Voice Games for Kids That Need No Speaker

I am thinking of something in the kitchen. Ask me yes-or-no questions until you get it. (Answer: a whisk.)

Then ask: What would you ask first if we played again?

I am thinking of something in the sky. Ask me yes-or-no questions until you get it. (Answer: the moon.)

Then ask: Which question turned out to be wasted, and how could you tell?

I am thinking of a place in our town. Ask me yes-or-no questions until you get it. (Answer: the library.)

Then ask: Is it smarter to ask what a place looks like or what people do there?

I am thinking of a food. Ask me yes-or-no questions until you get it. (Answer: popcorn.)

Then ask: What question would split all foods roughly in half?

I am thinking of a thing with wheels. Ask me yes-or-no questions until you get it. (Answer: a shopping cart.)

Then ask: When did you go from guessing to knowing?

I am thinking of a job. Ask me yes-or-no questions until you get it. (Answer: a lifeguard.)

Then ask: Which answer surprised you and changed your plan?

I am thinking of something smaller than your hand. Ask me yes-or-no questions until you get it. (Answer: a key.)

Then ask: How many of your questions did you really need?

I am thinking of something that makes a sound. Ask me yes-or-no questions until you get it. (Answer: a doorbell.)

Then ask: What did you assume that turned out to be wrong?

I am thinking of something you find outside. Ask me yes-or-no questions until you get it. (Answer: a puddle.)

Then ask: Was a "no" ever more useful than a "yes"?

I am thinking of something people wear. Ask me yes-or-no questions until you get it. (Answer: a mitten.)

Then ask: What makes a thing hard to guess?

Now you think of something, and I ask the yes-or-no questions.

Then ask: Which of my questions was the best one, and what made it good?

Which one does not belong: apple, banana, carrot, grape?

Then ask: What rule were you using, and is there another rule that gives another answer?

Which one does not belong: bicycle, bus, canoe, skateboard?

Then ask: If I say the answer is the bus, what rule am I using?

Which one does not belong: spoon, fork, knife, cup?

Then ask: What do the other three have in common that the odd one lacks?

Which one does not belong: Monday, Saturday, July, Friday?

Then ask: That one was easy. Which word would you swap to make it hard?

Which one does not belong: piano, drum, violin, guitar?

Then ask: Is there an answer nobody could argue with?

Which one does not belong: ice, steam, snow, rock?

Then ask: Give me two different answers and the rule behind each.

Which one does not belong: whale, shark, dolphin, seal?

Then ask: What would you need to know about each animal to be sure?

Which one does not belong: circle, square, triangle, cube?

Then ask: Which word would you add so the odd one is no longer alone?

Which one does not belong: whisper, shout, hum, wink?

Then ask: Can you say your rule in five words or fewer?

Which one does not belong: pencil, crayon, eraser, marker?

Then ask: Could all four belong together under some rule? What rule?

Which one does not belong: sun, candle, flashlight, mirror?

Then ask: Now make up four words of your own. Which one is the odd one, and will I get it?

Name five things that are quieter than a whisper.

Then ask: Is silence a thing? Does it count?

Name five animals that have no legs.

Then ask: Which one did you almost say that turned out to have legs?

Name five things you can do with a paper cup besides drink from it.

Then ask: Which idea would really work?

Name five words that rhyme with "light."

Then ask: Do words have to be spelled alike to rhyme?

Name five things that were invented before your grandparents were born.

Then ask: How could we check one of them?

Name five things that melt.

Then ask: What does each one need in order to melt, and is it the same for all five?

Name five things that always come in pairs.

Then ask: Which one still works when you have only one?

Name five things you cannot see but know are there.

Then ask: How do you know each one is there?

Name five jobs that did not exist a hundred years ago.

Then ask: Which job might not exist a hundred years from now?

Name five words that are both a color and something else.

Then ask: Which came first, the color or the thing? How could you find out?

Name five ways to get across a river that has no bridge.

Then ask: Which one would you really trust?

Take turns adding one sentence. The story starts: "On Tuesday, every clock in town ran backward."

Then ask: Whose sentence changed the story the most?

Take turns adding one sentence. The story starts: "The dog had been keeping a secret for three years."

Then ask: Did the ending fit the beginning? What would fit better?

Take turns adding one sentence. The story starts: "Nobody noticed the tiny door behind the cereal boxes until today."

Then ask: What did you want to happen that I steered away from?

Take turns adding one sentence. The story starts: "The new kid in class said she was from the bottom of the lake."

Then ask: Do we believe her? What in our story says so?

Take turns adding one sentence. The story starts: "It rained upward all morning."

Then ask: What rule did our story world follow, even though we never said it out loud?

Take turns adding one sentence. The story starts: "Grandpa's hat had started giving advice."

Then ask: Was the advice good? How would the story change if it were bad?

Take turns adding one sentence. The story starts: "The bridge let you cross only if you made it laugh."

Then ask: Tell the story again from the bridge's side. What changes?

Take turns adding one sentence. The story starts: "We found a map, but the X kept moving."

Then ask: What is our story really about, in one sentence?

Take turns adding one sentence. The story starts: "The robot was supposed to clean the kitchen, but it had other plans."

Then ask: Who was right, the robot or the family?

Take turns adding one sentence. The story starts: "The smallest kid on the team was put in goal."

Then ask: Where could the story have gone a different way?

Take turns adding one sentence. The story starts: "When I opened my lunchbox, it was full of snow."

Then ask: What question does our story still not answer?

I am full of words but I never speak. You open me to get a story. What am I? (A book.)

Then ask: What else fits those clues?

You fill me every morning and empty me every night, and I go to school on your back. What am I? (A backpack.)

Then ask: Which clue could you drop and still get it?

I am cold, I fall without getting hurt, and no two of me are alike. What am I? (A snowflake.)

Then ask: How could anyone know that no two are alike?

I show you yourself but I am not you. Raise your right hand and I raise the other one. What am I? (A mirror.)

Then ask: Is it really the other hand? How could we test it?

I have teeth but I never eat, and I work best on tangles. What am I? (A comb.)

Then ask: Make up one more clue for it.

I follow you on sunny days and hide when the lights go out. What am I? (Your shadow.)

Then ask: When is it longest, and what does that tell you about the sun?

I run all day without legs, and I stop when you turn a handle. What am I? (Water from the faucet.)

Then ask: "Run" means two things here. What other words do that?

I start out tall and end up short, and I am useful only while I disappear. What am I? (A candle, or a pencil.)

Then ask: Two answers fit. What extra clue would settle it?

I have one foot and no toes, and I carry my house wherever I go. What am I? (A snail.)

Then ask: Which clue is true in a strange way?

I live in the kitchen, I ring when the time is up, and I never go anywhere. What am I? (A timer.)

Then ask: What other answer would you accept?

Your turn: pick a thing in this room and give me three clues.

Then ask: Which clue did you save for last, and what made you save it?