Last summer while on a very long car drive with my sister in Georgia to see my sister in New York, our kids got antsy. They didn’t want to look at books. They didn’t want to play on their iPads or watch movies on them. My sister was driving and I knew our sons would soon be driving her crazy. “Why don’t we play 20 questions?” I announced. I didn’t realize at the time that there would be over 20 learning benefits to playing 20 questions.The boys hadn’t played 20 questions before so, I quickly went over the rules.

• One person picks an animal (You can have the item selected be anything, but we narrowed it down to animals.)
• They have to stick to that animal and not change it even if the others get close to the answer.
• You have to ask only questions that can be answered “yes” or “no”.
• You can only answer “yes” or “no”.
• You can give hints if everyone is asking questions that will lead them away from the right answer if you are feeling gracious.

Today we still play 20 Questions!

For some reason JDaniel recently remembered playing 20 Questions and he now wants to play it all the time. We don’t even need to be in the car to play it. He wants to play it during dinner, after reading books,  and pulling weeds in the yard.

He had gotten really good at asking questions when I am the one who had selected animal. The questions show that he has learned a lot of asking questions and tons about other learning concepts.

Here are the 20 learning benefits to 20 Questions that I have come up with:

Communication Skills

Clearly ask specific questions

Examples:

• Does it have  nose?   is okay, but doesn’t help you  figure out the animal.
• Does it have a long tunnel like nose?  is way more specific.

Ask questions that narrow and define
Example:

• Is it found only in Australia?

Ask for clarification to answers
Example:

• If you think it is a bee, but aren’t sure, you could ask it makes honey.

Form questions that can be answered yes and no –This is really hard for some children. They want details. Keeping the answers to “yes” or “no” questions can be challenging.

Science

Awareness of time periods in history (prehistoric, Biblical, etc…)<
Examples:

• Was it alive with the dinosaurs?
• Is it alive today?

Knowledge of Science grouping like animal groups could be mammal, fish, amphibian, reptile, or bird.
Example:

• Is it in the mammal family?

Knowledge of body coverings
Examples:

• Does it have scales?
• Does it shed its covering?

Knowledge of ways animals move<
Examples:

• Does it travel only on land?
• Could it fly if it wanted to?

Knowledge of what animals eat
Examples:

• Is it a herbivore?
• Does it eat meat?

Knowledge of senses (sounds, unique features to see, textures to touch)
Examples:

• Can it scare other animals away with its noise?
• Does it carry its home?

Geography

Knowledge of the  names of the continents and oceans
Example:

• Does it live in North America?

Knowledge of the different type of terrains in the world

Example:

• Could it survive in the desert?
• Does it live surrounded by trees?

Knowledge of climates and temperatures around the world
Example:

• Can it handle freezing temperatures?
• Does it live in the rain forest?

Math

Sense of number (feet, eyes, etc…)
Example:

• Does it have two feet?
• Does it have many eyes?

Knowledge of length actual and estimated
Example:

• Is it as tall as a lamp post?

Knowledge of weight actual and estimated
Example:

• Does it weigh less than my shoe?
• Does it weigh as much a my car?

Knowledge of shape (oval, square, circle, etc..)
Example:

• Does it have an oval head?
• Does it have triangular ears?

Basic Concepts

Awareness of color

Example:

• Is it mostly brown?
• Is it black and white?

Language

Vocabulary Development-Using and understanding words like omnivore, prehistoric, and triangular add to children’s vocabulary.
Synonyms– The person could ask “Is it large?” The person who know the answer could respond “Yes, it is humungous?”