Tonight with your 5 to 8 year old
The prompt
“What does missing someone feel like inside you?”
What to listen for
A physical or vivid description ("a hole in my tummy," "heavy," "like I want to cry a little") shows a kid developing real emotional vocabulary, a wonderful skill to acknowledge and build on.
If they name a specific person they're missing right now, that's important information, even if it's someone who moved away or you rarely discuss, follow up gently with a way to reconnect, even just a call or photo.
If they say "I don't know" or "nothing," that's fine too, missing can be a fuzzy, hard-to-name feeling at this age, and just talking about it normalizes it for next time.
What this tells you
This tells you who currently occupies real space in their heart, and how safe they feel naming that ache out loud.