Conversation Starters for Every Table and Every Crowd

One deck of open questions for each kind of table.

54 pages

By who is at the table 13

Decks sorted by the people answering: a mixed group, old friends, a parent or grandparent with a life to tell, a circle of older adults, and a table ready for deep or philosophical questions.

Fun Conversation Starters for Any Table250 light questions for any group in ten sets, from weird ones and harmless hot takes to wedding tables, each with a follow-up on the card. What is the most unhinged harmless thing you do when you are home alone?
Funny Questions to Ask a Person106 funny open questions in six sets, for anyone, for someone new, for a group chat and for kids and grown-ups together, each with a follow-up. How many alarms does it take, and what do you say to the first one?
Weird Questions to Ask200 weird but clean questions in seven sets, from mildly odd ones for anyone to the weirdest, each with a follow-up. What does a puddle dream about?
Conversation Starters for Friends With a Shared History150 questions that lean on shared history, in eight sets: remember-whens, how we met, crazy what-ifs, how well you know me and us at seventy. If this group were a sports team, what sport, and who is captain?
Polite Conversation Topics120 open questions on ten safe subjects: weather, the place you are in, food, travel, hobbies, the week, hometowns, books and music, pets, and sports. How has your week been so far?
Questions to Ask Your Mom and Dad200 questions a son or daughter can ask a parent, in eight chapters from childhood and first jobs to funny and deep, with 10 just for Mom and 10 just for Dad. What did you give up when you became a parent?
Questions to Ask Siblings103 open questions for brothers, sisters and cousins in six sets, from the kitchen you grew up in to plans for the years ahead, each with a follow-up. What is one thing we should do together this year, just us?
Genealogy Questions to Ask Relatives112 interview questions for an older relative in eight sets, from surnames and the childhood home to who holds the photographs, each with a follow-up. What skill was handed from parent to child in our family?
Questions to Ask Your Daughter100 questions from a parent to a daughter in five sets: young, tween, teenage, grown, and crazy ones for a teen. If our family were a band, who plays what, and what are we called?
Questions for Seniors150 open questions for a circle of older adults in eight topics, from school days to proudest moments, with a Coffee morning 30 to print as slips and 20 cards that start from an object. What sound meant the working day was over where you grew up?
Good Deep Conversation Starters in Three Depths120 slower questions on values, turning points, regrets and the people who shaped you, five at each of three depths per group, so a table stops where it likes. What took courage at ten that you now do without thinking?
Abstract Philosophy Questions and 25 Thought Experiments150 philosophical questions in seven themes, from knowledge and free will to fairness and time, with 25 credited thought experiments, 23 funny ones and a follow-up behind every card. Where does your lap go when you stand up?
Questions to Ask People About Themselves200 open questions about one person's life in nine topics, from ten easy openers to hopes and plans, with a set of fifty for someone just met. What homemade thing of yours is still in use?

For kids and teens 11

Questions an adult asks a child, or children ask each other: ages 2 to 6, ages 4 to 12, funny ones, after school, at Christmas, a sleepover in five rounds, and teenagers from car rides to college.

Conversation Starters for Kids, Ages 4 to 12178 open questions for ages 4 to 12 in eight sets: ages 4 to 6, after school, a classroom circle, imagine-ifs, animals, feelings, the dinner table and big questions. If animals went to school, which animal would be the class clown?
Get to Know You Questions for Kids150 questions a child of 5 to 12 answers about themselves, in seven sets with an easy level for ages 5 to 7, each with a follow-up. Which dessert would you choose for a celebration?
Questions to Ask Your Kids After School150 open questions about the school day in seven parts, from the ride home to homework, at three grade levels, with a set of 50 and four for every day. What was one good thing about today?
Questions to Ask Kindergarteners, Preschoolers and Toddlers150 short questions for ages 2 to 6 in three age groups and five sets, from after-school questions to a Thanksgiving set, with a follow-up behind every card. If one of your drawings came to life, which one should it be?
Open Ended Questions to Ask Preschoolers103 open questions for children of 2 to 6, sorted by where the child is: blocks, art table, story time, outside, snack and tidy-up, and after something went wrong. What can you hear if we stand very still?
Questions to Ask Your Grandchildren150 questions a grandparent asks a grandchild, by age from little ones to grown-ups, with sets for a call, a stay and the two of you. What do you like best about coming to see me?
Funny Questions to Ask Kids, Ages 3 to 9120 questions where a young child's answer is the joke: 60 on how the world works and 60 on what you would do, for ages 3 to 5 and 6 to 9. Where does rain come from?
Sleepover Questions, From First Snack to Lights-Out150 clean questions for 8-to-14-year-olds to ask each other at a sleepover, in five rounds of 30 from warm-up favorites to lights-out, each with a follow-up. What would a werewolf pack for a sleepover?
Conversation Starters for Teens, From Car Rides to College150 questions an adult can ask a teenager without it sounding like an interview, in eight sets: car rides, music and games, high school, opinions, plans and college. What rule at home or school makes no sense to you?
Get to Know You Questions for Teens150 questions for teens to ask each other in six sets, with a middle school and a high school level and a first-week partner interview. What kind of assignment lets you show what you can really do?
Christmas Questions to Ask Kids88 Christmas questions for children of 3 to 12 in five sets: Santa and the elves, giving, home traditions, imagine-ifs and a class set that names no holiday. What do you think Santa does in July?

By occasion 23

Questions written for one gathering or season: fall, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Mother's Day, an adult's birthday, a road trip, a dinner, game day, a church small group, or a work event where nobody knows anybody. Also here: questions about travel, and questions to ask about a job, an artist or someone famous.

Networking Conversation Starters, From First Hello to Goodbye128 openers for conferences, mixers and the office, sorted by moment: first hello, joining a group, the coffee queue, after a talk, coworkers, leaving politely. What would you tell someone who starts here next week?
Fall Conversation Starters60 questions for the season, from the first cold morning to the perfect corn maze. What does your street sound like in fall that it does not in summer?
Halloween Conversation Starters for the Party and the Table128 Halloween questions in eight sets: costumes, candy trades, pumpkins, mild scares, old customs, Halloweens past, hot takes and party talk. What did you once believe happened after dark on Halloween night?
Thanksgiving Conversation Starters for the Whole Table80 table questions about gratitude, the food, family traditions and old stories, with an all-easy kids' table set and eight cards for Friendsgiving. What happened at a past Thanksgiving that still gets brought up before the pie is cut?
Christmas Conversation Starters for Dinner, Parties and the Office136 questions for Christmas dinner and holiday parties: gifts, the tree, customs abroad, the Nativity, a kids' set, and an office set that never says Christmas. Which Christmas found you in an airport, a hotel or a stranger's home, and how did it go?
Winter Conversation Starters72 questions for the cold months, from the first snow day to the laziest winter weekend, tied to no one holiday. What is the best winter day you have had as an adult?
Questions to Ask on New Year's Eve103 open questions for New Year's Eve in six sets: the year gone, firsts and lasts, the people at the table, the year ahead, children still awake and the last minute. What did you say more often this year than in any year before?
Spring Conversation Starters72 questions for spring, from the first warm evening outdoors to the junk drawer, with a follow-up on every card. What did you do outside in spring until it got dark?
Summer Conversation Starters72 questions for summer, from the coldest water you ever jumped into to the summer project you never finished. What is the coldest water you have ever jumped into on purpose?
Christian Conversation Starters for Small Groups and Youth Groups126 questions for small groups and youth groups: faith stories, church life, serving, prayer, honest doubts, and 44 cards that name a Bible passage. What do you do when you do not feel like praying?
Questions to Ask When Studying the Bible100 questions that fit any Bible passage in five topics: what it says, what it meant, how it connects, what to do with it, and a leader's set. What would you read next to understand this passage better?
Mother's Day Questions to Ask Mom at the Table70 questions to ask a mother: 30 for a Who knows Mom best guessing game with a scoreboard and 40 table questions about being a mom, each with a follow-up. Which house rule do you care about most?
Funny Questions to Ask Your Future Son in Law90 light questions for the dinner where the family meets a future son-in-law: funny openers, his story, family traditions, would you rather and toast material. What did you rehearse saying before you met us?
Birthday Questions for Adults, From Fun to Turning 60100 open questions to ask an adult on their birthday: the year just gone, the year ahead, birthdays past, 30 fun ones and sets for turning 30, 40, 50 and 60 and up. What was the best day of the year you just finished?
Fun Questions to Ask at a High School Reunion102 open questions for a class reunion in six sets: who we were then, what nobody knew, the building, the years between, partners who came along and the stage. Where has life taken you since graduation, in three stops?
Road Trip Conversation Starters60 questions for the car, from what the next hill should be called to where the next trip should go. What game should we play for the next ten miles?
Travel Questions to Ask80 open questions about travel in six topics, from the first trip you remember to coming home, each with a follow-up. Where would you go to see no one for a week?
Book Questions to Ask People102 open questions that fit any book in six sets, from a reader in the middle of the story to a group that could not agree, each with a follow-up. Where would you have started the story?
Dinner Conversation Starters60 questions for the table, from the dish you would save to the tradition this table should start. What did you notice today that nobody else at this table saw?
Sports Conversation Starters60 questions for fans and players, from your first team to the sport that should be invented next. What rule would you change in your favorite sport?
Questions to Ask Someone About Their Job93 open questions about a person's work in seven sets: the short version, a day in the job, their path, skills, stories, advice and a class career interview. How many people do you work with on an ordinary day?
Deep Questions to Ask an Artist90 questions for one person who makes art, in five sets: how the work gets made, where ideas come from, one piece in front of you, the working life and deep questions. What do you want someone to carry out of the room after seeing your work?
Questions to Ask Famous People100 interview questions that fit any well-known person, in six sets from before anyone knew their name to quick ones for a signing line. What do you still find difficult after all these years?

For a class 7

A share question for every school day from kindergarten to grade 5, funny questions a class asks its teacher, and graded questions for an English class, a tutor or a language exchange. Also here: questions in Spanish and in French with the English a tap away, and questions to ask someone from another culture.

ESL Conversation Starters by Level and Grammar Point212 speaking questions for English classes, graded A1 to C1 and tagged with the grammar each answer practices, plus a first-lesson icebreaker set. When you arrived at your last party or meeting, what had already happened?
ESL Conversation Topics240 speaking questions in twelve lesson topics, from family and food to technology and kindness, with A1 to C1 questions inside every topic. What is always in your kitchen, and what is never there?
Questions to Ask Someone From Another Culture100 open questions for a cultural interview, a host family or an exchange partner, in six topics from everyday life to language and manners. How does your family spend a free day together?
Spanish Conversation Starters With English Lines and Usted Forms150 questions written in Spanish and graded by grammar, from the present tense to the subjunctive, each with its English line and the usted or tú form. ¿Qué tareas de la casa haces tú y cuál no soportas?
French Conversation Starters for Tu and Vous, with English Lines185 questions written in French, in 12 topics and three levels set by tense. Each is marked tu or vous, with the English line and the other form one tap away. Quel fromage aimez-vous, et lequel évitez-vous ?
Morning Meeting Questions for Kids, Kindergarten to Grade 5200 share-time questions for kindergarten to grade 5: 20 for each month from September to June, in five kinds, with three grade bands and a follow-up behind every card. If you were a bug, what bug would you be?
Funny Questions to Ask a Teacher100 funny, kind questions a class asks its teacher, in six sets from before you were a teacher to a yearbook interview, at three grade bands. If you could teach us anywhere, where would we go?

A good conversation starter is a question nobody has a stock answer to, asked when the talk has gone flat. Some decks here are sorted by who is answering: a mixed group, old friends, a parent telling their life story, a circle of older adults, a table ready for deep or philosophical questions.

More about these tools

Several are for children and teenagers, from a two-year-old to a student home from college. Others fit an occasion: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Mother's Day, an adult's birthday, a church group or a work event. Some are for a class: morning meeting, questions for the teacher, and English lessons. Open a page and a first question is showing. Press Next question for another. On most decks Show follow-up opens a second question for that card, and Print these, on the end card, gives the topic you picked as slips. Every question is original and free of anything crude.

By who is at the table 13

For kids and teens 11

By occasion 23

For a class 7

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