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Printable Family Conversation Cards

Family mealtimes matter. I have long been an advocate of regularly eating meals together as a family as a means of encouraging the positive eating habits of young children, and as the most effective way for them to learn socially acceptable behaviour and manners. What I had not previously thought about was the mental health benefits and I was interested to read the thoughts of parenting educator, Michael Grose, regarding this;

“The biggest single preventative factor for anxiety and depressive illnesses in young people is being in a family that has 5-6 shared meals together with the television and other communication devices off.” You can read more here.

Michael goes on to say that while mental health professionals cannot be sure why this is so, that the most obvious reasoning relates to family members taking regular time to eat and talk together which allows parents to keep tabs on how their children are doing and children to grow up with the knowledge that they can talk to their family members about problems and concerns. Both of which are important at any age but particularly as children grow beyond the early childhood years.

Engaging your kids in conversation around the dinner table is invaluable. For them, and for you as the parent.

Printable conversation cards for families

In talking with friends, I know that not all children are open and forthcoming when it comes to sharing information, especially when asked about their day at school.

While this can be partly attributed to personality but I do believe including regular time to sit down and talk together in your family’s routine can also make a big difference.

While dinnertime works best for us it’s not right for everyone. If you’re struggling to get everyone to the dinner table at the same time each night, you could try for another meal in the day, or one meal a week where everyone is expected to sit down together, or even some special quiet time just before bed, depending upon the age of your children and your family commitments.

Related: Play this super fun Would You Rather: A Fun, Family Conversation Game.

And if you have trouble getting the conversation flowing, this printable set of conversation question cards could be just what you need!

Childhood 101 | Free printable family conversation cardsEach card includes one question, with topics related to individual choices and preferences, as well as questions about friends, family, school. There are 30 questions in total and while some cards may be best suited to older children (mid to late primary/elementary), many of the questions can be answered by preschoolers and those in the early grades (and the printable also includes one blank page of cards so that you can add further questions all of your own).

Printable family conversation cards

Choosing one card each time you slow down to talk together can be a great strategy for getting the conversation started and I see family dinner times in the years ahead full of laughter and good natured debate as our children grow and develop opinions and ideals all of their very own.

Printing Your Family Conversation Cards

Click here to download: Printable Conversation Cards for Families. You will be prompted to save the PDF document to your computer. Open the PDF and print the page you require. When printing, select “Fit to printable area” (or similar) to ensure the page fits with your printer type and local paper size (these have been created at A4 size).

Having trouble accessing or downloading the file? Please try a different internet browser.

Please note: All Childhood 101 printables are for personal use only, you may not use any part of this content for  commercial purposes-that includes selling the document, giving it away to promote your business or website, or printing the file to sell. You may not share, loan or redistribute these documents. Teachers may use multiple copies for students in their own classroom.

MAKE THE MOST OF TIME AT HOME WITH OUR PRINTABLE SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING JOURNAL

social emotional learning journal

You may also like:

Would You Rather? Family Fun Conversation Game 24 Conversation Starters for Tweens and Teens

Christie Burnett is a teacher, presenter, writer and the mother of two. She created Childhood 101 as a place for teachers and parents to access engaging, high quality learning ideas.

Filed Under: Family Friendly Recipes, Family Time, Parenthood, Printables

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Read the comments or scroll down to add your own:

  1. Deb @ Home life simplified says

    May 21, 2013 at 6:36 PM

    love these - will share tomorrow on FB xx
  2. Deb @ Living Montessori Now says

    May 21, 2013 at 9:20 PM

    These are wonderful, Christie! Thanks so much for sharing them! I featured your post as the Free Printable of the Day at the Living Montessori Now Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/LivingMontessoriNow (and on Pinterest)
  3. Faigie says

    May 21, 2013 at 11:26 PM

    These seem like they would be great for kids not used to sharing. I guess in my family we all talk so much noone can get in a word edgewise sometimes
  4. Tara @ Suburble says

    May 22, 2013 at 1:42 PM

    This is a fantastic activity! My kiddos are a bit young, but I can take this idea and break it down so that it's more age-appropriate. Definitely sharing this - love the idea!
  5. Sharon says

    May 26, 2013 at 4:58 AM

    I love conversation questions! I use them often and have one every weekday on my Around the Table Book Facebook page. My book and blog are designed to inspire families to connect at mealtimes. I'm so glad you are doing it!
  6. Ingeborg says

    July 20, 2014 at 4:03 PM

    I love these cards! Is it okay to translate these in Dutch and share them in the Netherlands?
  7. Karine says

    May 30, 2017 at 1:55 AM

    Thank you so much! your ideas helped a lot =)

Trackbacks

  1. Free Family Conversation Card Printables says:
    May 30, 2013 at 12:30 AM
    [...] Click here to get these FREE Family Conversation Card Printables from Childhood 101. [...]
  2. Cook together. Eat together. Talk together. Make mealtime a family time | teachakidtofishblog says:
    November 8, 2013 at 12:50 AM
    [...] https://childhood101.com/2013/05/printable-conversation-cards/ [...]
  3. Five ways to make your dining experience easier | La déficience intellectuelle dans le monde says:
    May 14, 2014 at 6:50 PM
    […] work on initiating, maintaining and taking turns in conversation. Print out some conversation cards here. These cards make it easy to begin a conversation and can be a great way for your child to initiate […]
  4. Free Printable Family Conversation Cards | Childhood101 | Be A Noble Kid says:
    October 16, 2014 at 1:32 AM
    […] Free Printable Family Conversation Cards | Childhood101 Since I last posted about family meal time conversations, sharing ideas from the Childhood 101 Facebook community, our dinner time conversations have evolved to include Immy sharing the highlights of her day at school and us all taking a turn to share the best and worst parts of our day. Sometimes we mix it up to include something we learnt or a mistake we made, and other times one of us asks a special question all of their own that each person takes a turn to answer. It’s a lot of fun and it provides us with valuable insight into what Immy is thinking and how she is feeling. In talking with friends, I know that not all children are as forthcoming when it comes to sharing information, especially when asked about their day at school. I imagine it is a large part personality but I do believe including regular time to slow down to talk together meaningfully in your family’s routine can also make a big difference. While dinnertime works best for us, maybe another meal in the day, or one […]
  5. You Can Fall in Love With Anything (A Warning and a Grace) | The Barefoot Family says:
    January 22, 2015 at 2:33 AM
    […] fun but deep like, “Would you like to be famous? In what way?” I resolved to print out some conversation cards to put in the car. Falling in love with one’s family seems like a good thing to do, right? I also […]
  6. Discussion Blog says:
    May 17, 2017 at 7:57 AM
    One Year Of Dinner Table Devotions And Discussion Starters 365 Oppor [...] ementary), many of the questions can be answered by preschoolers and those in th [...]
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