Family and Relationships

• Who is in your family, and what makes your family unique? Opens discussion about family identity, structure, and belonging. Useful for understanding the child's relational context and attachment experiences.
• How does your family show they care about each other? Explores love languages and relational patterns within the family system. Can reveal both strengths and unmet relational needs.
• Do you have friends who feel like family? What makes them special? Assesses the quality of peer relationships and the child's ability to form close bonds outside the family unit.
• What is a favorite tradition or memory you share with someone close to you? Encourages positive reminiscence, which is associated with greater relationship satisfaction and emotional well-being (Bryant & Veroff, 2021).

Feelings and Emotions

• Name three things that make you feel happy. What do they have in common? Builds emotional vocabulary and helps identify themes in positive emotional triggers, which supports behavioral activation strategies.
• What does your body feel like when you are worried or nervous? Develops interoceptive awareness, a key skill in anxiety management. Children who can detect early physical signals of anxiety are better able to use coping strategies proactively (Craske et al., 2022).
• How do you usually act when you feel angry? What helps you calm down? Assesses current anger regulation strategies and opens discussion about adaptive versus maladaptive responses.
• How can you tell when someone else is feeling upset, even if they don't say so? Targets perspective-taking and empathy skills. Recognizing nonverbal emotional cues is foundational to social competence (Eisenberg et al., 2020).
• What helps you feel better when you are sad? Identifies the child's existing coping repertoire and provides material for building a personalized coping plan.

Interests and the World Around You

• What is your favorite time of year, and why? A low-stakes conversation starter that helps the child practice sharing opinions and providing reasons, building expressive language skills.
• If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go and what would you do? Encourages imagination and future-oriented thinking while revealing interests and aspirations.
• What are your favorite things to do outside or with friends? Assesses social engagement and physical activity levels. Low engagement may indicate withdrawal, exclusion, or anhedonia.
• If you could invent something new, what would it be and how would it help people? Promotes creative thinking and prosocial reasoning. The framing around helping others encourages empathic perspective-taking.

Kindness and Connection Activities

1. Do a random act of kindness for someone today Prosocial behavior increases positive affect in both the giver and receiver and strengthens social bonds (Layous et al., 2022).
2. Say something kind or encouraging to someone you care about Practicing verbal appreciation builds communication skills and reinforces positive relationship patterns.
3. Share a talent, skill, or interesting fact about yourself with someone new Self-disclosure at an appropriate level is a key social skill that deepens conversations and builds trust (Collins & Miller, 2020).
4. Write or draw a message for a friend or family member Expressive writing and art activities support emotional processing and can strengthen relationships, especially for children who find verbal expression challenging.