Nine questions to ask your toddler to get them to talk

Talking to your kids and asking them open ended questions is a great and fun way to bond and encourage sharp and creative thinking as well.

There are usually so many distractions like TVs and phones and years can go by without you noticing the small changes going on in kids’ lives.

You should always have those random moments where you get to know them a little bit more through these simple questions.

If they’re already going to school, try and find out what they enjoy about it through these types of questions. You’ll be able to know what subjects they love and what their interests are as far as school is concerned.

This is one way to know whether they’ve made any friends, how they feel about the school there going to and maybe you’ll even know whether they’re being bullied based on the answers they give.

It’s also a way of showing that you understand how they feel when they have to push through the routines of going to school.

Asking them what they think about themselves is a must. It’s an important part of guiding them towards self-awareness so that they develop with a positive self-image.

Such questions evoke critical thinking and the answers they give show you where their mind is at. This will also help you instill good values in them while showing them how to behave when they’re faced with certain situations that could threaten their safety.

They’ll give you signals of what they enjoy doing the places they like to go and what makes them happy. You’ll be able to learn a lot about them through such questions that light them up.

Children have different bonds with members of the family. They interact with aunts, uncles, their grandparents, family friends and a wide range of people.

You’ll know how they feel about certain family members and it’s also an opportunity to find out if they have had any inappropriate encounters, which could be a sign of abuse.

Ask some questions that encourage creative thinking. They’re still learning new things and this is one way of giving them a boost.

Everyone has something that makes them angry, including your children. You’ll be able to know what they understand about anger and how they can deal with those difficult emotions whenever they come up.

Are their fears real or are they imaginary? Get to know the source of their fears if they’ve learnt about them from an imaginary character in a cartoon or whether it’s something related to real life like the fear of dying. Help them address their fears so that they can become more confident .