[nancynic]

Daytime is busy with activities - we can settle down together at dinner, a time to share stories, frustrations and what happened during the day.

If your children are verbal, it's easy to get them talking about their day, what happened at school, what's exciting or frustrating them. If you want to make more of a game to get your kid(s) talking, place a basket on the table, filled with slips of paper with 'topics' written on each piece. Topics can be as varied as your imagination:

What is the best/worst thing you have ever eaten?
What is something you'd like to do this year?
What animal would you be?

Kids can add topics to the basket too.
Tell us what 'topics' would be good additions to our baskets ~

It's so important to have regular communication, to listen and to see the world from your child's perspective.

Nancy

[kay]

One of the best gifts I got when my son came to live with me was from a friend who filled a basket with 100+ of those conversation starters. We would do 2 or 3 a night, at dinnertime. Haven't done it in a while, I think it's time to take it out again!

[nancynic]

Hi Kay,

What a wonderful gift ... it would be a great little book, conversations starters for kids from toddlers to teens!

Glad to hear you'll be doing it again!

Nancy

[dadfor2]

thanks nancy,

what a great idea!!!! everynight at dinner i would ask the kids how their day was, and all they would say was "ok". then after prying alittle they would say "i dont want to talk about it anymore."

so frustrating, i love this idea, i think ill start this one over the weekend.

great tip
dadfor2

[kay]

Another thing that works for me as a conversation starter is playing a card game. Uno is especially good for us, it relaxes us both and all sorts of surprising things come out! And I can't emphasize enough how important it's been to us to Turn OFF the TV! Every time I invoke the "no tv for a week" consequence, I just cannot believe how much more open and friendly and loving we *both* are - and I follow all the "rules", about watching with him, limiting watching time, only watching appropriate things, and discussing what we're watching - but still, it's just not the same as the wonderful interaction that goes on when the thing is just plain OFF! (That's after the predictable "what do you mean, no tv?" tantrum, of course!)