Weird Questions to Ask Kids
Twenty odd questions for kids roughly four to eleven, for the car, the dinner table, or a long wait somewhere. Each one notes what the answer usually turns into and what to do when a child gets stuck.
The questions
Open any question for the note
If you could have a superpower but it only worked on Tuesdays, what would you pick?
Why ask it
The Tuesday rule is what makes this different from the usual superpower question, because it forces a plan rather than a wish. Kids who have already worked out how to get around the rule are the ones who will keep this going for ten minutes.
What do you think clouds taste like?
Why ask it
Works with the youngest kids because there is no possible wrong answer and the reply is almost always a food they like. Ask whether different clouds taste different and you will get a whole weather menu.
What do you think your pet dreams about?
Why ask it
Children describe their own day back to you through the animal, which is why this often gets you more about school than a direct question would. If the pet's dream involves being left alone, that is worth listening to carefully.
What do you think your toys get up to while you're at school?
Why ask it
Reliable at bedtime because it invites a story rather than an answer. Expect a hierarchy among the toys, and expect the neglected ones to have opinions about being neglected.
If you could invent a new color, what would you call it?
Why ask it
The name is the interesting part, since kids build it out of a thing they like rather than a hue. If they get stuck, ask what it would be the color of instead of what it would look like.
What do you think happens to the socks that disappear in the laundry?
Why ask it
A mystery that is genuinely unsolved at their scale, so their theory can compete with yours. Give a deliberately silly theory first, because it signals that made up answers are what you want.
If your shadow could go somewhere without you, where would it go?
Why ask it
Slightly stranger than the others and it sometimes produces the most revealing answer of the night, since the shadow tends to go where the child wishes they could. Younger kids may need to be reminded that the shadow would come back.
If you could be friends with an animal the size of a house, which animal would it be?
Why ask it
The scale is what makes it funny, and the practical problems, doors, cars, food, are where the conversation goes next. A child who picks something small like a hamster is usually thinking about it more carefully than one who picks a dinosaur.
If you could make one food taste like a different food, what would you swap?
Why ask it
Almost every child immediately fixes the vegetable they dislike most, which tells you what is really going on at dinner. Ask whether the swap works in both directions to keep it from ending in one word.
What would you do if you found a door in your bedroom wall that wasn't there yesterday?
Why ask it
Notice whether they open it, and whether they tell anyone first, because both answers say something about how they handle a surprise. If a child says they would be scared, take that seriously and turn the door into something friendly.
If you could talk to one thing in your room, which one would it be, and what would you ask?
Why ask it
The object chosen is usually the oldest one they own or the one they have complicated feelings about. This is one of the few questions here that works equally well with an eleven year old and a five year old.
What's the weirdest smell you secretly like?
Why ask it
Smell is underused with children and produces stranger answers than sight questions do: petrol, new shoes, a particular grandparent's house. The answers often unlock a memory you had not heard about.
If you could add a whole new day to the week, what would people do on it?
Why ask it
Kids design the day around what is missing from their actual week, which is a soft way to hear that they want more time with someone or fewer activities. Ask where in the week it goes and whether school happens on it.
If you could be invisible but only at weekends, what would you do?
Why ask it
The weekend limit keeps the answers domestic and funny rather than about sneaking around school. Listen for whether the plan involves watching people, because that often means they are curious about a conversation adults have been having.
What do you think grown ups get wrong most often?
Why ask it
Children rarely get asked to criticize adults and will test whether you meant it, so take the first answer well or you will not get a second. Expect something about being rushed, not being listened to, or rules that apply unevenly.
If you could make one rule that everyone in the world had to follow, what would it be?
Why ask it
The rules kids invent are usually aimed at a specific injustice they have experienced that week. Ask who would be in charge of enforcing it, which is where they discover the problem with their own rule.
If animals ran your school, which animal would be the strictest teacher?
Why ask it
Lets a child describe the adults in their life at one remove, which is safer for them than naming names. The reasoning they give for the strict animal is often a direct quote from someone.
What would happen if you could walk on the ceiling for a day?
Why ask it
Practical rather than imaginative, and the good part is the problems they identify: lights, doorways, dinner. If they only say it would be cool, ask how they would eat up there.
If you could send one message to yourself as a grown up, what would it say?
Why ask it
Sits between silly and serious, and the answers range from a reminder about a pet to genuine advice. Do not correct the message or improve it, because the point is hearing what they think matters.
What's something you've always wanted to ask an adult but never have?
Why ask it
The strongest question here and the one that needs the most trust, so save it for a calm moment rather than a busy table. Answer whatever comes honestly and at their level, since a dodge here closes the door for a long time.
Making the Conversation Work
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
How to Ask
Give a Silly Answer First
Children read the question for what kind of answer is wanted. If you go first with something plainly absurd, they understand that invention is allowed, and you stop getting careful guesses at the right answer.
Follow With What Happens Next
The first answer is usually one sentence. What happens next, who else finds out, and how does it end are the three follow ups that turn it into a story, and the story is where the fun is.
Ask Side by Side, Not Face to Face
The car, a walk, doing dishes together, and the ten minutes before sleep all work better than a seat opposite you. Less eye contact means less pressure to perform.
Let the Facts Be Wrong
If gravity or weather comes up wrong in the middle of an invention, leave it. Correcting mid answer ends the answer, and you can come back to how clouds actually work another time.
Ask One and Stop
A list read aloud becomes a quiz within three questions. One good question that runs for five minutes beats six that get one word each.
Rough Age Notes
- Four to six: 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8 work best, since they need no planning and reward pure invention.
- Seven to nine: 1, 9, 13 and 18 land well, because kids this age enjoy finding the loophole in the rule.
- Ten and up: 11, 15, 19 and 20 are the ones that still feel worth answering rather than babyish.
- A shy child: start with 6 or 12, where a one word answer is a complete answer.
- A group of kids: 5, 8 and 17 work as a shared invention, with each child adding one detail.
- A long car journey: 4, 10 and 13 can carry a whole story if you keep asking what happened next.
Common Pitfalls
Don't Grade the Answer
That's a great answer sounds like praise and lands as a score. React to the content instead by asking about the part you found interesting.
Don't Repeat It Back to Other Adults in Front of Them
Turning a child's answer into an anecdote for the room in the moment is the fastest way to stop them answering honestly. Save it, or ask first.
Don't Push the Last Two
The questions about what adults get wrong and what they have never dared ask both need to be optional. A shrug is an answer, and pressing turns the whole thing into an interview.
Watch for the Scary Turn
The mysterious door and the shadow can tip into frightening territory for younger children. If the tone changes, take the story somewhere friendly and move on.