What else could you ask instead of "How was your day?"?

Oftentimes, especially at dinnertime, parents will try to start a conversation by asking:
The questions,

"How was your day?" or
"How are you?"
The easy, short and pleasing response, might just be:

"OK", "Fine, mom" or "Good dad."

source

The parents are well meaning and really want to know. However, at the end of a long day - it might be easy to accept the short responses and move on. Sometimes body language says it all and the conversation ends but nothing new was learnt.

(This could also apply to adults as well.)

Maybe a good idea would be to ask open questions which stimulates full sentence responses or questions which provides an opening for other questions.
It is never easy. The young child will condense their answers because they cannot find the words. However you guessed it - the teenager will not be any better - hormones are raging and their days become more complex and socializing more complicated.

Parents need to ask more probing questions, for instance:

1. Did anything special happen in class or in school today?
2. Now that you are home, is there anything that you would like me to help you with?
3. Who did you hang out with today?
4. Tell me 2 things (good or bad) that happened today?
5. Did anything/anyone make you happy/scared/sad?
6. What did you read/learn in (subject) today?
7. How are you really feeling?
8. What made you smile today?

This list is not exhaustive but hopefully it provides an example of the types of questions that could get a conversation or discussion going.

When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know. But when you listen, you may learn something new.” — Dalai Lama

Remember you would like to learn something about your child/children's day. Resist the urge to talk too much - this is a listening moment.

What do you think about these questions?