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202 Fun Questions To Ask Toddlers To Get Them Talking

A photo of Tom who is the Co-Founder of Questions About Everything

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These questions to ask toddlers will encourage your child to talk so much they might not stop!

One problem with getting toddlers to talk is knowing what to say. It can be helpful to think about how you might phrase something so they wouldn’t simply be tempted to answer with ‘yes’ or ‘no’. These conversation starters for toddlers are designed to help with that.

Giving them choices can be one way, asking specific questions might be another. Rather than ‘did you have a good time at nursery today?’ You could ask ‘what did you eat at snack time?’ or ‘what did you make today?’

Sometimes it just takes a little bit more imagination!

I have included a mixture of questions to ask toddlers to account for different age ranges. Some will be more appropriate to the 2-3 age and others to the 3-5 bracket. You know which ones your toddler will understand and which would currently go over their head!

It’s worth noting though that your toddler will just benefit from you talking even if they don’t currently understand, so just go for it and one day they will answer you back!

Best Questions To Ask Toddlers

Looking and Answering

  1. What colour is this?

2. How many sheep are in the picture?

3. What animal is that?

4. Who’s in that picture?

5. (Pointing to nose/eyes or mouth) What’s this?

6. What do you want to do today?

7. Would you like to go to the park or go swimming?

8. Would you like yoghurt or fruit?

9. Would you like to draw or play in the garden?

10. Can you tell me what sound a cow makes?


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11. Describe things that you see – What colour is the wall?

12. If your stuffed animal could talk, what would it say?

13. How many different animals can you see in the garden?

Teaching Them to Recognise and Describe Their Emotions

14. Are you sad that the little boy pushed you over?

15. Did it make you angry when Millie came over and took the toy car from you?

16. Is it making you feel scared when I turn your light out at night?

17. The sunshine makes me feel happy! What makes you feel happy?

18. When someone else is sad, I feel sad. What makes you feel sad?

Reflection Skills

19. What did we do today?

20. What was the best bit?

21. Was there anything that made you feel really happy?

22. Was there anything that made you feel sad?

23. What did you have for dinner?

24. Was there anything you wanted to do today that you didn’t get to do?

Thinking Outside of Themselves

25. Do you think that when you hit your sister it made Mummy happy or sad?

26. What do you think Daddy’s favourite food is?

27. What do you think Mummy’s favourite colour is?

28. What does Daddy like doing best?

29. What makes Mummy most happy?

Rationalising

30. Do you think it’s kind to keep the ball all to yourself if someone else wants a turn?

31. Is it a good idea to jump in the puddle if you haven’t got any wellies on?

32. Why do we need to stay off the road?

33. Why’s it a good idea to use the toilet before you go out?

34. If you have just gone down the slide, whose turn is it next?

35. Should we go on the swing if it is wet? Why?

36. What should we do before we cross the road?

Games to Encourage Talking

37. Hide a toy and search for it together, asking questions such as…

38. Is it in the ____?

39. Can you look under ____?

40. Do you know where it might be?

41. Oh! Where was it?

Go on a Nature Trail with a list of items to spot, asking questions such as….

42. Can you find a ____?

43. What does it feel like?

44. What colour is this?

45. What do you think this might be?

46. How many are there?

Talking and Doing (Describe quite literally what you are doing as you go about your day)

47. I’m just making a coffee and then we will go for a walk

48. I’m pouring the rice into the pan for our dinner

49. I’m stirring your porridge so that it doesn’t stick to the pan

50. I’m hanging up the clothes so that they can dry

Animals

51. What noise does a ____ make?

52. What does a ____ eat?

53. How many legs does a ____ have?

54. Which animals can fly?

55. Which animals can you have as pets?

56. Which animals live on a farm?

57. Which is your favourite animal?

Food

58. What’s your favourite food?

59. Is there a food you really don’t like? Which and why?

60. How many different foods can you name?

61. Can you name a food that grows on trees?

62. Can you name a food we keep in the fridge?

63. Can you name a red food?

64. If you could make a new food, what would it be like?

People

65. Who are your friends?

66. What do you like about ____?

67. What do you love about Grandma?

68. What colour is Daddy’s hair?

69. What does Grandad always wear on his head?

70. What would a good friend do?

71. What could you do to make someone smile?

Likes/Dislikes

72. Where would you like to go on holiday?

73. What’s your favourite colour?

74. Which is your favourite toy?

75. Do you like the rain? Why/why not?

76. What’s your favourite stuffed animal?

77. What’s your favourite telly program?

78. Where’s your favourite place to be?

79. What’s your favourite story?

80. What’s your favourite sound?

81. Are there any animals you don’t like?

82. What’s your favourite part of your house?

83. Do you have a favourite number?

84. What’s your favourite kind of sandwich?

This or That Questions To Ask Toddlers

These this or that questions are great conversations for toddlers. They present an easy choice for them to make and then you can get them to elaborate on their answers by asking more follow-up questions.

85. Biscuits or cake?

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86. Blue or red?

87. Cats or dogs?

88. Bananas or apples?

89. Park or zoo?

90. Bus or train?

91. Water or sand?

92. Stories or songs?

93. Drawing or stickers?

94. Bath time or storytime?

95. Swings or slide?

96. Kicking or throwing the ball?

97. Climbing or running?

98. Singing or dancing?

Arts and Crafts

99. What are you drawing?

100. Can you draw me a ____?

101. What would you like me to draw?

102. What’s happening in your picture?

103. What else could we use to make marks on the paper?

104. What could we stick on the paper to make a tree?

Playing

105. Where’s the car going?

106. What’s your doll doing?

107. What are you building?

108. Would you like me to play?

109. What would you like me to do?

110. How could we make a den?

111. How could we make a city out of this cardboard?

Listening to/Watching Music

112. Do you like this music?

113. What colour is the guitar?

114. What’s the lady doing?

115. Can you sing me a song?

116. Which song would you like me to sing?

117. What would make this song be better?

118. What’s your favourite musical instrument?

Getting Dressed

119. Which pair of trousers would you like to wear?

120. Can you put your shoes on?

121. Where’s your coat?

122. How many buttons are there?

123. What’s on the front of your t-shirt?

124. Do you need wellies or sandals today?

Going Out

125. Would you like to walk or go in the pram?

126. Which snack would you like to take?

127. Which toy would you like for the car?

128. Is it raining or sunny outside?

129. What else do we need to take with us to the play park?

130. What are traffic lights for?

131. Where would you like to go today?

132. Would you rather travel by car, bus or train?

Funny Questions To Ask Toddlers

133. How old is Daddy?

134. What animal would you be if you could?

135. What do you think your bear would say if he could talk?

136. Where would you live if you could live anywhere?

137. Where does the water from your bathtub go?

138. What does Mummy smell like?

139. What’s Nana’s favourite thing to do?

140. What does Mummy say to you most often?

141. What did you dream about last night?

142. Would it be better to have four eyes or six hands?

143. How far away is the park from our house?

144. How tall is Daddy?

145. If you could just eat one thing forever, what would it be?

146. Would you rather have a pet elephant or a pet giraffe?

147. What’s the best thing you have ever smelt?

148. Would you rather live at the farm or the zoo?

Inspiring Their Creativity

149. What would your bear say if he could talk?

150. If you could create a new flower, what would it look like?

151If you could create a new animal what would you call it?

152. If you could do anything in the world right now, what would it be?

153. What colour do you think we should paint the living room?

154. What do you think would make the garden better?

155. If you were a shop, which one would you be and why?

156. What would make cars better?

157. What are tears?

158. What would make the play park better?

‘Why?’ Questions To Ask Toddlers

159. Why do you think we can’t walk in the road?

160. Why do we eat at the table?

161. Why do we take our shoes off when we come inside the house?

162. Why’s uncle Harry’s hair so long?

163. Why do spiders have eight legs?

164. Why is it that rain falls on some days but not others?

165. Why do birds sing?

166. Why do we need to sleep?

167. Why’s the grass green?

168. Why do squirrels climb trees?

169. Why does it go dark at night?

Thoughtful Questions To Ask Toddlers

170. Where does the sun go at night time?

171. Do animals talk when we aren’t around?

172. Where does the water from your bath go?

173. What do you think would make _ feel better after her fall?

174. What do you think makes dogs happiest?

175. Are there any rules at nursery that are different from at home?

176. What is love?

177. What do you want to learn most?

178. What are you most excited about when you wake up in the morning?

179. Is there anything you would change about the world?

180. What’s the best part of the day?

181. What would you like to be when you are older?

182. Where does rain come from?

Achievements

183. What’s the furthest you have ever walked?

184. How tall was the tallest tower you have ever built?

185. What is the kindest thing you have ever done?

186. When were you the bravest you have ever been?

187. What’s the hardest thing you have had to do?

188. How many animals can you name?

189. How high can you count up to?

190. How much of the alphabet do you know?

191. What are you best at?

192. How many toilet rolls can you stack in a tower?

Meal Time Questions To Ask Toddlers

193. What does the food taste like?

194. What texture is it?

195. Is any of the food chewy?

196. Is any of the food soft?

197. Can you point to a green food?

198. Which bit of the meal is your favourite?

199. What do you think it would be like to be a pea?

200. Who should we invite for dinner more often?

201. What do you like most about family mealtimes?

202. What do you think we should do more of as a family?

Looking For More Questions?

Fun would you rather questions for kids – questions that offer some fun and wacky choices between two different scenarios. Guaranteed to get your kids laughing and talking!

A photo of Tom who is the Co-Founder of Questions About Everything

Tom Stevenson

Co-Founder of Questions About Everything

Tom is a travel writer and Co-Founder of Questions About Everything. He grew up in the UK and enjoys spending his time traveling to new places, supporting Liverpool FC, and blogging about his adventures. He spent two years teaching English in Barcelona and frequently utilized question games and conversation starters as part of his lesson plans. As an EFL teacher, he took full responsibility for planning and delivering lessons, frequently employing creative and diverse questions to engage the children in conversation. Learn more about Tom on our About page.

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