Do you have a hard time getting your kids to open up at dinner? Don’t miss this fun, simple game that’s the best conversation starter for family talks.
The statistics about family dinner-times are pretty staggering. According to the Journal of Adolescent Health, kids and teens who share family dinners 3 or more times per week are less likely to be overweight, more likely to eat healthy foods, get better grades, are less likely to do drugs, drink, or become sexually active, have better relationships with their parents, fewer emotional and behavioral problems, greater emotional well-being, more trusting and helpful behaviors towards others and higher life satisfaction.
Wow.
Of course your kids are anything like mine, getting them to share details about their day can be a challenge. Questions like “how was school?” or “how was your day?” are usually meant with a shrug and a generic “fine” or “good,” while “what did you learn?” or “what did you do?” receive the inevitable “I don’t remember.”
It can be infuriating!
After all, most of us, as parents want to be actively involved in our kids’ lives. We want to hear about the ups and downs, the triumphs and the failures, to be there to cheer on the successes, and to wipe the tears away when they fall.
But how are we supposed to do that when they won’t talk?
While every family is a little different, here are a few strategies that might help liven up your dinnertime conversations and get your kids to open up.
One solution to avoiding “fine,” “good,” or “I don’t know” is asking very direct and specific questions that don’t allow for a yes or no answer, and that help kids go back through their day in their mind to recall specific events.
Here are a few examples of questions you might want to try:
Sometimes it can be hard to think of what to say, especially when you are put on the spot! Even though I know I should ask open-ended questions, I inevitably resort back to the standard, “how was your day?”
Luckily there are some great resources for parents that can help with this problem! My friend Courtney DeFeo recently developed something called “Conversation Cups,” that I absolutely adore. These bright, colorful cups are printed with a whole variety of thoughtful questions that are designed to get the conversation flowing around the table. My kids love them!
Additionally, TableTopics Family Cards are another fun tool we have used to get our kids talking. They come in a cool Lucite cube that you can keep out on the coffee table or nearby shelf for impromptu chats, and the questions are definitely intended to get kids talking!
Several years ago, my husband and I came up with a simple dinnertime game that has made all the difference for our family. At first, when my oldest daughter Maggie was very young, it was called High-Low. The concept was pretty simple—we all took turns sharing our best and worst moments of the day. Early on, we made a rule that it was okay to have more than one high—we called this High-High—but you couldn’t weren’t allowed to have Low-Low. If you had a low, you also had to think of a high, and if you had two lows, you needed two highs to balance it out.
This game worked for a while, and eventually our younger daughter Annie was old enough to play too. Even so, their answers were often generic and repetitive. We had to ban using “this yummy dinner” as a high and added a few more rules—highs & lows couldn’t be something that hasn’t happened yet, and they can’t be the same two days in a row.
But even the new rules didn’t solve the problem. We still heard very little other than “I don’t know” or “I don’t remember” when it came to talking about their day.
And then one day, we had a little brainstorm that changed everything. What our game was missing, my husband and I decided, was the element of competition and a little incentive to share something that was actually interesting. Thus, we (so creatively) changed the name of our game from “High-Low” to “High, Low & Interesting.”
Our new rules of the game are that in addition to our normal highs & lows, each person must also share their most interesting moment of the day. And then, once everyone has had a turn to share, we vote. Each person can only vote once, and you cannot vote for yourself. And here’s the kicker: the person with the most interesting story wins a dollar.
In our house the winner changes a lot between all four of us, which means that it usually only ends up costing us about $3 or $4 a week. In the event of a tie between the girls, they play “Rock, Paper, Scissors” to determine who gets the dollar.
But let me tell you, it’s pretty amazing what a simple dollar can do
This simple tweak has completely transformed our dinnertime conversations. My kids have miraculously learned to actually remember what happens during their day. It has encouraged them to pay more attention to the world around them, and also helped them to separate the mundane details from things that are actually significant. After all, the competition is stiff and if they don’t share something good, they won’t get any votes. Needless to say, we now hear about everything!
As kids get older, keeping them plugged in and engaged in family conversations is increasingly important. Research has shown, again and again, that the families who eat—and talk—together stay together, and that kids raised in families who eat dinner together on a regular basis are happier and ultimately more successful. Get the conversation going and you just never know where it might lead!
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i and my sister went yesterday to an outing. We ate together every night of the week until just about a year ago when my twins opened their own business.I love the idea of starting this tradition with children when they’re younger too. you had a low, you also had to think of a high, and if you had two lows, you needed two highs to balance it out.
When our son started school we quickly realized that "How was your day?" was not the right question to ask if we wanted more than a one-word answer!
My kids are 20 and 16. I can tell you that dinnertime was usually the most stressful time of the day for us. My husband worked shift work and was either leaving for work or coming home. The kids always had activities. So don't stress yourself out or feel guilty if that specific time of day isn't amazing. You can make great moments any time. Some of the best conversations I have had with my kids has been in the car with the radio turned down. Also both my kids would get really talkative right around bedtime (probably because they knew having good conversations meant they could stay up a little later!) So find the time that works for your family when you can focus on having great conversations.
I did something very similar to this with my 5 children. It was called 'Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down'. I created it when I realized their love with 'their thumbs'. It turned out to be a real blast. Sometimes they would start right from when I picked them up from school. They would look at me & give me the thumb & begin to tell me what their thumb up (good part was) or thumbs down (not so good part was). We ate together every night of the week until just about a year ago when my twins opened their own business. They are all 20 or above. We always do Sunday dinner together & maybe 3 nights with the various job schedules. Seize the moments & enjoy! Be in the moment, life goes too fastWe are a super close family. A great point to remember: No TV ever at dinner table or in kitchen opens up conversation.
This is brilliant! The $1 tip is so unexpected and yet so smart. We sometimes do high/low around the table, but we're going to switch to this format and add interesting, too!
Dinner time is SO important! Our son is only 14 months old, but I want to make our family dinners a priority. Thanks for giving me an idea to store for the future!
This is such a neat idea! I love the idea of starting this tradition with children when they're younger too. Then it becomes part of the culture of your family. So cool!
We've done this for years. We ask, "What was the best thing about your day?" and "What was the worst thing?" It didn't take the children long to start paying attention through the day because they knew the questions would be asked. I love it when they come bounding into the house, eager to share the best thing even before we ask.
These questions also give us insight into their hearts and personalities. The worst thing for one child is often no big deal for another, so we see what really affects them.
This is a great post! Do you mind if I share a link in my blog?
Carole
I really like the "high & low" approach to dinnertime conversation. I think I first came across the idea in a movie many, many years ago - it was a Rob Reiner film called "The Story of Us" starring Bruce Willis and Michelle Pfeiffer. It's a great way for children to develop the art of conversation. In fact, I like the "high & low" approach so much that I use it at work in my weekly one-on-ones with my team members. It brings a sense of balance to how each person assesses the past week, and sets the scene for problem solving (rather than either conflict avoidance or whining, neither of which leaves us any better off).
Great idea to incorporate this into work. I could use this for my team that I mentor. Thanks for the idea.
I love these ideas! I am trying to find ways to get my very introverted and quite four year old to share some memorable moments about his day in preschool. I used to do a similar high and low prompt with my fourth graders when I taught to get them engaged in the lesson but I love your spin on it by adding an interesting fact as well. I think we will try encouraging him to open up more with these ideas!
I love this idea! We do a good job at making sure we have dinner as a family-but we aren't good about using that time to connect with each other. As a mom to a tween and two little ones, I tend to disconnect because I'm trying to keep meltdowns at bay or dinner from being thrown on the floor. I'd can't wait to see what kind of "interesting" things happen in my preschooler's day!