Free printableBirthday interview questions for kids
Ask your child the same 10 questions every birthday and keep their answers. Because the questions never change, you can see how the answers do: who they were at 3, at 4, at 5.
How a birthday interview works
Same questions
Ask the same 10 questions every year, on or near their birthday. The repetition is the point: the answers change, the questions don’t.
Their exact words
Write down or record exactly what they say, mispronunciations and all. Don’t correct, don’t prompt. "Pasketti" is the answer.
Side by side
Keep every year together. Reading age 3 next to age 6 is where the magic is, for you now and for them later.
The 10 questions to ask every year
Short, open and easy for a 3-year-old to answer, but still interesting at 10. These are the same questions Relly’s birthday video asks.
- What’s your name, and how old are you?
- What’s your favorite color?
- What’s your favorite food or snack right now?
- What makes you happy?
- Who is your best friend?
- What do you want to be when you grow up?
- What are you really good at?
- What do you love doing with your family?
- What always makes you laugh?
- What makes you feel brave?
Prints one page with space for the answers. Choose “Save as PDF” to keep a file.
Tips that make it work
Pick a ritual
Same day every year: the birthday morning, the cake night, or the weekend after. Ritual is what makes it last ten years.
Keep it to ten minutes
Little kids lose interest fast. Ten short questions is about right; if they drift off, finish the rest later that day.
Record their voice
A written answer is lovely. Hearing their 4-year-old voice say it again at 16 is something else. Film it or record it.
Don’t steer
Resist "Don’t you mean...?". The wrong answer is often the one you’ll treasure.
Let them skip
"I don’t know" is an answer. Write it down too.
Read last year’s answers
After the interview, read them what they said last year. Kids love it, and it becomes part of the tradition.
Turn it into a birthday video
Relly has the birthday interview built in, on iPhone and Android. Around your child’s birthday (once you’ve added it), a card appears in the app: tap it, and Relly asks these 10 questions one at a time on camera while your child answers. It puts the answers together into one short birthday video.
Making the video is free. Saving and sharing it is part of Relly Plus.
Between birthdays, Relly saves the things they say in about ten seconds, by voice. See the app for the funny things your kids say.
Questions parents ask
When should we do the birthday interview?
On or close to their birthday, ideally on the same day every year. The birthday morning works well: they are excited and it’s easy to remember.
What age should I start?
As soon as they can answer in words, usually around 2. For a baby’s first birthday, you can answer a few questions about them yourself and start the interview the next year.
How many questions should I ask?
The same 10, every year. Keeping them identical is what lets you compare the answers year to year.
Should I write the answers down or film them?
Both if you can. Writing makes them easy to compare year to year; video or voice keeps how they sounded, which you will miss most.
Is there a printable version?
Yes. Use the Print button on this page. It prints the 10 questions with space for answers, and your browser can save it as a PDF.
Keep every year’s answers
Relly saves what they say, with the date and their age, and makes the birthday video for you.
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