Questions That Spark Thought and Joy

Mornings aren’t always easy. In spite of our gentlest intentions, things sometimes go awry. Frustrations can sizzle like bacon frying on the stove. A question hovers over our morning routines: “How can we help children to start the day with good cheer?”

In Room 7, the teachers (Mses. Indi, Izzy, and Natalie) have created instantaneous morning mood lifters for their kindergarten class. Instead of having their children repeat “here” when they take roll call, the teachers pose a daily question to the class. Each child indicates their presence for the day by offering an answer. 

The teachers’ queries sometimes relate to a lesson. After reading The Hungry Caterpillar, they asked, “If you were a caterpillar what would you eat?” One boy’s answer, “Taki Maki.” After a lesson on seeds, their question was, “If you were a seed, what plant would you become?” The answers, as usual, were highly individual: “Bodleian rose,” “Rainbow tree,” “Cactus,” and “Strawberry bush.” Following inclement weather, the question, “What’s your favorite thing to do in the rain?” resulted in more uniform responses, all variations on puddle splashing. 

The questions promote cognition, the ability to hold the ideas involved, while listening respectfully to everyone else's answers. The inquiry process also fosters vocabulary and self-expression. More importantly it creates a mood at the beginning of the day, a feeling of loving coziness and belonging, what the Danish people famously call “hygge,” a family feeling or comfortable conviviality. Children don’t have to come up with a right answer, and no one answer is better than another. One aspect of hygge is equality. Everyone’s thoughts are valuable.

Hygge is also the name of a very popular conversation game, and at family gatherings, our large, extended family enjoys playing it. Although it’s recommended for ages fourteen and up, we, like many families, just adapt the questions. The quirky queries unite people of all ages. “If there were four extra hours in the day, what would you do?” “What name would you give to a book describing your life?” The value of playing question-asking games is widely recognized today, and there are conversation games aimed at younger children, like “Time Together.” 

The imaginative questions asked in these games can also promote intimacy at the end of the school day. Questions like “How was your day?” or “What did you do today?” are vague and require children to mentally sift through their emotions and experiences. Instead, asking something simple and light-hearted like, “If your mood was a color, what would it be?” or “What made you smile today?” gives you the chance to share things that made you smile too.