“Why” questions can be vague and hard for children to understand.  When we are teaching “why” questions to kids in speech therapy, it is important to break “why” questions out into different types.  The easiest type of “why” questions to start with is “why” questions about function.  In these questions, you’ll ask the child why we need or use certain objects.

Ask the child these types of questions to the child and explain that when we answer a “why” question, we can start our answer with “because”.

Examples of “Why” Questions about Function:

• Why would you use a flashlight?                  Because I need light
• Why would you use a spoon?                        Because I need to eat
• Why would you use a jacket?                        Because I am cold
• Why would you go to the hospital?              Because I am sick or hurt
• Why would you go to the grocery store?     Because I need food
• Why would you go to school?                        Because I need to learn

Once the child starts to get the idea of “why” questions with basic function questions, we can start to challenge them a bit more by talking about people’s motivations for various actions.  This type of “why” question takes a bit more brain power because not only do we need to understand what “why” means, but we also have to understand people’s motivations.  This is a great activity for children who struggle with perspective taking as well.

For this type of “why” question, provide the child with a scenario (or read a story book) and then ask the child questions about someone’s motivation in that scenario.  You can even act these out if it helps.  If the child is having trouble, try using stories from their lives.  Or, better yet, take a video of something that actually happened to them and then ask “why” questions about their motivation.

Examples of “Why” Questions about People’s Motivations:

• It had been a long day and Mary was very tired.  Mary had gotten up early to finish her homework before school and then spent all day at school.  After school, she went to gymnastics practice and then came home for dinner.  Even though it was only 7:30, Mary put on her pajamas and went to bed as soon as dinner was over.
  • Why did Mary put on her pajamas and go to bed early?         Because she was tired.
• It was dinner time and John was disappointed because there was broccoli on his plate.  John did not like broccoli but his parents always made him eat the broccoli anyway.  John didn’t like the texture or the taste of broccoli.  Fortunately, John’s dog Billie LOVED broccoli.  When John’s parents weren’t looking, John poked a piece of broccoli onto his fork and held it under the table for Billie to eat.
  • Why did John feed his broccoli to Billie?                        Because John didn’t want to eat the broccoli.

Now that the child is answering simpler “why” questions, it’s time to start asking some more abstract “why” questions. These are questions like “why do we sleep?” and “why do we wear shoes?”. They require a bit more complex thinking because they are probably things that your child hasn’t stopped to think about the reasoning behind very often.

Ask the child questions like the ones below about the reason that things happen.  Again, don’t forget to tell the child that we can answer “why” questions with a “because…” answer.  Ask the child “why” questions about anything that comes up and try to help him come to the answer by himself. Give him little clues and hints that will help him along the way.

For example, if you asked the child “why do we wear shoes?” and he couldn’t come up with an answer, you could say things like “Well, what happens if you don’t wear shoes outside?” or “Have you ever hurt your foot when you weren’t wearing shoes?”. Keep asking leading questions like that until he gets the correct answer. Or, if he’s struggling you can go ahead and tell him the answer, but make sure you come back and ask that one again sometime so he can practice the answer.

You can also ask “why” questions while reading books. Read a page and then ask why something happened in the book. You can then move this into a hypothetical question as well. For example, if the character in the book is mad about something, you can say “why is he mad?”. Then, after answering that one, you can ask “why do you get mad?”.

Examples of Hypothetical “Why” Questions:

• Why do we sleep?
• Why do we eat?
• Why do plants need sunlight?
• Why do we drink water?
• Why do we go to the doctor?
• Why do dogs wag their tails?

We are to the last step!  Once the child can answer “why” questions like this during speech therapy activities, you are ready to help the child answer “why” questions throughout the day in conversation.  You can start this process by asking “why” questions during specific activities, like during play.  Stop after each question and help the child find the correct answer.  Remind the child that “why” questions need a “because…” answer.

As the child gets more and more confident with answering “why” questions, you can start making them harder.  Classroom learning activities often have a lot of opportunities for practicing “why” questions.  Use reading materials from class (especially science passages/articles) to help the child answer “why” questions about what he/she is learning.  Make sure all adults who work with the child know that he/she is learning to answer “why” questions and should be helped to become more confident with this skill.

You can also ask “why” questions during book-reading activities, while watching shows or movies, and while waiting in line or walking to and from speech therapy.  Remember to include a combination of “why” questions about function, “why” questions about people’s motivations, and hypothetical “why” questions.

Looking for some pre-made speech therapy activities for practicing “why” questions for kids?  Check out our no-prep therapy kit here.  Perfect for use in speech therapy, home practice, or for classroom work.  Or, take our training course on helping children learn to ask and answer questions.