Tonight with your 9 to 12 year old
The prompt
“If you and your best friend could go on one adventure together, what would it be?”
What to listen for
Listen for the flavor of the adventure, wild and risky, exploratory and curious, or cozy and low-key, since that tells you what kind of experiences they currently crave with the people they trust most. Notice whether they include specific details about what they'd do together; a richly imagined answer shows this friendship holds real emotional weight for them.
If they say they haven't thought about it, invite them to make it up on the spot, the spontaneous answer is often more revealing than a well-rehearsed one.
If the 'adventure' is something totally realistic and achievable, consider actually making a version of it happen, that follow-through means a lot at this age.
What this tells you
This shows you what kind of shared experience they're currently longing for with the friend who matters most to them.