Family conversation gets a reputation for being serious. It does not need to be.
The 50 questions below are the playful side of family conversation. The kind that get the five-year-old to laugh, get the seven-year-old to tell a story, and get a grown-up to give an answer that nobody at the table expected. Written for kids ages 5 to 9, designed for the slot in the day when the table needs to lighten up.
A fun family conversation starter is not a joke. It is a question that gives everyone, including the youngest and the most tired adult, permission to be silly for one round. The serious questions land harder later if the table has warmed up with the silly ones first.
Use them at the dinner table on a long Wednesday night. Use them in the car. Use them on the slow part of a Saturday when nobody knows what to do next.
How to Use These Questions
Pick one. Ask it like you mean it.
A fun question only works if the asker takes it seriously. If you read the question with a smirk that says "this one is dumb," the kid will give a dumb answer and the round ends. If you read it like a real question, the kid will give a real, weird, specific answer, and the round lands.
Answer it yourself. Take the question as seriously as you want the kid to take it. If you go first with a wild specific answer, the kid will follow with one. If you go first with "I don't know," the round is over.
One question per round. Five fun questions in a row is a quiz. One fun question across a whole dinner is a conversation.
Laugh at the kid's answer. Then ask the follow-up. The follow-up is where the real answer lives, even on the silly questions.
1. The Silly Family Decisions
These are family-shaped questions disguised as small absurd decisions. They get the whole table participating because everyone has an opinion.
1. If our family had to all pick the same favorite food forever, what should it be?
2. If our house had a giant slide instead of stairs, what would change about our day?
3. If every meal had to be eaten outside, how would our family do it?
4. If our family had a secret password that only worked at breakfast, what would the password be?
5. If our family could only wear one color of clothing for a year, what color should we wear?
6. If our family had a theme song that played every time we walked into a room, what should it be?
7. If our family could only celebrate one made-up holiday a year, what should we celebrate?
8. If our family had to vote on a new house rule that lasted one week, what should the rule be?
9. If our family could share one superpower between all of us, which one should we pick?
10. If our family had to give itself a brand new last name tomorrow, what should it be?
2. The Silly Family Hypotheticals
These start with "if our family" and run with it. They are best read with energy, like you actually want to know the answer to "if our family was a band of pirates."
11. If our family was a crew on a pirate ship, what would the ship be called?
12. If our family had to start a band tomorrow, who plays what instrument?
13. If our family could only speak in songs for one whole day, what would happen?
14. If our family was hired to make breakfast for the whole town, what would we serve?
15. If our family won a contest for the funniest family on earth, what did we do to win?
16. If our family could shrink to the size of mice for one afternoon, where would we go?
17. If our family had a flag, what would be on it?
18. If our family had to invent a brand new sport, what would the rules be?
19. If our family could trade lives with a different family for one day, who should we trade with?
20. If our family had to live in a giant castle for a year, who would get the tallest tower?
3. The Wacky What-Ifs
These have no plausible answer. That is the point. The job of a what-if question is to invite the kid to invent, and to invite the grown-up to play along.
21. What if you woke up tomorrow and could only talk in animal noises for an hour, which noise would you pick?
22. What if your toothbrush could only brush teeth backwards, what would happen?
23. What if your bed could fly to one place every night while you slept, where would you want it to take you?
24. What if all your toys threw a surprise party for you while you were at school, who would plan it?
25. What if every time you laughed a small flower grew in the yard, what would the yard look like?
26. What if everyone in our family swapped voices for breakfast, whose voice would be the funniest to have?
27. What if your shoes could talk for one day, what would they tell us?
28. What if every Friday a brand new word got added to the dictionary by you, what would you add first?
29. What if our refrigerator had its own personality, what would it be like?
30. What if every door in our house led to a different surprise for one day, which door should we open first?
4. The Invent-It Questions
These give the kid the role of designer. Best for the slot in the conversation when the kid has been the audience for too long and needs to be the one with the microphone.
31. If you could invent a new flavor of ice cream that nobody has ever made, what would it be?
32. If you could invent a brand new vegetable that all kids actually love, what would it look like?
33. If you could design a totally new park for our neighborhood, what would be inside?
34. If you could invent a snack that only existed on weekends, what would it be?
35. If you could design a brand new room for our house, what would the room be for?
36. If you could invent a new word for "happy" that was even better than "happy," what word would you pick?
37. If you could design a backpack that did one magical thing, what would it do?
38. If you could invent a new game using only things in our kitchen, how would you play it?
39. If you could design a vehicle that only kids could ride, what would it look like?
40. If you could invent a holiday that everyone in our family had to celebrate, what would we do on that day?
5. The Funny Family Questions
These zoom in on the family itself. They are the questions where the answers are inside jokes the kids will repeat to each other for the next week.
41. Who in our family has the funniest laugh, and what does it sound like?
42. What is the funniest face anyone in our family can make? Can you show us?
43. Who in our family is the most likely to trip over absolutely nothing?
44. If our family was on a cooking show, who would be the most dramatic?
45. What is the silliest thing our family does that we forget is silly?
46. Who in our family would be best at hiding from a giant chicken?
47. If our family was in a movie about a family, who would play each of us?
48. Who in our family would survive the longest in a marshmallow factory?
49. What is the most ridiculous thing anyone in our family has ever said out loud?
50. If we held a Family Awards Night tomorrow, what would each person win an award for?
Keep the Conversation Going at Home
The 50 questions above are a starting set. The pattern is the point: take the silly question as seriously as the kid does, and the silly answer turns into a real story.
Tell Me Cards is a deck of 107 open-ended conversation cards for kids ages 5 to 9, built with a child psychologist. The deck mixes the playful questions with the deeper ones, so the round can move from the silly to the substantial without anyone noticing the shift.
For the everyday version of family conversation across all moods, see 100 Family Conversation Starters. For extended-family gatherings, see 75 Conversation Starters for Families. For a buyer's-guide angle on what makes a great conversation card, see 50 Best Family Conversation Cards.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes a family conversation starter "fun"?
The fun ones invite a silly, specific answer that nobody at the table expected. They do not have a right answer, they do not ask the kid to perform, and they work for both the youngest and the oldest at the table. A fun question is one where the kid laughs at their own answer.
What ages are these questions for?
The list is written for families with kids ages 5 to 9. Every question is answerable by a five-year-old, and most of them get a more elaborate answer from a seven- or nine-year-old. The grown-ups at the table can answer them too without feeling silly, which is part of what makes the round work.
How many fun questions should we use in one sitting?
One per round, not five. Five in a row turns into a quiz and the energy drops. One fun question across a whole dinner is a conversation. If the kid keeps asking for another, that means it is working.
What if my kid gives a one-word answer to a fun question?
Ask the follow-up. "Why?" or "What would happen next?" or "Tell me more about that." The first answer is usually a draft of the real answer. The second answer is the one to remember.
Can fun family conversation starters work in the car?
The car is one of the best places for them. Nobody has to make eye contact, the room is contained, and the kid is captive for the length of the drive. Fun questions are especially well suited to the car ride because the silly tone matches the casual setting.