5 Ways To Get Your Child Talking About Their Day

So your child has started school and you’ve gone from knowing all about their day to being told ‘I can’t remember’, ‘we didn’t do anything today’, ‘that was ages ago, I don’t know’ when you ask what they got up to?

Well, first up, you are not alone. It seems to be a weird mind-warping illness that affects them all! My girl is a chatty and confident little thing, but if I ask her what she’s done that day, I get nothing.

Now that she’s in year 1, I’ve had time to try out and think up a few ways to prompt her to open up a little more with me, so I thought I’d share them with you in the hope that they work for you, too……

5 ways to get your child talking about their day

1. Be silly. I find that making ridiculous suggestions about what happened makes her laugh and feel the need to set me straight. For example, ‘so was it wiggly worms for lunch today?’ or ‘so today in maths a huge elephant popped by?’. Anything blatantly incorrect, and my girl has to correct me!

2. Be creative. My daughter enjoys a bit of creativity, so asking her to draw parts of her day or share stories about it, gets her thinking about it in a different way and has her more interested in sharing it with me.

3. Be specific. Asking her about her day generally rarely gets me anywhere. By asking her how she got on in show and tell or what she did in PE, I can see her mind whirring back to those specific occasions and she’s much more likely to then talk about them. The other thing that works well here is asking her what her favourite and least favourite parts of the day were.

4. Be sociable. By this I mean, share amongst yourselves. So whether it be piecing bits together by getting her friends involved in the conversation, or by talking to her about my day, by chatting and sharing, she tends to give a little more.

5. Be timely. Asking her as she comes out of the classroom is rarely the time to get anything out of her. She wants a snack, her brother’s vying for her attention, she wants to run free. She does not want to talk. Over the dinner table can be good, especially if we go with the above point and each take it in turns to share something we’ve done that day. She likes to be involved then, so it’s a great way to get talking. The best time will always be bedtime, though. She’s wanting to prolong this, so will happily talk on and on at this point – that’s my top tip!

There you have it, 5 ways to get your child talking about their day. Have you tried these, or have you another idea that works? I’m always open to suggestions!

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16 thoughts on “5 Ways To Get Your Child Talking About Their Day”

  1. I find bath time can be a good one for hearing things. I have also noticed that they will just pop out with something in the middle of other conversations or at random moments. I have to make sure I’m really listening otherwise they get lost amongst the day to day everything, although if I realise I’ve just missed a tit bit I will often ask them to tell me again if it’s straight away, but you have to seize the moment otherwise they’ve already moved on to something totally different 🙂 x

  2. My youngest is 8 and I still struggle to find out what she’s been doing at school…All she seems to remember is what she had for lunch. lol
    Great ideas! I will have to try some of these x

  3. Bed time is the only time for N too, although occasionally in the car. I might have to try the ‘incorrect’ thing though. That might work.

    At the moment though, the only thing that N seems to remember is anything I might have prompted him about in the morning, or around the lunch table.

  4. Aha! I’m so glad I’m not the only one who comes out with crazy suggestions so it comes flooding out! I have to do this with Freddie because he has to then tell me how it was – I think it’s quite cute especially when they get hysterical from the giggles! I’ve also noticed bedtime being the time for a big discussion on their day.. I got told last night “Mummy, we don’t have playtime at school, we’re not allowed to call it that, it’s busy time because we’re learning, not playing” – in reception.. was shocked but I suppose I see their point!
    X

  5. Oh it drives me mad! Sometimes i’m just wicked and tell my twins (who are in the same class together) that I’ll give an extra big after school treat to whichever one tells me about the day….and suddenly both are competing to tell me all !

  6. Hi Jocelyn, it did surprise me when my two never seemed keen to share what they did at school. Like you I used to ask specifics at a time when we were relaxing together or doing something and found that worked. I love the suggestion of asking just before bedtime, I bet they can’t tell you enough then!

    xx

  7. I’m definitely going to try these. It takes me ages and ages to get anything out of z and sometimes I just give up because it’s all very monosyllabic answers. I think getting funny and silly would definitely work on him!

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