The ordinary walk home gives some children their easiest time to talk.

Talking is easier when nobody has to look at anybody. Walking side by side, with something to watch and an obvious end point, removes the pressure that a face to face conversation about feelings creates, and children often use exactly that gap to say the real thing. The walk is not incidental to the talk; it is what makes the talk possible.

Protect the small journeys rather than filling them with a screen or a phone call. Ask nothing at the start and leave silences alone. Whatever comes usually comes about halfway, after the ordinary part of the conversation has run out.