Questions to ask kindergarteners to get to know them: 9 Cool Questions to Ask Your Kid
Fun & Engaginig Questions to Ask Kindergarteners
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Are you looking for a creative way to engage and stimulate your kindergarteners’ minds? Asking kids good questions will foster problem-solving and critical thinking skills, which are key components of learning.
Asking questions is a great way to engage kindergarteners in learning and encourage their creativity. Open-ended questions encourage creative thinking in the minds of kindergartners and think outside of direct questions with yes-or-no answers.
Learning how best to approach teaching these young children can be intimidating. So we wanted to give you the tools to successfully ask effective questions that help their cognitive development.
Read on for some open-ended question examples you can use in your kindergarten classrooms or homeschool environment!
What is your favorite color?
This question helps you get to know a child’s preferences. It can also be used as a way to start a conversation, to get the child to open up.
What is your favorite animal?
One particularly good question for kindergartners is “What is your favorite animal?”. This question allows them to express themselves in an open and creative manner.
It’s easy enough for young children to answer. Plus it opens up possibilities for deeper conversations and connections between adults and young children alike.
What is your favorite food?
This question can be a great way to engage and interact with kindergarteners. It allows you to get to know the children better. Plus, it gives them an opportunity to develop new social skills by expressing their opinions.
What is your favorite song?
This question teaches children that ownership of one’s opinion or interest is something worthy of discussion. For naturally shy kindergartens, this question offers a platform to share thoughts and gain confidence in using communication skills.
What is your favorite movie?
By asking this question, kindergartners to talk about something that they find interesting or exciting.
Discussing movies can be a fun conversation topic for kindergartens and those involved with helping their growth and development. The question helps teachers and parents understand who the children are and what interests them.
What is your favorite book?
Asking kindergarteners about favorite books is a terrific way to get them thinking about why they like the book, what the story teaches, and more. It’s a wonderful way to foster enthusiasm for reading and open up meaningful conversations that cover a wide range of topics.
What is your favorite sport?
“What is your favorite sport?” helps them develop critical thinking, as they must identify not just what they like, but also be able to explain why certain activities interest them more than others. Furthermore, the sports question encourages collaboration and socialization since the kids will inevitably talk with each other about their responses.
This type of dialogue helps kindergartners grow their communication skills, especially as they may need to compromise or adjust ideas based on what their peers have said.
What is your favorite game?
Asking questions such as “What is your favorite game?” encourages dialogue with children, allowing them to discuss their likes and dislikes in an open-minded and confidence-building way.
It provides an opportunity for kids to express themselves without fear of judgment or criticism, promotes meaningful connections with others, and cultivates their inquisitive minds.
What do you like to do for fun?
Encouraging children to talk about their interests and hobbies can help you connect with them and build rapport.
Who is your best friend?
Asking about friendships can give insight into a child’s social development and who they feel closest to at school.
Can you tell me something cool that you learned today?
This question encourages kindergarteners to reflect on what they have learned and helps reinforce new knowledge they may have acquired.
What would you like to be when you grow up?
Asking this question can spark imagination and creativity, while also providing insight into a child’s aspirations for the future.
Can you tell me about your family?
This question allows children to share information about their home life and can provide an opportunity for parents or guardians to participate in conversations with teachers.
What was the best part of your day so far?
By asking this, teachers or parents can focus on positive moments in a child’s day, which can boost morale and self-esteem.
Asking questions is a great way to build a trusting relationship with your kindergartener. They will appreciate that you care about the answers and are listening to their thoughts and opinions. If you have been looking for meaningful topics, then asking good questions to kindergarteners may be just the thing.
Questions can range from serious topics like what they want to be when they grow up, to more playful questions like what’s their favorite color or food. Ultimately, making sure your kindergartener feels supported and loved are some of the most important things that parents can do.
By engaging in conversations with them through meaningful discussions or light-hearted banter, both you and your child can share some special moments that will last a lifetime!
40 Questions to Ask Kids. Get To Know Them Better!
Published: by Birute Efe · This post may contain affiliate links ·
Mindful questions to ask for kids in order to get them know better!
It’s amazing that we can take advantage to bond by just asking the right questions. Sometimes journal prompts come to the rescue, but other times everything you need is a quality talk! By talking kids can express their emotions, it encourages them to think deeply and learn to be open-minded, honest. Teach kids don’t be afraid of telling their opinion. So, don’t forget to listen them by heart, pay full attention while waiting for answers. And show that everything is OK, learn to accept and discuss about the things that matters!
40 Creative Questions to Ask Kids
- What does it feel like when I hug you?
- What makes you sad?
- You’re outside for a whole day: what would you do?
- What was the silliest thing that happened to you?
- How old is your grandfathers/parents/siblings?
- What challenged you today?
- Who do you want to make friends with that you haven’t already?
- What sounds do you like?
- Was there ever a time when you felt afraid or alone?
- What do you want now?
- What are you grateful for ?
- How did you make that person feel welcome?
- What do you want to learn?
- What is faith?
- Is there something that you miss?
- What will you do differently after today?
- What is love?
- Who is your best friend and why?
- What kind of art you like the most?
- What are you sorry for?
Questions to Ask Kids
21.
How would you change the world if you could?
22. What do you want to change? Why?
23. If you could create a new planet what would you name it, and what would it be like?
24. What do you enjoy giving people?
25. What makes you laugh?
26. If you could meet anyone from history, who would it be and why?
27. What’s your biggest dream that you wish would come true?
28. What is one place you want to travel to one day?
29. Describe the house you want to live in when you’re a grown-up.
30. What was the high and the low of your day?
31. If you wrote a book, what would its title be?
32. What would you do if you made the rules at home?
33. What is empathy? Is it important to you?
34. If you can meet anything at the moment, what it would be?
Thoughtful Questions For Kids
35. What makes you feel loved?
36. If you had to eat only one food for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
37. What kind of book you want to read?
38.
How do you make someone happy?
39. What makes you feel energized?
40. If a friend asks you to keep a secret that you don’t feel comfortable keeping, what would you do?
Quality Talks with Kids can Be a Life changing Moment
Remember the time when a short talk or just a few words stuck in your head forever ( I hope, in a good way!)? I have some strong memories… So, words have powerful energy and it can make changes. So, the right questions and discussions with kids teaches not only self reflection, provides stability, but it stays in the mind for a life. Appreciate these talks and enjoy your bonding time with kids!
What kind of questions work well in your family? Share in the comments!
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Developing artistic taste in kindergarten and elementary school
Painting: Henri Matisse Conversation, 1908-1912 / Illustration: Julia Zamzhitskaya
Children are able to enjoy art and be sincerely interested in it.
But the development of aesthetic taste at a young age is not given due attention: there are no methodological materials and manuals on the topic, and only enthusiastic teachers and caring parents do this. How to acquaint kindergarteners and younger schoolchildren with the beautiful? What kind of art to choose? How to turn a trip to a museum into a holiday? Svetlana Podyanova, candidate of pedagogical sciences and founder of the kindergarten and school “Talentville” talks about this.
What is artistic taste
Artistic taste is the ability to perceive and evaluate works of different types of art: painting, applied art, graphics, music, poetry, sculpture, architecture, theater. It is an important part of the value system of any person. What children consider beautiful depends on their worldview and ideals.
The main components of taste are the ability to perceive, evaluate and make a judgment. The good news is that they are like muscles that can be pumped from an early age.
Visualization – the ability to perceive works of art – can be developed from the age of three or four. It is enough to fill the home and gaming environment with different images. For example, hang reproductions in the room with paintings depicting the seasons, animals and plants.
The ability to evaluate and judge comes from the questions a child asks while looking at a picture or listening to a piece of music. You can look at pictures and discuss what you see with a child from the age of five or six.
If these practices are carried out correctly, children will naturally and with pleasure join the world culture.
Svetlana Podyanova
How to develop a child’s taste
Play
Acquaintance with art is perfectly combined with the game. From the category of “boring and boring” this type of activity will immediately go into the field of “fun, interesting, informative”. To do this, you only need reproductions of paintings and photos of various art objects.
For example, you can print several images, cut out the characters of some works and “relocate” them to other paintings. There is room for imagination: how will the girl from the picture “Dragonfly” feel if she finds herself on the snow in the picture “The Rooks Have Arrived”? What will the “Three Heroes” say when entering one of the Himalayan landscapes of Nicholas Roerich?
You can make a similar game yourself or invite children to come up with its variations.
Pay attention to detail
Children love the magnifying glass or cardboard frame exercises. Thanks to them, the child looks at the pictures more carefully, recognizes them, remembers different artistic techniques and styles. For example, children will be interested in the task – to consider a fragment and answer how many petals a flower has, claws on a paw, people in a room. It is also useful to explore more complex questions: in which direction does the wind blow; how to understand what kind of weather is shown in the picture; in what country and in what era does the event depicted in the picture take place?
Discuss what they see
It is productive not only to look at works of art, classical and modern, but to teach children to ask questions about them.
This develops speech, thinking and instills a culture of respectful discussion. But the main task of such an exercise is to show that there are no right answers and everyone can see something of their own in a work of art.
When discussing the painting “Conversation” by Henri Matisse, you can involve children in discussing the plot of the painting and its details.
We ask the children: “What do you think the man and woman are talking about in this picture?”.
One says: “And I think they were talking about a child.”
Other: “And I think they are going to buy a new house.”
Third: “And I think they are quarreling.”
Henri Matisse Conversation, 1908-1912
When discussing a picture, there are no correct answers – each child simply expresses his opinion.
It doesn’t matter at all whether children can comprehend the artist’s intention. At an early age, the goal of doing art is not this.
The main thing is to teach children to comprehend their perception and attitude to what they see.
Learn to compare
Developed taste suggests that the child distinguishes subjects and techniques and understands what techniques the artist uses in his work. To do this, it is necessary to teach children to compare pictures with each other.
For example, show the children three or four works about children in different techniques. Or vice versa, several impressionistic works with different subjects. Then ask clarifying questions:
- “How are they similar?”
- “What does the name have in common?”
- “What do the characters have in common?”
- “Why do you think the artist uses this particular color?”
- “Where are the characters depicted in volume, and where are they flat?”.
Left: Vincent van Gogh First Steps, 1890; right: Georges Seurat, Sunday afternoon on the island of Grand Jatte, 1884-1886.
Talk about context
In works of art, not only the plot and technique are important, but also what remains behind the scenes. To do this, it is useful to tell the children the biography of the artist, the history of his era, how he got the idea to paint this picture.
For example, Vasily Perov’s painting “Troika” depicts children carrying a huge barrel of water in the bitter cold. To explain to the children the plot of this picture, you will need a little historical background on child labor. After that, it will be possible to discuss how the artist’s technique – a blurred background, muted gray colors – conveys and conveys to the viewer the mood of the picture.
Vasily Perov “Troika”, 1866
How to select paintings for classes
The main criterion for choosing works is a story that a child can understand. But abstractions are also suitable – they develop the imagination, make you think about what is hidden behind the lines and shapes, draw your images.
Many people think that colorful pictures should be shown to children. But they also perceive calm colors well, because the mood of a child is also different. The picture, painted in muted colors, is an occasion to discuss with children the nuances of emotional experiences. For example, when I show the group “Child with a Dove” by Picasso, the guys talk about sadness, longing for friends – they subtly capture the mood.
Pablo Picasso Child with a Dove, 1901
Do not be afraid to introduce children to great works. They will perceive them well if they first look at the whole picture, and then move on to the details: they peer into patterns, look at fragments.
It’s a good idea to use pictures to study ornaments. For example, along with Gzhel, Khokhloma and Dymkovo toys, consider the patterns of Gustav Klimt or the color experiments of Matisse.
Henri Matisse The Red Room, 1908
Why and how to go to a museum with a child
Do not limit yourself to studying only at home, in kindergarten and school, because many cities have excellent museums.
If a child can concentrate on one subject for several minutes, listen and enter into a dialogue, then he is ready for a cultural trip. And so that he is not bored:
- Make the tour active.
Take workbooks or sketchbooks with you so that the child can copy the picture they like. Ask him thematic tasks: find an object, emphasize cold colors, identify a picture by a fragment. - Use the game method.
It’s a great idea to turn a tour into a quest: create a map or a list of paintings to find in advance. For example, only pictures about winter or autumn. But this format needs to be agreed with the curators – not all museums allow children to run around the halls unattended. - Reflect after the trip.
After visiting the museum, do some reflection work. For example, come up with a fairy tale based on a picture or a poem. An option is to keep a viewer’s diary: write down or draw pictures that you saw during the tour.
