Do you want better conversation with kids? Do you need to practice social skills, build community and trust or just encourage your kids to talk about their feelings? Here’s the secret sauce!
Why do we want conversation?
Conversation is important. It’s important for
- connecting deeply and building trust
- debriefing and unpacking the day
- understanding each other and our thoughts and feelings
- building relationships, from friendships, to marriages to family bonds
- letting kids know you’re there for them and connecting in pre-teen years
- problem solving and talking things through for support
- showing empathy and listening skills
- learning how to express ourselves and how to listen
- practicing social skills like turn taking, empathy and whole body listening
For autistic children, conversation is doubly important.
Life is often trickier to understand and fit in when you have autism. Talking about the day and problem solving social situations is helpful to appreciate why you feel different. Autism can also mean it’s tricky to understand other’s emotions and have emotional regulation. Talking about feelings is an important part of knowing what the feelings are, how to regulate, and what to do about them. Conversation is also inherently screen-free – if you’re struggling with screen-addiction, it’s a technology-free activity. When you’re stuck in the car driving, conversation is a nice way to engage and get to know each other (and avoid the kids fighting in the back). Conversation is also a way to practice social skills for autistic kids. Many of the social thinking concepts can be practiced through conversation, such as whole body listening, taking turns, thinking thoughts and feelings and sharing an imagination.
How can you use conversation cards?
If you’re stuck for ideas of what to talk about, conversation cards can be a way to prompt talk.
Many sets are for adult gameplay around the dinner table, or for sparking romantic conversation on date nights. Few sets of conversation cards are for kids, or designed with autistic children in mind.
If you do have kid-friendly conversation cards, you might use them:
- around the dinner time with family to connect more deeply
- in the car to avoid “I’m bored” complaints
- on screen-free days when you want to have fun without devices
- in the classroom to build trust and get to know each other as a class community
- in therapy to talk about feelings, social difficulties and successes
- in bed when debriefing about the day before sleep
- on holidays when traveling or looking for activities around a lazy campfire in the evening
- at school when needing a quick and fun starter to the day to engage students and teach listening and talking skills
Chatty Capybara conversation cards
Chatty Capybara conversation cards are made with autistic kids in mind. They are fun, they are serious, they are cute and they have many options.
They feature:
- A set of 135 questions and conversation prompts to spark kid-friendly conversation
- 135 questions, in two categories (two = fun questions for warming up or having silly conversations; one = serious prompts for talking about feelings, life and self)
- 4 different game play modes
- 4 optional awards for character-strengths displayed during play, including most creative, courageous and critical response.
Game play modes include:
- Classic – Ask a question to the person sitting on your left. After responding, then that person draws a card and asks the person to their left and so on.
- Circle – The leader reads out a question, and everyone answers the question in turn as you go around the circle. This gives everyone a chance to respond and practice listening carefully without interrupting.
- Call-out – Rather than going around a circle, the person who draws the card gets to select the person who will respond to the question.
- Character – A player reads a card out. Everyone around the circle gets to respond, but they must imagine how the first player would respond and answer as if they were them. The first player then chooses the respond they think most accurately reflects them.
Conversation prompts include:
- Would you rather be a unicorn or a mermaid?
- If you could be a superhero for a day, what would you do?
- If you had a ‘yes’ day, what would you do?
- Complete the sentence: “I feel calm when…”
- Describe a family tradition that you enjoy
- Tell about a time you felt lonely
- Talk about one time you made a mistake
Get your own conversation cards
You can get your own conversation cards here for great talks at home and at school with your kids.
If it’s holidays, screen-free time or building social skills and connection, check out the fun and serious conversation prompts in Chatty Capybara.
Chatty Capybara Conversation Cards for kids