53 Family Dinner Questions that Make ANY Meal Special

I believe two things very strongly:

1. Family dinner will save the world.
2. Family dinner is more about the conversation with your kids than the food you serve.

So if getting family dinner to happen tonight means you have to order that take-out pizza?

Go for it. Especially if it means you'll have time and energy to make your family dinner conversation memorable!

Need a little help? I've sorted some of our favorite family dinner questions to ask your kids and the other adults at the table into easy collections for you to enjoy with your own loved ones.

Dinner Questions to Ask Daily

Check in with your kids on these top 3 questions at family dinner.

Even if your conversation ends here, you'll know the most important things on your kids' minds at the end of the meal:

1. What was the best moment of your day so far?
2. Did something worry you today?
3. What is going on for you tomorrow?

Dinner Questions for Kids

When you have time for a longer conversation at dinner, be prepared with some of these great questions to ask your kids!

I love to sprinkle them in periodically over time, not necessarily ask them all every night. Just pick and choose and use them as a way to check in with your children.

Kids thrive when they have the full attention of their parents, ask them one of these conversation starters and then really listen to their answers:

1. What did you learn today? (HINT: It doesn't have to be something from school!)
2. What made you laugh today?
3. Who did you have fun with today?
4. What was your biggest frustration today?
5. Did your teacher say anything surprising today?
6. What projects are you working on in art class (or games in P.E.)?
7. What are you reading right now? (Could be the read-aloud book in class or for pleasure.)
8. What are your friends most excited about right now?
9. Is there a fad or popular trend at your school right now? What do you think about it?
10. If you were in charge of your school, what changes would you make?

Dinner Questions for Teens

Teens get a bad reputation for being sullen and quiet. If your kids aren't in an especially chatty phase of life at the moment, don't give up on them. Keep asking questions but try to keep the conversation at the table light.

Give them an opportunity to vent a frustration. You don't need to fix it during this dinner, you just need to listen.

1. Which was your most challenging class today?
2. What are you reading right now? (Could be for school or pleasure.)
3. What is the most annoying thing that happened to you today?
4. Who did you get to spend your free time with today? (Lunch, break, after school/before practice.)
5. Which teacher would you swap if you could?
6. Which teacher do you wish you could have?
7. Are there any special events (dances, charity drives, club projects, assignments) coming up that we can help you with?
8. What's the recent viral video everyone's talking about right now?
9. If you could go to a concert where you assigned the line-up, who would you pick?
10. Which binge-worthy shows are your friends obsessed with right now? Do you agree?

Dinner Questions for Adults

Family dinner doesn't have to be just about the kids! Your children are like sponges and will get a wonderful education from overhearing a more adult conversation between parents.

They will watch and learn to see how you handle your own daily challenges.

Make sure you and your partner are both active participants in the family dinner conversation.

It is way more than ok to ask each other these questions and answer them in front of the kids:

1. What's going on with your most recent work project? Any updates today?
2. Who did you talk to today? (Could be friends, co-workers, family, etc.)
3. What made you laugh out loud today?
4. What's on your schedule for this week?
5. What should we do together tonight? (Which show to watch, etc.)
6. What did you learn today?
7. Who was the most interesting person you've talked to this week?
8. What is one of your goals right now?
9. What are you reading right now?
10. Which task do you wish you could delete from your list?

Funny Dinner Questions

Some nights everyone just needs a reprieve from the daily stresses.

When you make family dinner a regular priority, you may already feel like you know everything that's happening in your family's world.

Surprise your kids and turn family dinner into a playful family conversation with one or more of these funny questions, just be sure the parents chime in, too!!:

1. If you could be an animal, which one would you be and why?
2. If you could be a rockstar, who would you swap places with?
3. If you were in charge of your school cafeteria, what would be on the menu?
4. What's your best joke?
5. What's the worst advice you could give a friend?
6. Do you have any amazing accents? Prove it.
7. If you could live inside a tv show, which one would it be?
8. What would be your dream talent if you competed on a talent show?
9. Would you rather be a Super Bowl-winning coach or the star quarterback? ("Would you rather" questions could be tweaked into hundreds of fun combinations.)
10. What is the funniest moment in movie you've ever seen?

Deep Dinner Questions

Some nights you all will have the energy to move the conversation into deeper spaces and really get to know your family.

Bring these questions out more than once as your kids grow and watch as their answers change.

1. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would choose?
2. If you could fix one problem in the world, which one would you solve?
3. What is your favorite memory of all time?
4. Who has been your favorite teacher of all time and why?
5. If you could undo one thing you did in your past, what would it be?
6. What would you say to yourself if you could go back in time 1 year?
7. What is the most adventurous thing you'd try if you knew you'd be completely safe and it didn't cost a thing?
8. What are the best qualities to look for in a romantic partner?
9. Who is someone you really admire?
10. How would you describe the most perfect job ever?