Thanksgiving Would You Rather Questions for Kids (40 Silly, Easy Ones)
Would you rather is the rare game that needs no supplies, no setup and no reading for the youngest players, which makes it perfect for the gap between arriving at Grandma's and the turkey coming out of the oven. Below are 40 Thanksgiving-themed questions grouped by age, so preschoolers get simple food-and-animal choices and older kids get the goofier dilemmas they love to argue about. After the list are a few ways to turn the questions into a real game, so it keeps going longer than five minutes.
Practical tips
- Ages 3 to 5: Would you rather eat mashed potatoes or macaroni and cheese? Be a turkey or a pumpkin? Wear a pilgrim hat or a leaf crown? Eat pie for breakfast or pancakes for dinner? Have a pet turkey or a pet cow? Jump in a leaf pile or a hay pile? Eat only corn or only peas? Sing a song or do a dance before dinner?
- Ages 6 to 8: Would you rather have gravy rivers or cranberry sauce lakes? Be the size of a pea or the size of a parade balloon? Smell like pumpkin pie all day or stuffing all day? Carve every pumpkin in town or rake every yard on your street? Gobble instead of laughing or quack instead of sneezing? Only eat with a giant spoon or with tiny tongs? Have a parade in your backyard or a feast in a treehouse? Be a football player or a marching band drummer?
- Ages 9 to 12: Would you rather wash every dish after dinner or set every table for a week? Sit at the kids' table forever or the grown-ups' table with no phones? Eat cold turkey or warm salad? Host Thanksgiving for 30 people or eat alone in a fancy restaurant? Know every recipe by heart or never have to cook again? Watch the parade from a float or from a helicopter? Lose the wishbone pull every year or never get to try? Taste every pie in the world or invent one new pie?
- Silly bonus round: Would you rather have a turkey that talks or a pie that sings? Have hair made of noodles or fingers made of carrots? Live inside a giant pumpkin or a giant cornucopia? Have the turkey chase you or chase the turkey?
- Thankful twist: add a reason round. After choosing, each player finishes the sentence 'I am thankful for...' with something connected to their pick. It gently sneaks gratitude into the game.
- Move version: point to one side of the room for choice A and the other for choice B. Kids run to their side, which burns off pre-dinner energy.
- Car ride version: one person reads, everyone shouts A or B, and the minority side has to explain their answer in one sentence.
- Classroom version: write two choices on the board, kids vote with thumbs up or down, and tally results into a quick class bar graph for some easy math practice.
- Keep it kind: no choices that make fun of a real person at the table, and anyone can say pass on a question they do not like.
Frequently asked questions
What age is would you rather good for?
Most kids can play from about age 3 if an adult reads the choices aloud and keeps them concrete, like two foods or two animals. Older kids enjoy sillier and harder dilemmas.
How long does a round take?
Usually 20 to 40 seconds per question, so 10 questions fill about five minutes. Adding a 'why' answer makes rounds longer.
Can I use these at school?
Yes. They work well as a morning meeting warm-up or a transition game the week of Thanksgiving, and need nothing printed.