Encouraging your kids to communicate about their day

In Back to School, Kids by SavvySassyMomsLeave a Comment

Whether your kids are in kindergarten or 5th grade, parents seem to struggle to get our kids to communicate about their day. We feel like a broken record asking the same questions day after day. What did you do today? Who did you play with? What was your favorite part of the day? And the list goes on. Lately, we have been encouraging our kids to share their day through drawing and writing!

As teachers, we are always telling parents to ask their kids more specific questions instead of “How was your day?” which always seems to get the one word answer: “Good!” While we try not to “teacher” our kids at home, we like to bring some of our skills to the table to get some more information out of our kids to communicate with them about their day.

Paper Mate InkJoy Gel pens

When our kids come home from school, we give them time to relax and decompress from the day. Then, when let us know that they are ready for an activity, we pounce! If they say they want to colour and make a pretty picture, we suggest they draw a picture about their day. On a daily basis, we encourage our children to write in a variety of ways. Whether it be writing about their day or drawing a picture to share some highlights, we like to encourage them to use their fine motor skills to get it down on paper. The picture also makes for a great keepsake!

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Paper Mate InkJoy Gel pens
Make it fun

However you encourage your child to write, make it fun! They get enough time with a pencil in their class, so we break out a set of colourful pens for them to have fun with! When we choose pens for our kids to use, we always make sure that they come with a comfort grip on them to ensure that they are comfortable for their fingers.

Paper Mate InkJoy Gel Pens come in 14 bright colours and, best of all, they click closed. We have had to throw out so many pens and markers that dry out after the kids forget to put the lids back on. In the past, we steered away from pens. As kids drag their hands across the page, their beautiful picture or writing gets smudged, but these pens are smudge free! When the kids work so hard, the last thing we want is to end up with a smudged picture and a teary-eyed kid!

Paper Mate InkJoy Gel Pens
Write it down

We encourage our kids to write by showing them a picture. We both used this prompt in every grade we have taught. Each year, we take a picture of our kids on the first day of school. We print the picture and then sit down with them and ask them about the picture. This always sparks a great conversation!

We add a few lines to the page with a sentence starter and have them write down whatever they want. Some years they write about their backpack or the t-shirt they wore on the first day of school. Other times they write about their favourite part of the day or who they played with. When they sit down and pick up their pen, we always make sure they are holding onto the grip of the Paper Mate InkJoy Gel Pen, which makes it easier for them to ensure a correct pencil grip. (Once a teacher, always a teacher!)

Pen Grip

We love spending quality time with our kids and having an engaged conversation with them about their day. They enjoy this activity, and we get SO much more information out of them than we normally would!

Images by MTPhotogrpahy 

How to you encourage your kids to communicate about their day?

Disclosure: This post is sponsored. All opinions are our own.

Meet the Author | SavvySassyMoms


The Savvy Sassy Moms are professional educators and mothers with more than 30 years of educating experience and over 20 years of combined parenting experience between them. With a true passion for engaging with moms and sharing their bright and relatable savvy and sassy know-how, they bring current and exciting content to Savvy Sassy Moms for all stages of motherhood as well as help and guidance for all the in-betweens! Connect with Savvy Sassy Moms on Instagram

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