One of the best ways to inspire children to think deeply is to ask them thought-provoking questions. As they figure out their answers, they get curious about different perspectives, explore creative outcomes, and build problem-solving skills and emotional intelligence.
“Would You Rather” is a fun activity that parents and teachers can do with kids. And bonus: it’s screenless! Below, we’ve compiled a list of 200 fun questions you can ask your child throughout the day to get their curiosity kicking.
Table of Contents
- How to Kick Off Discussions with Kids
- 200 “Would You Rather” Questions for Kids
- Benefits and Considerations for “Would You Rather” Questions
How to Kick Off Discussions with Kids
It’s pretty simple. Give your child two scenarios and ask them to choose their favorite. That’s it. You’re off and running! Start with easier questions and then move to more thought-provoking ones. Go beyond just the questions and ask why your child made their choices.
Even if your child doesn’t know a particular detail in a question (for example, they’ve never heard of the Pony Express), ask it anyway! Then take the opportunity to have a conversation about it!
200 “Would You Rather” Questions for Kids
Humorous Questions
1) Would you rather eat 100 ice cream bars or hot dogs?
2) Would you rather always have your favorite snacks or never clean your room?
3) Would you rather stand in a downpour of marshmallows or jelly beans?
4) Would you rather live in a nest or a dam?
5) Would you rather wear clown shoes or a clown nose?
6) Would you rather eat warm ice cream or cold French fries?
7) Would you rather eat cat food or dog treats?
8) Would you rather sneeze or hiccup?
9) Would you rather see the world in black and white or glow-in-the-dark?
10) Would you rather have four arms or four legs?
11) Would you rather become a dog or a cat?
12) Would you rather eat 100 apple cores or banana peels?
13) Would you rather hop or skip?
14) Would you rather eat onion-flavored cookies or ice cream?
15) Would you rather sleep standing up or walk lying down?
16) Would you rather lick a trash can or a floor?
17) Would you rather only whisper or yell?
18) Would you rather kiss a frog or a snake?
19) Would you rather moo like a cow or bark like a dog?
20) Would you rather have hands for feet or feet for hands?
21) Would you rather shoot porcupine quills or spray like a skunk?
22) Would you rather have a trampoline floor or a slide for your stairs?
23) Would you rather brush your teeth with ketchup or wash your hands with mustard?
24) Would you rather wear jelly-filled socks or pudding-filled gloves?
25) Would you rather have scales or feathers?
26) Would you rather eat pink or purple food?
27) Would you rather sleep in a library or a lab?
28) Would you rather wear your clothes inside-out or backwards?
29) Would you rather slide down a rainbow or jump on a cloud?
30) Would you rather always walk backwards or on your hands?
31) Would you rather eat a bug sandwich or drink a bug milkshake?
Fantastical Questions
32) Would you rather control water or fire?
33) Would you rather travel to the past or the future?
34) Would you rather live with an elephant-sized mouse or a mouse-sized elephant?
35) Would you rather be super strong or super fast?
36) Would you rather live in a world made of lollipops or licorice?
37) Would you rather live in the sky or underwater?
38) Would you rather breathe underwater or stand in fire?
39) Would you rather meet aliens on Earth or travel into outer space?
40) Would you rather be the faster runner or the highest jumper?
41) Would you rather have blue or green hair?
42) Would you rather be royalty or a dragon?
43) Would you rather have a jetpack or a robot?
44) Would you rather talk to land animals or aquatic animals?
45) Would you rather never have to sleep or never have to eat?
46) Would you rather meet someone from the past or someone from the future?
47) Would you rather visit 1000 butterflies or starfish?
48) Would you rather have candy-flavored walls or a bathtub filled with caramel?
49) Would you rather discover treasure or a fossil?
50) Would you rather find a unicorn or a fairy?
51) Would you rather have wings or tentacles?
52) Would you rather ride an ostrich or a dolphin?
53) Would you rather control the weather or time?
54) Would you rather have one wish granted today or 10 wishes granted later?
55) Would you rather have the power to make things float or disappear?
56) Would you rather have a closet leading to a secret world or a bed that flies?
57) Would you rather sled on marshmallows or skate on frozen milk?
58) Would you rather talk to birds or trees?
59) Would you rather wear flip flops or winter boots?
60) Would you rather turn into a raindrop or a ray of sun?
61) Would you rather climb a tree like a squirrel or run like a cheetah?
62) Would you rather have the power to make things shrink or grow?
Logistical Questions
63) Would you rather live on a beach or a mountain?
64) Would you rather be an inventor or an explorer?
65) Would you rather take a train or a plane?
66) Would you rather get a pet hamster or a rabbit?
67) Would you rather do the dishes or vacuum the rugs?
68) Would you rather explore space or the ocean?
69) Would you rather give up candy or pizza?
70) Would you rather eat spicy or bitter food?
71) Would you rather shear a sheep or milk a goat?
72) Would you rather go to the zoo or the circus?
73) Would you rather play inside or outside?
74) Would you rather drive a firetruck or an ambulance?
75) Would you rather skip taking a bath or brushing your teeth?
76) Would you rather see fireworks or a concert?
77) Would you rather make snow angels or sand castles?
78) Would you rather be a doctor or a dentist?
79) Would you rather live underground or in a skyscraper?
80) Would you rather visit the North Pole or the South Pole?
81) Would you rather see a shooting star or a meteor shower?
82) Would you rather live where it’s always light or always dark?
83) Would you rather be cold or hot?
84) Would you rather stand in the rain or the sun?
85) Would you rather hold a lizard or a spider?
86) Would you rather travel the world or get a million dollars?
87) Would you rather run or jump for 10 minutes?
88) Would you rather be a coach or a referee?
89) Would you rather live in a triangle-shaped or a circle-shaped house?
90) Would you rather have a family movie or a game night?
91) Would you rather read a book or do a science experiment?
92) Would you rather play softball or the drums?
93) Would you rather have a new puppy or toy?
Emotional Questions
94) Would you rather have the superpower to make people laugh or make people feel better?
95) Would you rather be surrounded by people or be alone?
96) Would you rather make new friends or have the same friends forever?
97) Would you rather have a friend who tells you the truth or lies to make you feel better?
98) Would you rather be funny or kind?
99) Would you rather take a risk and fail or do the same thing well over and over again?
100) Would you rather share your dessert or eat it by yourself?
101) Would you rather keep money you find on the street or put it in the lost and found?
102) Would you rather have a little or a big sibling?
103) Would you rather have a family that’s quiet or loud?
104) Would you rather have your hair turn orange when you’re mad or blue when you’re scared?
105) Would you rather be able to fly when you’re happy or when you’re sad?
106) Would you rather rebuild your block tower if it falls or build a new one?
107) Would you rather be a person who listens a lot or talks a lot?
108) Would you rather be smart or strong?
109) Would you rather be a leader or a follower?
110) Would you rather be a superhero or a super villain?
111) Would you rather be able to say whatever you want or not say anything at all?
112) Would you rather give a present or get a present?
113) Would you rather know the future or be surprised by it?
114) Would you rather keep a secret or share it with someone?
115) Would you rather have nothing to do or too much to do?
116) Would you rather ask questions or give answers?
117) Would you rather never be tired or never be bored?
118) Would you rather have a permanent smile or frown?
119) Would you rather share your toys or keep them all to yourself?
120) Would you rather learn something new or know everything already?
121) Would you rather go on adventures or get cozy on the couch and read?
122) Would you rather have a lot of energy or be good at waiting?
123) Would you rather be big and scary or small and sneaky?
124) Would you rather work with a friend or play alone?
125) Would you rather be the best hider or seeker in a game of Hide and Seek?
Scientific Questions
126) Would you rather be a scuba diver or an astronaut?
127) Would you rather hibernate or have camouflage?
128) Would you rather control the weather or the oceans?
129) Would you rather push a wheelbarrow uphill or downhill?
130) Would you rather meet a dinosaur or an alien?
131) Would you rather use a microscope or a magnifying glass?
132) Would you rather have feathers or fur?
133) Would you rather spin a bowling ball or a beach ball?
134) Would you rather camp in a rainforest or a desert?
135) Would you rather talk to birds or understand whales?
136) Would you rather swim like a dolphin or climb like a gecko?
137) Would you rather have a panda for a picnic buddy or a penguin for a snow day?
138) Would you rather live in a cozy treehouse or a sunny seaside cabin?
139) Would you rather shrink to ant-size for a forest adventure or grow tall to see over a jungle?
140) Would you rather watch a meteor shower or a butterfly migration?
141) Would you rather plant a mini vegetable garden or a wildflower meadow?
142) Would you rather help at an animal shelter or clean up a beach?
143) Would you rather see the northern lights or snorkel a colourful reef?
144) Would you rather spend a day birdwatching or stargazing?
145) Would you rather use a microscope to see a cell or a telescope to see a star?
146) Would you rather balance on one foot or one hand?
147) Would you rather change the Earth’s shape to be flat or a rectangle?
148) Would you rather invent time travel or warp travel?
149) Would you rather discover a new animal or design an award-winning app?
150) Would you rather work in a science lab or work outside?
151) Would you rather be caught in a lightning storm or a blizzard?
152) Would you rather travel to Mars as an astronaut or to the bottom of the sea as
an oceanographer?
153) Would you rather rediscover a once-thought extinct animal or solve the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle?
154) Would you rather be a veterinarian or a dentist?
155) Would you rather wear lab goggles all day or lab gloves?
156) Would you rather be able to safely visit the Sun or Pluto?
157) Would you rather donate your body to science or donate your organs to living
people who need them?
158) Would you rather work with Alexander Graham Bell or Albert Einstein?
159) Would you rather discover dinosaur fossils or a meteorite in your back yard?
160) Would you rather be the first person to explore a planet or be the inventor of a drug that cures a deadly disease?
161) Would you rather travel to the edge of the universe or to the center of the Earth?
162) Would you rather have a satellite in space or a mountain on Earth named after
you?
163) Would you rather be an engineer or a mathematician?
164) Would you rather watch the brain in action or the heart in action?
165) Would you rather discover a new planet or a new element?
Historical Questions
166) Would you rather learn ancient hieroglyphics or morse code?
167) Would you rather have invented electricity or the car?
168) Would you rather live for a week in the future or live for a week in the past?
169) Would you rather be a Roman gladiator or an Egyptian pyramid builder?
170) Would you rather sail with Christopher Columbus or Ferdinand Magellan?
171) Would you rather cross the Atlantic Ocean by ship in 1500 or cross the entire United States in a wagon in 1800?
172) Would you rather visit an ancient castle or visit a futuristic museum?
173) Would you rather write with a feather quill or write with a giant crayon?
174) Would you rather be President of the United States in 1800 or in modern times?
175) Would you rather work on the Pony Express or help the Wright brothers build the first airplane?
176) Would you rather ride a camel through a desert or an elephant across the Alps?
177) Would you rather own Picasso’s favorite paint brush or Ben Franklin’s eyeglasses?
178) Would you rather watch a black and white movie or watch a silent movie with music?
179) Would you rather visit a blacksmith shop demonstration or visit a printing press demonstration?
180) Would you rather learn to weave on a small loom or learn to spin yarn with a drop spindle?
181) Would you rather visit a fossil dig site or visit a gold rush town?
182) Would you rather learn a dance from the 1920s or learn a dance from the 1970s?
183) Would you rather time travel to see the first book printed or time travel to see the first photograph?
184) Would you rather recreate a famous speech or recreate a famous painting style?
185) Would you rather watch Leonardo da Vinci paint the Mona Lisa or watch the founding fathers sign the Declaration of Independence?
186) Would you rather be credited with building the Panama Canal or the Statue of Liberty?
187) Would you rather be present at Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream Speech” or at Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address?
188) Would you rather spend the winter at Valley Forge with Washington or spend the first winter with the Pilgrims at Plymouth?
189) Would you rather discover life on another planet or a diamond mine in your backyard?
190) Would you rather cross the Atlantic Ocean on a sailing ship ORcross the United States in a covered wagon?
191) Would you rather attend the first Olympic Games in ancient Greece or the first modern Olympics in 1896?
192) Would you rather find the world’s oldest fossil or discover the newest breed of animal?
193) Would you rather be a merchant on the Silk Road or a sailor during the Age of Exploration?
194) Would you rather be a passenger on the Mayflower or a pioneer on the Oregon Trail?
195) Would you rather attend the premiere of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” or Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 9”?
196) Would you rather be a code breaker at Bletchley Park during WWII or a spy during the Cold War?
197) Would you rather live 200 years in the past or 2000 years in the past?
198) Would you rather keep a diary like an explorer or draw a map like a cartographer?
199) Would you rather see how your city looked 100 years ago or see how it will look in 100 years?
200) Would you rather ride a horse to deliver messages or take a boat across a river to sneak past British soldiers?
Benefits and Considerations for “Would You Rather” Questions
While “Would You Rather” is a simple game on the surface, it’s full of opportunities to nurture social-emotional and cognitive skills, as well as relationships, both with other people and with oneself. (Your child may come away from the game learning something new about themselves!)
Some of the benefits “Would You Rather” provides are:
- Sparking creativity, curiosity, and critical thinking
- Teaching new things
- Building relationships
- Inspiring empathy
- Giving kids who are shy a way to engage in low-stress communication
You can play the game anywhere for any length of time, but it makes an especially great transition activity because it can easily slip between other, longer tasks and is a fun way to pass the time when you’re traveling.
To make the game as comfortable as possible, be sure to give these considerations some thought before you play:
- Setting ground rules about how embarrassing or scary (or gross!) the questions can be
- Giving reminders to be kind
- Being aware of taking turns and letting people finish speaking
- Being sensitive to kids who might feel pressured to make choices
- Watching for black and white thinking (If you notice this happening, use your child’s rigid thinking to begin real, complex conversations)
Would You Rather . . . with Begin!
We believe asking questions is a great way to inspire creativity and curiosity. That’s why Begin’s apps and hands-on activity kits are full of opportunities for both asking questions and exploring answers.
So, “would you rather” offer your child social-emotional learning with Learn with Sesame Street, reading with HOMER, coding with codeSpark, or world cultures and science with Little Passports? Choose one or choose them all and let the learning Begin!
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the best types of questions for “Would You Rather?”
In a nutshell? Anything! The goal is to give your child the opportunity to get creative and curious. Try tailoring the questions to your child’s interests or pull them from categories they’re drawn to, such as humor and fantasy.
Then you can switch roles, and your child can come up with questions for you!
Is “Would You Rather” a good game for a child who is shy?
Yes! “Would You Rather” can be a great game for shy kids. A child who is unsure of sharing their opinions often feels safe when they play this game because it provides a specific framework for answering questions and engaging in conversation.
And it’s a fun way to break the ice when your child meets new people or goes to a new activity. But you know your child best, and if they don’t feel comfortable playing the game, that’s OK too.
How many people can play “Would You Rather?”
You can play the game with as many people as you want. Just remember that more people playing might mean paying closer attention to time-keeping to make sure everyone gets a turn to speak.
If you feel like the number of people is too high, you can always break the group into smaller ones and play a few games at once!
