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WH-question games
WH-questions are where a lot of language goals live, and where a lot of sessions go flat. The difference between a child who cannot answer 'why' and one who cannot attend to the story long enough to have heard it is worth separating — these activities let you work at either level.
They run from a single picture with one question up to a read-aloud passage with inferential questions attached.
Who this is for
- Children working on comprehension and expression of who / what / where / when / why / how
- Children who answer concrete questions but not inferential ones
- Grades K through 5, with story-level material for the older end
- Mixed groups, where a game-show format keeps everyone in the task
Goals these target
- Answer who, what and where questions about a picture with 80% accuracy
- Answer when and why questions requiring information not stated in the picture
- Answer WH-questions about a short passage read aloud
- Formulate a WH-question rather than only answering one
The games
WH Story Detectives
A short story, then WH-questions about it. Banded by grade (K–2, 3–5, middle school), so the passage length and question type match the child rather than only the topic.
Open WH Story Detectives →
Question Climb — Episode 1
Game-show format with a climbing prize ladder. Good for a group: everyone can vote before the answer is revealed. Episodes 2 and 3 continue with harder questions.
Open Question Climb — Episode 1 →
Munch Monster
Answer the question, feed the monster, wait for the surprise. The wait is the point — it holds a young child's attention through a turn that would otherwise be over too fast.
Open Munch Monster →
Benny's Picnic Puzzles
Five language skills including WH-questions on a spinner, for ages 4 to 6. Use it when a child needs variety inside one session rather than a block of one skill.
Open Benny's Picnic Puzzles →
Brain Board
A quiz board you can steer toward WH-questions for a group. Works well as the last ten minutes of a session with two or three children.
Open Brain Board →Running the session
- Separate attention from comprehensionIf a child misses a 'why' after a passage, re-read the passage and ask the same question. If they get it the second time, the goal is attention, not inferencing.
- Teach the question word, not the answerBefore answering, ask what kind of answer the question wants — a person, a place, a reason. Children who can label the question word answer far more accurately.
- Why comes lastWho, what and where are usually stable before when and why. If a child is failing why-questions, check the earlier three are solid rather than drilling why harder.
- Use the read-aloudThe story games read the passage aloud at a slowed rate. For a child with reading difficulties, that removes decoding from a task that is meant to measure comprehension.
Questions
What age are these for?
The picture-based games suit ages 4 to 7. WH Story Detectives is banded from K–2 up to middle school, so it carries older students too.
Are the passages read aloud?
Yes, at a slowed rate with the pitch preserved, so a child who cannot decode the text can still answer the questions.
Can I use these with a group?
Question Climb and Brain Board are built for it. Have every child commit to an answer before the reveal so nobody is waiting passively.
Do they cover asking questions as well as answering?
Partly. The formulation goal is best met by turning the game around — have the child ask you a question about the same picture or passage after they answer yours.
Related activities
Built and used by a practicing speech-language pathologist. Nothing here records audio or collects information about a child — see the privacy notice. Games run in any modern browser on a tablet or computer.