Is the daily dialogue with your kindergartener losing its spice? Try pepping it up with some of these taxing topics!

Shapes and the Imagination

Have a look inside your little diva / divo’s busy mind by posing the following question: “If a *tiger were made of simple shapes what would they be?” Bonus points for any answer with more substance than “Tiger Shape”

*substitute tiger with: your feet, the clouds, Papa, dinner, etc.

Patterns and Rhythm – We love it when our little darlings repeat things over and over and over and over, right?? 😀

So try some of these to get the ball rolling.

• Ask them to repeat the sequence: Red, Blue, Red, Blue……… Make the sequence one colour longer each time. See how far you both get!
• Ask them to fill in the missing beat: Beep, Beep, Bop, Bop, Beep, Beep, X, X and encourage them to create their own rhythmic pattern!
• Repeat this: (it’s difficult) Apple, Orange, Orange, Apple! Add a tongue-twister to mix it up: like shells, seashore, seashore, shells.

Number Association – Counting is soo 2016. This year it’s all about “number association”, baby!

Can you name anything special about the number 5? Hint: it has to do with your hand.

The Number 7? Hint: it has to do with the days of the week

The Number 1? Hint: it has something to do with the number of noses you have.

They might also like to turn the game around and start asking you the questions!

These are just some of the things I try, when I want to have a look past those dreamy eyes of my 4 year old son. I am always eager to hear of other conversation extraction methods 😉 So if you have time then please do share!