When my kids were little and I wanted to know what they were thinking, I always got more information out of them when I kept things light. I realized that effective communication with a child didn’t have to be serious or come across like an interrogation. In fact, that approach usually shuts things down fast. So I came up with a fun way to find out how my children really felt—iMOM’s Spill the Beans Printable.
Just grab a bag of some small candies your child loves—jelly beans, gummy bears, M&Ms—or any other tiny treat that will motivate him or her to answer the questions on the quiz. Once you’ve done that, lay the quiz out in front of your child, who you’ll ask to put one candy at the end of the questions he or she thinks are easy and three candies at the end of the questions he or she thinks are hard. While the extra candy will motivate a kid to answer the tougher questions, you might find that your child determines every question is tough! So if you prefer, you can determine the difficulty yourself and have the candies laid out before getting started. For each question your child answers, he or she gets to eat the candy.
You can use the quiz with your big kids, too. Just remember that the secret is keeping it light and fun, so it’s fine to admit that you’re going to bribe them with candy! Or, if money works better, substitute dimes for candy. (For me? A few pieces of dark chocolate will get me to spill the beans about practically anything!) Of course, for the sake of your kids’ teeth, you don’t want to use the quiz every day. But I checked with my favorite dentist—who happens to be my husband—and he said it’s fine; just be sure to get in a good brushing at some point post-quiz.
And for more ways to get your children talking, try our Kid Talk 1.0 and Kid Talk 2.0.
