Communication plays a critical role in shaping a child’s personality and well-being. However, you need to understand that having a conversation with your child is entirely different from talking to your child.
Talking usually involves giving instructions throughout the day on what they should or shouldn’t do. Conversations, on the contrary, are very meaningful, which involves both – talking and listening.
Learning conversation skills can help your child shape up a better future for themselves.
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How To Have A Conversation With Your Kids?
You can have a simple conversation with kids by asking them open-ended questions. Open-ended questions are great for conversations with kids as they do not limit kids on the way they think. There is no specific answer here, so the kids can express themselves and really get deep into a conversation.
What type of conversation starter questions to ask children?
Here Are a Few Ideas For Conversing With Kids:
Ask about family
- How many brothers and sisters do you have?
- Are your brothers and sisters older or younger?
- What are their names?
- What are your parents’ names?
- Where does your Dad/Mom work?
- Do you have any pets?
Ask about activities
- What do you like to do for fun?
- Do you play sports? Which ones? Which is your favourite sport?
- What is your favourite thing to do at the weekend?
- Do you prefer to spend your time inside or outside?
- Do you like to draw? What kinds of things do you draw?
- Do you like to do puzzles? What about word puzzles? Number puzzles?
Ask about them
- How old are you?
- When is/was your birthday?
- What is your favourite food?
- What is your favourite kind of ice cream?
- What is your favourite kind of candy?
- What is your favourite colour?
- What is your favourite zoo animal?
- What do you want to be when you get older? Why?
Ask about school
- Where do you go to school?
- What grade are you in?
- Do you ride the bus to school?
- What is your teacher’s name?
- What is your favourite thing to study at school?
- What are you studying in school right now in Math? Language arts? Science?
- Who is your best friend?
- What do you like to play at recess?
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Where Can You Have A Meaningful Conversation With Your Child?
The opportunities to have a conversation with your child are given below:
- During dinner or any other meal of the day where both of you are relatively free
- Before bedtime
- During daily travel
- When you are waiting at the doctor’s clinic, school, or at a restaurant
- During your daily walk
What Are The Benefits Of Developing Conversation Skills In Your Child?
Develops Public Speaking Skills
When preparing an answer to your conversation starter question, they create and deliver a message that’s worth listening to. With practice, they get the hang of the technique and learn effective public speaking skills.
Improves Personal and Social Relationships
Conversing with your child teaches them to initiate, maintain and end the conversation in the right manner. This helps them become great at conversations – an important skill to make new friends and connect with people personally and professionally in the future.
Develops Imagination
With just a few conversation starters, you can help spark your child’s creativity, which may have declined after they outgrew pretend play.
Develops Mental Strength
Conversations give enough exercise to the brain that helps build mental muscle. They learn to manage their emotions, channelise their thoughts and take positive actions.
Develops Confidence
When you have regular conversations with your child, it helps them discover their strengths (skills, abilities and talents), making them more confident.
Develops Ambition
Children often have difficulty thinking past the next five minutes, let alone thinking about their future. Asking questions about how they see their adult life can help them believe in that direction and envision a life they want to live.
Improves Communication Skills
Having a conversation with your child teaches them to express themselves clearly and convey their thoughts, ideas and feelings in a better manner. With better communication skills, there is a meaningful exchange of information that facilitates learning.
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How Can You Keep The Conversations Going Strong?
Be mindful that questions and conversation starters are supposed to have a natural flow; it shouldn’t sound like an interrogation. If your child doesn’t show interest or is not excited to answer your questions, don’t worry. Just ask something else; don’t force an answer from them.
Ensure that you do not rapidly fire robotic questions at your child; it can get overwhelming for them, and they may shut down.
Don’t be too busy to talk to your child about their ideas and thoughts. Be genuinely interested in what they have to say. Your child will look forward to your conversations together. When they realise that you value their opinion – despite it being different from yours—they learn to be better at accepting other people’s thoughts and ideas. 
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Let PlanetSpark help you develop the art of conversation in your child. Enrol for our classes now.
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