To get conversation with your kids flowing, you often need to ask the right kinds of questions. Try these kid-friendly conversation starters:

For school-age children:
What is the best job in the whole world?
If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? Why?
What do you most enjoy doing with your family?
Why do you think God gave you brothers/sisters?
What are two questions you would really like to ask God?
If you could fix up your room any way you wanted, what would it look like?
If you were the dad/mom of the house, what would your top five rules be?
What would your life be like if televisions and computers did not exist?
Do you ever remember getting lost? How did you feel?
Who is the most generous person you know?

For tweens:
If you could live in any other time period in history, when would you live? Why?
What do you think we need to do more of as a family?
What is one nice thing someone has said to you recently? One hurtful thing?
When do you feel closest to God?
What are your top three strengths? Weaknesses?
What is one thing that has been tough for you to forgive? Why?
If you had to spend the rest of your life on an island by yourself and could have only three things with you, what would they be?
Who is the last person in your school you would want to trade places with? Why?
When is the best time for you do your homework? Why then?
When we talk, do you feel that I really listen? Why or why not?
What would you do with a million dollars?

For teenagers:
Describe the person whom you would like to marry one day.
What does it mean to be a leader?
What is the toughest part about being a teen?
Who, in your opinion, are the best role models for teenagers today? What makes them so great?
If you didn’t need to make money, what would you most like to do for the rest of your life?
How do you think being a teenager today is different from when I was a teen? In what way is it similar?
When you think about your future, what are you most afraid of?
If you knew that next week would be your last week to live, what are some things you would do?
If you could do anything you wanted to do with your life and be guaranteed it would succeed, what would you do?
What responsibilities do you think you will you have 10 years from now that you don’t have today? What can you do to get ready?
When do you feel most stressed?
If you had to spend the rest of your life on an island by yourself and could have only three things with you, what would they be?
Are there some things you feel you can’t talk to me about? If so, why can’t you talk to me about them?
What do most kids in your school think about God?

Excerpted from Focus on the Family Conversation Starters for Parents and Kids. Copyright © 1996 by Robert Crosby. Thrivingfamily.com