20 Questions

The other night in the car, I decided to teach my kids to play 20 Questions. I started. I'm the mom, I know the rules, and let's face it, I just like going first in games!
I was trying to get them to guess Kevin. As they kept guessing really specific things ("Is it a bush?" "Is it that car?") I realized I would have to teach them how to ask broader questions to narrow the field.
"Penny, you could ask me if it's something alive."
"Naomi, you could ask me if it's a person."
"Penny, you could ask me if it's someone we know."
(Not only do I like going first in games, but I apparently like playing all the parts of the game myself, too.)
"Naomi, you could ask me if it's someone in our family."
And then-- what do you know?-- they guessed it!

I let Penny go next. I didn't have much hope of a successful round, but we tried anyway. Turns out, she's really good! It was a person, But she clarified for us that it was a GROUP of people. Her Kindergarten class! I thought it was a clever idea.

Naomi went next. She also chose Penny's kindergarten class! It didn't take us quite so long to guess this time. But she was pretty proud of herself for answering all those questions we had for her!

Then it was my turn again. I helped them ask questions again, and it was... our car, Buttercup!

Then Penny went again. Her class at school has been learning about the states of matter, so I asked her, "Is it a solid? a liquid? a gas?"
No to all three.
Uh....
"It's a kind of energy!!"
I swear this girl is going to be smarter than her mom in just a few years. "Heat? Gravity? Radiation? Potential?" I know science stuff, too!
"It's light, Mom."
"Oh yeah, that's a kind of energy. Good job, Penny!"
"Yes, but what kind of light?"
And after a couple guesses, "It starts with a letter that starts with 'eh.'"
Flashlight. Because "F" starts with "eh."
I think it will soon be an even two-player game, Penny versus mom!