
34. Tell me about your goals.
35. Tell me about your dreams.
36. Tell me about what qualities you want to have.
37. Tell me about what qualities you don’t want to have.
38. Tell me about things you like about yourself.
39. Tell me about things you don’t like about yourself.
40. Tell me about things you don’t like about school.
41. Tell me about things you do like about school.
42. Tell me about the things you love about your friends.
43. Tell me about things you don’t love about your friends.
44. Tell me about your favorite after-school activity.
45. Tell me about your favorite thing to cook.
46. Tell me about your favorite way to help clean.
47. Tell me about what you want for your birthday.
48. Tell me about what you want to give your friends and family for Christmas.
49. Tell me one thing that you’ve never told anyone about yourself.
50. Tell me something that you’ve been wanting to tell me. 

Questions To Ask Kids About School

1. What did you do at school today?
2. Who did you play with at school today?
3. What did you learn at school today?
4. What were the best and worst things that happened at school today?
5. Did anything funny happen at school today?
6. What did you do during recess today?
7. What books did your teacher read you today?
8. What toys did you play with at daycare today?
9. Did you get to play outside today at daycare?
10. What did you eat for lunch at school/daycare?
11. What was your favorite snack today at daycare?
12. Did anything interesting happen at school today?
13. Did anything make you sad today at school?
14. What was the most boring part of your day?
15. What was the most exciting part of your day?
16. What projects are you working on at school?
17. Do you like science class or math class more?
18. What’s a subject you need extra help with right now?
19. Do you like art or reading better?
20. Who is your favorite teacher?
21. Did you get in trouble today?
22. Did your teachers compliment you today?
23. Do you ever help your friends with homework?
24. Do your friends ever help you with homework?
25. Are there any cool clubs at your school?
26. What are you excited most about going to school?
27. Do you like school?
28. Do you think school is too long?
29. Do you like to read at school?
30. Are there any homework assignments you need help with?
31. Do you ever get to cut with scissors at school?
32. Do you get to color at school?
33. Are you doing any fun art activities at school?
34. Do your friends like school?
35. Do your friends study a lot?
36. Do you ever go to the library at school?
37. Is there a special place you like to eat your lunch?
38. Do you have a favorite school lunch?
39. Do you have a least favorite school lunch?
40. Is there anyone who is mean to you at school?
41. Do you like the principal of your school?
42. Do you ever have assemblies at school?
43. Does your teacher let you read whatever you want at school?
44. Are there a lot of books in your classroom?
45. Do you like your classroom?
46. Are there fun stations in your classroom?
47. What is your favorite station to play?
48. What is your favorite activity to do during recess?
49. What is your least favorite thing about recess?
50. Who is your favorite school friend?

Questions For Younger Kids And Toddlers

1. What does the (insert animal) say?
2. What sound does water make?
3. What sound does a garbage truck make?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. What is your friend’s name?
6. What is your teacher’s name?
7. What is mommy’s name?
8. What is daddy’s name?
9. What is your favorite song
10. What is your favorite show?
11. What is your favorite movie?
12. What is your favorite place to go?
13. Can you count to three?
14. What’s your favorite story to read with mom/dad?
15. What is your favorite candy?
16. How old are you?
17. When is your birthday?
18. How old is Mommy?
19. How old is Daddy?
20. How old is (insert sibling’s name)?
21. What is your favorite toy?
22. What is your favorite thing to do at the park?
23. What is your favorite thing to do at grandma’s house?
24. Did you have any bad dreams last night?
25. What toys do you like at daycare?
26. Who’s your favorite teacher at daycare?
27. What’s your favorite thing to do at daycare?
28. Do you like going to the store with mom/dad? Why?
29. What do you like to do in the car?
30. What is your favorite letter?
31. What is your favorite number?
32. How many toes do you have?
33. How many fingers do you have?
34. Where is your (insert body part)?
35. Do you like to be hot or cold better?
36. Do you like orange juice or milk better?
37. Do you like cereal or toast better?
38. Do you like breakfast or dinner better?
39. Do you like vegetables or fruits better?
40. What does mommy do when you go to daycare?
41. What does daddy do when you go to daycare?
42. What is mom/dad’s favorite color?
43. Do you like to wear shorts or pants better?
44. Do you like pajamas or normal clothes better?
45. Do you like taking naps?
46. What animals do you like?
47. What color are your eyes?
48. What color is your hair?
49. What color are mom’s/dad’s eyes?
50. What color is mom’s/dad’s hair?

Would You Rather Questions For Kids

1. Would you rather play the piano or the violin?
2. Would you rather eat ice cream or chocolate?
3. Would you rather be a mermaid or a princess?
4. Would you rather be a lion or a tiger?
5. Would you rather ride in a car or a bus?
6. Would you rather ride on a train or a plane?
7. Would you rather go to Hawaii or Disneyland?
8. Would you rather run or walk?
9. Would you rather dance or sing?
10. Would you rather go to a party or watch a movie?
11. Would you rather eat a snack or a dessert?
12. Would you rather eat at home or a restaurant?
13. Would you rather eat chicken or fish?
14. Would you rather have strawberries or blueberries?
15. Would you rather go to the park or go to the museum?
16. Would you rather fly or have super strength?
17. Would you rather drink soda or chocolate milk?
18. Would you rather drink water or milk?
19. Would you rather go to school or hang out with friends?
20. Would you rather play with your siblings or play with your cousins?
21. Would you rather be sick or break your finger?
22. Would you rather be fat or ugly?
23. Would you rather be pretty or skinny?
24. Would you rather wear sandals or tennis shoes?
25. Would you rather play volleyball or hockey?
26. Would you rather watch basketball or football?
27. Would you rather watch a movie or a TV show?
28. Would you rather play outside or play inside?
29. Would you rather play a board game or a card game?
30. Would you rather play a video game or look at social media?
31. Would you rather play by yourself or play with friends?
32. Would you rather wake up early or sleep in?
33. Would you rather go to bed early or go to bed late?
34. Would you rather read a book or watch a show?
35. Would you rather eat macaroni or chicken nuggets?
36. Would you rather eat at Wendy’s or McDonald’s?
37. Would you rather live somewhere hot or somewhere cold?
38. Would you rather stay at home or go to school?
39. Would you rather play sports or read books?
40. Would you rather write a book report or do a math assignment?
41. Would you rather learn about History or English?
42. Would you rather learn to speak Chinese or Italian?
43. Would you rather learn to speak Russian or Tagalog?
44. Would you rather go to Italy or Germany?
45. Would you rather run a marathon or swim a mile?
46. Would you rather go to the zoo or go to an amusement park?
47. Would you rather go bowling or go to an arcade?
48. Would you rather play hide and seek or tag?
49. Would you rather wear a dress or pants?
50. Would you rather eat chips or candy?

Conclusion

Having conversations with kids is vital for their language, cognitive, and social development. Additionally, they can learn conversation skills, which are crucial to have later in life.

It also builds your relationship with your child. You can learn a lot about your child that you probably didn’t know by asking them these questions. Whether they are 2 or 17, it’s always a good idea to talk to your child. 

Elizabeth Miller is passionate about motherhood, both personally and professionally. She is mom to a toddler and an infant and has a bachelor’s degree in Marriage and Family Studies. She is also currently working toward her master’s degree in Human Development and Family Studies.