GHPS Life

INTERSCHOOL SPORT 

Round 7 - Split Round: Friday 13th October

Greenhills B VS Yarrambat B – AWAY

Greenhills A - NO GAME

JUNIOR HOOP TIME REGIONAL FINALS & NILLUMBIK DIVISION PRIMARY BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS

It’s been a massive week for basketball at GHPS! 

Huge shout out to the Year 4 All Star Girls Basketball Team who competed at the Hoop Time Regional Finals and the Year 5/6 Interschool Sport Boys & Girls Basketball Teams who competed at the Nillumbik Division Playoffs. 

Well done on reaching this level of competition and for representing the school in such a positive way… Awesome achievement and something to be very proud of 💪🏼.

Big thank you to all the parent helpers who made these events possible too. 

Congratulations to James D (1GC) who achieved his Orange Belt (7th Kyu) at Go-Kan-Ryu (GKR) Karate. Awesome to see all the hard work pay off.

Well done, James 💪🏼!

   COMMUNITY SPORTING ACHIEVEMENTS

If your child achieves something special (grand final win, most valuable player award, best and fairest etc.), please email me (jordan.daley@education.vic.gov.au) through photos and an overview of the achievement to post in Contact. It is important to celebrate and recognise such successes with the school community.

Thank you, 

Jordan Daley

JSC NEWS

CONNECTED SCHOOLS

The Best Questions to Ask Your Kid Instead of “How Was Your Day?”

BY KELLY HOLMES, CERTIFIED PARENT EDUCATOR

11 COMMENTS

Inside: Stop asking your kid “How was your day?” because it doesn’t work anyway. Here are the best questions for kids that will actually foster a fun conversation.

Every evening at the dinner table, my husband and I used to fall into this age-old parenting trap:

“How was your day? ”Fine.”

“What did you learn today? ”Nothing.”

“Who did you play with at recess? ”No one.”

But one-word answers don’t foster a good discussion, and they certainly don’t help us reconnect with our kids after a long day apart from each other.

And yet, it’s absolutely essential that we do reconnect because if we don’t, we pay the price later.

When we’re all feeling connected, the kids jump in to help clean up after dinner—without being asked. They pay attention the first time we ask them to brush their teeth and get jammies on. When we tuck them into bed, they’re all giggles and smiles.

But when we’re all feeling disconnected? We get less cooperation, more power struggles, and grumbles and grimaces at bedtime instead.

Ready for a solution now? Get these fun printable family conversation starters and use them at the end of every day to reconnect with your child.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• What If We Asked Our Kids Better Questions?
• Here's How These Questions for Kids Are Different
• 100 Questions for Kids…That They'll Actually Answer
  • Open-Ended Questions for Kids
  • Funny Questions to Ask Kids
  • Thought-Provoking Questions for Kids
• How to Use These Printable Questions for Kids
• When to Ask These Family Conversation Questions
• Before You Go: 4 Quick Tips for the Best Conversations
• Want More?
• Your Turn

What If We Asked Our Kids Better Questions?

I realized I needed to solve the problem of one-word responses so we could have a meaningful family conversation. Because conversations like that leave everyone’s connection tank overflowing, plus they contribute to a healthy parent-child bond. In fact, the American Academy of Paediatrics recommends that you consistently engage in that kind of active listening with your child.

But as busy parents, we’re too exhausted to be creative and come up with questions to ask kids that will get a real, meaningful conversation going. So my first step was to find the best questions for kids that actually work at getting your kids to open up.

You can find lots of questions for children online, but you have to wade through quite a few duds, like:

• “What’s your favourite number?” or
• “Why do you think some kids disobey their parents?” or
• “Frozen or The Incredibles?”

In other words: Boring, loaded, or queued up for another one-word answer that takes the conversation nowhere.

Same goes with the ready-made conversation starters you can find on Amazon. After reading tons of reviews, I found out the store-bought versions of “questions of the day for kids” had the same problem—questions that were duds, plus the questions didn’t work well for a wide range of child ages.

Related: 7 Best Family Bonding Games That Will Help You Reconnect Quickly {Printable}

Here’s How These Questions for Kids Are Different

I devoured every list of questions for kids I could find, and I compiled the ultimate list of all the best questions for kids. These were my criteria:

• Open-ended questions for kids work best, like “How” and “Why” questions. These types of questions get kids talking because they open the door to more than just one-word answers. On the other hand, a question like “What’s your favourite colour?” or “What’s your favourite outfit?” doesn’t foster a meaningful conversation.
• Any questions to ask your kids should be something adults can answer, too. Most kids don’t appreciate feeling like they’re put on the spot to perform like circus animals for the benefit of the surrounding adults. Plus, a conversation where everyone’s contributing is more fun anyway.
• No boring questions. Research shows people love talking about themselves—but not if you ask boring questions.
• No trivia questions. You’re trying to foster a meaningful conversation, not quiz your child on who’s the current President of the United States or what’s the fastest land animal. (A cheetah!)
• And this one’s important: Any questions to ask your child shouldn’t feel like a test or a lecture. For example, “Why do you think some kids disobey their parents?” may give you some interesting answers, but your kid could feel like you’re setting a trap.

I waded through pages and pages of questions for kids to find the absolute best questions that kids and adults will enjoy. The final list includes 150 awesome questions for kids, which gives you enough for nearly six months of questions of the day for kids.

Related: How to Connect With Your Child: The Magic of the 5:1 Ratio {Printable}

The best family conversation starters for getting your kids to talk

100 Questions for Kids…That They’ll Actually Answer

With these questions for kids, not only will you be teaching your child the art of conversation, but you’ll get to peek straight into their heart. You’ll go beyond the surface-level questions about their favourite movie, toy, or pizza topping—and tap into what’s important to them, what has them worried, and what they’re excited about.

And most important of all, you’ll close any distance that’s come between you and your child during the day so you both end the day feeling connected, loved, and happy.

To get a printable version of the full set of 150 questions for kids, get my family conversation starter cards here. Included in this post below, you’ll find 100 of the best questions for kids from those conversation starters.

These questions work for a wide range of ages, from toddler to teen and everything in between. You’ll find a mix of silly questions and thought-provoking questions, plus quite a few meaningful conversation starters that will bring out answers that are sure to warm your heart.

Open-Ended Questions for Kids

When you want to get your child talking, open-ended questions like these work best:

1. What are you excited about right now?
2. What was your first thought when you woke up today?
3. What do you want to accomplish by your next birthday?
4. What do you love about yourself?
5. What’s something that’s hard for you?
6. What was the last time you felt mad?
7. What’s the best thing about your life?
8. What’s a small thing that makes you feel happy?
9. What’s something you want to do, but you can’t yet?
10. What makes you feel loved?
11. What do you know how to do that you could teach others to do?
12. What’s the best thing that has ever happened to you?
13. What’s the worst thing that has ever happened to you?
14. What are you most proud of?
15. When you’re feeling sad, what makes you feel better?
16. Which rule do you have to follow that doesn’t make sense?
17. If you could pack anything in your lunch tomorrow, what would it be?
18. What makes you feel special?
19. What is the best part of every day?
20. What is the worst part of every day?
21. What’s the best gift you ever received?
22. What do you worry about the most?
23. What’s something you’re looking forward to?
24. What’s something you’d like to get rid of or throw away?
25. What’s something you work hard at?
26. When do you feel happiest?
27. What’s your favourite holiday—the one you look forward to the most?
28. What’s your favourite thing to do outside?
29. What’s your favourite thing to do as a family?
30. What’s the best part of our family?
31. What’s something nice someone said to you lately?
32. Who understands you the best?
33. What’s your favourite thing to do with your friends?
34. What’s something you did to help someone today?
35. Who made you smile today?
36. What’s your favourite family tradition? Why?
37. What was the last time someone was mad at you?

Funny Questions to Ask Kids

Your child’s answers to these silly or funny questions for kids will get you and your child giggling:

1. What’s the funniest thing somebody did or said today?
2. If you could only eat one food for an entire year, what would you choose?
3. What’s your Favourite joke?
4. If you were a superhero with one superpower, what would it be?
5. If you could change your name to anything, what would you change it to? (Or would you leave it?)
6. If you could stay up all night, what would you do?
7. If somebody from another planet came to Earth, what would they think of our world?
8. If you had three wishes, what would they be?
9. Would you rather live in a castle, on a boat, or on a cloud?
10. If you buried a treasure chest, what would you put in it?
11. What is the most annoying noise in the world?
12. If people could see inside you, what would they see?
13. If you could be anything for Halloween, what would you be?
14. If you had an extra room in your house, what would you use it for?
15. If you could create one law that everybody on Earth had to follow, what would it be?
16. If you were invisible, where would you go and what would you do?

Related: 120 Funny Questions to Ask Kids for Guaranteed Giggles

Thought-Provoking Questions for Kids

These thought-provoking questions go beyond the bland status quo of “How was school today?” Instead of hearing a one-word answer in response, you’ll get a peek into how your child’s mind works.

1. If you could be famous for one thing, what would it be?
2. If you could be any animal, what would you be? Why?
3. What will you be doing in 10 years?
4. What’s the most important choice you will have to make in your life?
5. What’s your earliest memory?
6. Do you like morning or night better? Why?
7. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would you change?
8. If you had to choose only three words to describe yourself, what would you say?
9. If you won $1000, what would you do with it?
10. If you could be any book character, who would you be?
11. What is something you would never change about yourself?
12. What would you like to invent?
13. Which one of your 5 senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste, or touch) is most important? Why?
14. If you could be any age, which age would you choose? Why?
15. If you could be the best in the world at something, what would it be?
16. What’s something you used to dislike, but you now like?
17. Which three words would you use to describe our family?
18. If you could start a company that made something, what would that be?
19. Which do you prefer: a messy room or a clean room? Why?
20. What’s the most important thing you’ve learned so far?
21. What’s the hardest thing about being you?
22. What is one thing you want to learn how to do?
23. If you were stuck on a desert island but could pick three things to bring, what would they be?
24. What does it mean to show respect to someone?
25. If you could change one family rule, what would you change?
26. If you could switch places with one person for a day, who would it be?
27. What do you get to do at someone else’s house that you wish you could do at ours?
28. What advice would you give to a younger sister or brother?
29. Who do you admire? Why?
30. What do your friends like best about you?
31. If one of your parents described you, what would he or she say?
32. If you could start a new family tradition, what would it be?
33. What’s the most important job in the world?
34. What’s the most fun job in the world?
35. What is the best part of being a grown-up?
36. What is the best part of being a kid?
37. What’s the smartest thing you heard somebody say today?
38. If we didn’t have to go to school or work on Monday, what would you want to do all day?
39. Has someone ever asked you to do something you didn’t want to do?
40. What’s the most important thing for a parent to do?
41. Twenty years from now, where do you think you’ll live?
42. What’s something grown-ups get to do that you wish you could do?
43. What does it mean for two people to be in love?
44. If you could give everybody in the world one piece of advice, what would you say?
45. If you could learn any language, what would you learn?
46. What will the world be like in 10 years? What will be the same? What will be different?
47. If you could live in another country for one year, where would you live?

How to Use These Printable Questions for Kids

To save you some time, these printable conversation starters are designed so you can print them on pre-perforated business card templates and just pop each one out (see below). But regular paper and scissors work great too.

1. Get your cards here. After you order, you’ll get a special link to get your cards.
2. Print. I designed these questions of the day for kids to print on Avery business cards for inkjet† or laser printers. Or you can just print them on regular paper or card stock, then cut the cards out or fold and tear to get a charmingly casual look.
3. Drop the cards into an empty bowl or spare mason jar, put it on your dining room table, and you’re DONE. Or to take it one step further, you can hole-punch them in one corner and put the whole set on a book ring like this. That makes the cards extra portable so you can throw them in your purse, car, or carry-on for a plane ride.

† This site is reader-supported. When you buy through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

These conversation starters will get your whole family talking, thinking, and laughing together

When to Ask These Family Conversation Questions

Here are a few situations where you can ask your kids these questions:

• Pick a question or two to ask your child at dinner every night, then take turns answering the question—and get ready to feel closer to your child than ever before.
• Keep your cards in the car and ask a question on the way to or from school for an extra dose of connection.
• Set up a weekly one-on-one date where you grab ice cream sandwiches or another favorite dessert and ask each other questions.
• If you have a weekly tradition like family game nights or family movie nights, kick off the event with a question or two from this list. For game night, these questions work great as fillers when you’re in between games or when someone’s in the kitchen popping more popcorn!

Before You Go: 4 Quick Tips for the Best Conversations

To keep the conversation moving with your kids, here are a few tips that have worked well for us while using these family conversation starters:

• Try to just listen. For some of these questions for kids, you may be tempted to jump in and give the “right” answer. But your child learns way more from a healthy discussion than from a one-sided lecture.
• For toddlers and preschoolers, you may have the best luck with having your youngest child go first because otherwise, they may just repeat what the person before them said. And that’s still adorable, but it’s also fun to hear what your youngest child really thinks.
• If your kid says “I don’t know,” explain that there’s no right or wrong answer. You just want to hear their ideas. If they still don’t have an answer to give, you can say, “I can give you a minute and come back to you” then move to the next person in the car, at the dinner table, and so on.
• If your child’s answer happens to shock you, try saying “Hmm” or “Interesting”—something noncommittal that will give you time to think of a calm response. Because if you freak out on your kid, they’ll clam up. These conversations should be fun, not stressful!

Get yours now: 150 Best Questions to Ask Instead of “How Was Your Day?”

Want More?

For more questions that will help you connect with your child, check out these lists:

• 40 Kindness Questions to Inspire Your Child to Be Kind
• Guaranteed Giggles: 120 Funny Questions to Ask Kids
• The Best 20 First Day of School Questions
• Last Day of School Interview: 20 Best Questions to Ask Your Kid

Your Turn

What are your favorite questions of the day for kids? Let’s help our fellow parents discover another way to say “How was your day?” that will actually get a conversation going. Share your best questions to ask children in a comment below!

47.2KSHARES

Kelly Holmes, Certified Parent Educator

I'm a mom of four, a Certified Parent Educator, and the author of Happy You, Happy Family. I believe if you want a loving parent-child relationship that will last into the teenage years and beyond, the time for nurturing that kind of relationship is now. The good news? All you need is 10 minutes a day. Start here »

Note: All information on this site is for educational purposes only. Happy You, Happy Family does not provide medical advice. If you suspect medical problems or need professional advice, please consult a physician.

Parents Partnerships Leader - Roslyn Mackie 

COLOUR RUN

Get your Colour on, Greenhills Parents Association is hosting a Colour Explosion Fun Run! 

Colour Explosion Fun Run Fun will be on Wednesday 8th November from 2:30pm to 3:30pm.

Not only are we hosting an awesome Colour Explosion Fun Run, Students can order up to a total of 5 prizes based on their donations received. They can even mix and match!

Students have received a sponsorship book with instructions on setting up their cybersafe, online fundraising profile at www.australianfundraising.com.au. This is an entirely online fundraiser; all cash donations must be converted to online donations to redeem your prizes.

Extra Incentives to Fundraise!

• Online Golden Coins – complete fun online tasks to redeem an extra $75 towards your prize credit.
• Monty the Monstar’s Bonus Prizes – achieve milestones to unlock Monty’s bonus prizes.
• $10,000 JB HI FI Spending Spree for one organisation’s highest fundraising student – it could be you!
• Our school will win an extra $5,000 if we have the highest average fundraised amount per student in 2023.
• A Play Station 5 Gaming Bundle – see your child’s sponsorship booklet for more!

For more information, please contact Sarah Leach at sarah.leach@education.vic.gov.au.

Happy fundraising!

CANTEEN

Helpers Needed

If you have a spare hour on a Wed, Thurs or Fri between 1pm and 2pm, come along and help in the canteen. There is no food preparation involved, it's very simple and the kids love seeing parents there!

You need to have completed the Volunteer Induction, and sign up through CareBookings - www.carebookings.com.au - access code is JGU9L.

Helpers get a canteen voucher for their kids to use for their next lunch order! 

Thanks, 

Miriam.

STUDENTS OF THE WEEK

Term 4 Week 2 - Presented at Assembly 20th of October 2023