Open-Ended vs. Closed Questions
Open-ended questions invite kids to imagine, elaborate and tell stories. They allow children to express whatever they're thinking and encourage creative thinking, problem solving and discovery. By promoting meaningful conversations, open-ended questions lead to meaningful relationships with students.
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| Did you hit Juan? | Why is Juan crying? |
| Did you make this mess? | What can you tell me about the papers on the floor? |
| Did you finish your assignment? | When were you planning on finishing your assignment? |
| Do you see a pattern? | What pattern do you see? |
| What color is that block? | Tell me about the blocks you're using. |
Example Open-Ended Questions
- What do you think will happen next? Why?
- What made you decide to choose this?
- What are you going to do about it?
- How did that happen?
- How did you make that happen?
- Where do you think we can put it to...?
- What can I do to help?
- What do you think about...?
- What could you do about it?
- How could we fix it?
- What's your opinion?
- What is this like?
- What if we added (took away) this?
- Why do you think this happened?
- How else could we do that?
- What's similar (different) about these?
- What pattern do you see?
- Tell me about that.
- If you were the mayor of our city, how would you solve the problem?
- Tell me, what is it you're trying to do here?
- What do you think would happen if...?
- Is there another way to...?
- What was it like for you when that happened?
- How has this made you feel different?
Top 50 Open-Ended Questions for Sparking Conversation with Kids - Lela Davidson