Conversation Starters for Kids

Some kids find it very easy to make friends in school while others might be very shy and are unable to even say a simple hello to others. Introvert kids often feel that if they talk to other children, they will be ignored or made fun off by them. It is the duty of the parents to help their children in overcoming this shyness and social hesitation. They can take a number of steps to improve the thinking ability and conversation skills of their children. Below are some ideas on conversation starters for kids, with which parents can make their children learn the art of communication and making friends.

Ideas on Conversation Starters for Kids

The first thing that parents should do is to make sure that the kids are involved in lots of extra curricular activities such as sports, kids' art activities, kids' crafts, etc. The more they get involved in such activities, the more things they will have to talk about. If the kids are spending most of their time indoors watching TV, they will pretty much have nothing to talk about. So, set a time limit, say one hour, beyond which the kids are not allowed to watch TV.

Everyday, give a topic to the child, it can be something as easy as, "Do you like to play soccer?" Give him time to think over it and in the evening or perhaps during dinner, ask him casually how he feels about it. By doing this everyday, parents are in a way giving an opportunity to the kid to develop his thinking. And when he conveys his response to his parents, he will learn how to give words to his thoughts. This will help in overall child development. To make the job of parents easier, below is a list of conversation questions for kids, which parents can ask them during dinnertime.

Random Questions for Kids

• What did you learn in school today?
• What did you do during recess? Did you play any game?
• If you were made a teacher for one day, what will you do?
• What do you love/hate most about your school?
• With whom did you have lunch today?
• Have you helped anybody in school in the past one week?
• Who is your favorite teacher? Why is he/she your favorite?
• Are you afraid of anything? If yes, why?
• What will you become when you grow up?
• Did you fight with anybody at school today?
• Tell me three new words that you learned this week. What do they mean?

By asking these different kinds of questions, parents help their children in identifying their feelings and thoughts. Sometimes, it is seen that kids can talk to their parents very comfortably, but when it comes to talking to their peers, they have difficulty coming up with the right kind of questions or topics. Parents can help overcome this difficulty by suggesting certain interesting conversation topics for kids. Here are some conversation starters for kids, which parents can tell their children to use when interacting with other children at school.

• Did you get a lot of homework yesterday?
• What did you do last Sunday?
• What will you do this weekend?
• What do you do after going back from school?
• I take guitar lessons. Do you like music?
• I had pizza in dinner yesterday. Do you like pizzas? I love pizzas.
• I love pancakes which my mom makes. Which is your favorite food?
• Who is your best friend in school?

These conversation starters for kids will help your child to make small talk with other children his age. Another thing that parents should tell their children is that conversation is a two way process so they have to listen as well and talk in turns while conversing with other children. A lot of times it is seen that children are scared to strike up a conversation as they think that they are dumb and boring. So, to foster proper social development in children, it is the duty of the parents to assure their children that they are still very small and are still learning things, and that they should not feel inferior to anybody. Parents should try their best to help the child focus on things he is good at and also teach him ways to use those very things to make conversations.