Funny Questions to Ask a 6 Year-Old
Twenty questions for a six year old, who now tells jokes on purpose, notices when adults are being ridiculous, and can hold a whole invented rule in their head. For parents, grandparents and anyone stuck in a car with one.
The questions
Open any question for the note
What's the funniest thing you've ever seen?
Why ask it
Six is when children start choosing the answer they think will get a laugh, so watch for the performance. If they stall, narrow it to the funniest thing at school today.
Do you know any jokes?
Why ask it
Six year olds are actively collecting jokes and most have at least one, usually a knock knock. Whether they can hold the punchline until the end is the entertaining part.
What's the silliest thing you've ever done?
Why ask it
Unlike a four year old, a six year old knows the difference between silly and naughty and will offer the safe one. Laugh at the safe answer and a better one often follows.
What's the worst dinner anyone could possibly serve you?
Why ask it
Inventing the worst meal is more fun than naming a real dislike, and six year olds build combinations they find genuinely revolting, which is a category adults have lost access to.
If you could only eat one food forever, what would you pick?
Why ask it
Six is old enough to spot the trap, so listen for negotiation. The ones who ask whether drinks count are showing you exactly how they handle rules.
What's the weirdest dream you've ever had?
Why ask it
By six they can narrate a dream in order, and the retelling usually grows as they go. Do not fact check the ending.
What's the funniest thing an animal has ever done in front of you?
Why ask it
Animal stories come out more confidently than stories about people, because nothing in them is embarrassing to report. Works whether or not there is a pet in the house.
If nobody could see you for a day, what would you do?
Why ask it
Answers turn practical at six: getting into a locked cupboard, watching someone else get told off, skipping one particular lesson. The plan is usually detailed enough to be faintly worrying.
If you got a new pet tomorrow, what would you call it?
Why ask it
Six year olds now name animals with a joke in mind rather than picking a favorite word. The name is small evidence of the humor they are developing.
What's the most ridiculous thing you've heard a grown-up say?
Why ask it
Six year olds have begun noticing that adults repeat themselves, so this frequently comes back to you as a quotation of yourself. Take it well.
If you could make one new school rule, what would it be?
Why ask it
You get whatever they find hardest about the school day, framed as a joke rather than a complaint. Pyjama day and no queueing come up more than you would expect.
What's the funniest thing that's happened at school this year?
Why ask it
Naming a period they can actually search makes this answerable. Expect a substitute teacher, a fire alarm, or an animal getting into the building.
If you were in charge of the house for a day, what would you change?
Why ask it
The same question as being in charge of adults, without the word grown-up in it. Six year olds answer in schedules: later bedtime, dessert first, no bath.
What's the silliest thing you've said out loud by accident?
Why ask it
Six is when embarrassment arrives, so this one may get refused. If it does, tell one of yours and ask again another day rather than pushing.
If you could be a character from a book, a film or a game, who would you be?
Why ask it
Offering the three categories shows you which one their imagination lives in. The reason almost always names one specific ability rather than the whole character.
What are you much better at than grown-ups?
Why ask it
Six year olds have real answers here, usually about games, screens, or remembering things adults forget. The pride is not misplaced, so do not argue with it.
If you had to swap jobs with someone in this family for a week, who would you pick?
Why ask it
It shows how they think each person's day actually works, and who they believe has the easiest one. The answer is often unflattering and worth hearing anyway.
What's a question you have that nobody's been able to answer?
Why ask it
Six year olds are accumulating unanswered questions and rarely get asked for them. Expect something about space, death, or how a specific machine in the house works.
If you could invent something that doesn't exist yet, what would it be?
Why ask it
By six they can hold an invention together well enough to describe how it works. The problem it solves is nearly always a chore they hate.
What do you think you'll be like when you're old?
Why ask it
Six year olds imagine old age in specific and unflattering detail. Ask what they will complain about and you get a direct impression of an adult they know.
Talking to a six year old
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
What is different from four
- They are telling jokes deliberately, which means they now care whether you laugh. Laugh at the attempt and you will get a stream of material, most of it bad.
- Embarrassment has arrived. A question that would have been fine at four can be refused at six, and pushing turns the whole conversation off.
- They can compare themselves to other children. Avoid anything competitive unless everyone in earshot can win.
- They notice adult inconsistency and enjoy pointing it out. Questions that invite them to do it get the most honest answers on this list.
How to ask
- Give them a period they can search: today, this week, this year. Ever is too big and produces a shrug.
- Ask what they would do first rather than what they would choose. It converts a one-word answer into a plan.
- Take the answer at face value even when it is obviously invented. Six year olds test whether you can be told things before they tell you real ones.
- Ask while something else is happening: a walk, a car journey, washing up. Sitting them down opposite you turns it into an interview.
What goes wrong
- Following a joke answer with a correction. It ends the game and they will remember that it did.
- Asking about friendships in front of a sibling. At six, friendship news is politically sensitive information.
- Repeating a funny answer to a room of adults while they are standing there. It teaches them to perform for the group instead of answering you.
- Treating a refusal as shyness. Six year olds decline questions on purpose, and respecting that is what keeps them answering the rest.
Follow-ups worth having ready
- 1Who else was there, and what did they do?
- 2What would have happened if it had gone the other way?
- 3Has anything like that happened before?
- 4What do you think a grown-up would have done?