The child acts out the best 60 seconds of their school day — movement, expression, dialogue if they want it. Then the worst 60 seconds. The parent watches without commenting. Both versions together give more emotional information than any amount of direct questioning, because the performance format lowers the guard that 'how was school?' tends to raise.

How to do it

1'Show me — act it out — the best 60 seconds from today. I won't interrupt.'
2Watch without commenting. Let the performance be whatever it is.
3'Now the worst 60 seconds.' Same deal.
4After both: one question, about whichever felt most important.

Variations

If they won't do the playback, don't press. 'You can just tell me instead, or we can skip it.' The performance format doesn't work for all children on all days.
After the worst 60 seconds and your one question, the activity closes. The performance has done its work.

💡 Parent tip

Watch the worst 60 seconds without commentary on your face. What you see in their performance is more honest than what they'd say if you asked. The face they make when playing the 'worst moment' tells you everything about whether it was trivial or heavy.

What your child develops

Emotional processing through embodiment — acting out an experience re-encodes it with less emotional charge than describing it
Nonverbal communication — children who struggle to articulate often perform with great precision
Safe disclosure — the performance format provides distance that direct questioning removes