Would You Rather Thanksgiving Questions for Kids

Below, you'll find would you rather thanksgiving questions for kids, split by age. There's also a full set of this or that pairs for whenever you want something that moves even faster. Pick a few, read them out, and let the kids argue about pumpkin pie versus apple pie for the next twenty minutes.

Why Would You Rather and This or That Work So Well at Thanksgiving

Would you rather thanksgiving questions work because they turn the waiting around a holiday meal into something kids actually want to do. That's true before dinner, between courses, or during the car ride there. Each question asks a kid to pick a side and say why, which is a small, real exercise in deciding and in listening to someone else's answer.

That's useful at any age, but it does double duty with younger kids who are still building the words to explain a choice out loud. For kids working on speech and communication specifically, Keiki World's speech games use that same back-and-forth format, just built around letters and sounds instead of turkey and pie.

This also helps with the kid who goes quiet at a bigger table. Thanksgiving often means more relatives in the room than any other day of the year, and a shy kid can get lost between the second cousins and the family friends nobody quite remembers. A forced-choice question doesn't ask them to come up with something to say out of nowhere. It just asks them to pick a side, which is a much smaller ask than carrying a conversation.

There's also a practical reason this beats a general icebreaker: everyone at the table already shares the same holiday. You don't need to explain what a would-you-rather is or set up a scenario from nothing. You just ask whether they'd rather eat dinner with their hands or with giant oven mitts on. Every kid at the table will have an opinion in about two seconds.

Would You Rather Questions for Little Kids (Ages 3–5)

These thanksgiving would you rather for kids questions stick to things a three- or four-year-old already knows: food, animals, and silly pictures in their head. Nothing here is about chores, shopping, or anything else that needs grown-up context.

Read these slowly and give your child a second to picture both options before they answer. At this age, the goal isn't a clever answer. It's just getting them talking and pointing at things.

• Would you rather eat a whole pumpkin pie or a whole plate of mashed potatoes?
• Would you rather be a turkey that can fly or a turkey that can talk?
• Would you rather wear a pilgrim hat or a feather headband all day?
• Would you rather help stir the gravy or help set the table?
• Would you rather eat Thanksgiving dinner with your hands or with giant oven mitts on?
• Would you rather have a pet turkey or a pet duck?
• Would you rather smell like pumpkin spice or like roasted turkey all day?
• Would you rather ride on a parade float or watch the parade from the couch?
• Would you rather have mashed potatoes instead of hair or gravy instead of soup?
• Would you rather be as big as the Thanksgiving turkey or as small as a cranberry?
• Would you rather eat corn on the cob or corn off the cob?
• Would you rather nap before dinner or nap after dinner?
• Would you rather help a grown-up carve the pumpkin or help carry the plates?
• Would you rather drink apple cider or pumpkin juice?
• Would you rather wear your pajamas to Thanksgiving dinner or your fanciest outfit?
• Would you rather have a Thanksgiving dinner with only orange foods or only white foods?
• Would you rather sit next to Grandma or sit next to your cousin?
• Would you rather have stuffing shaped like stars or mashed potatoes shaped like clouds?

Would You Rather Questions for Big Kids (Ages 6–10)

Once kids are around six or seven, they can handle a question with a real trade-off. It's the kind that makes them pause and actually weigh two sides instead of just picking the funnier option.

This set leans into family, gratitude, and a few harder choices, since older kids are usually ready to explain their reasoning in a full sentence or two.

• Would you rather give up dessert or give up your phone for the whole day?
• Would you rather host Thanksgiving at your house every year or always travel somewhere new?
• Would you rather be in charge of the Thanksgiving menu or in charge of the Thanksgiving games?
• Would you rather say out loud what you're thankful for or write it down and keep it private?
• Would you rather eat the same Thanksgiving meal every year or try something different each time?
• Would you rather stay at the kids' table forever or move to the grown-up table this year?
• Would you rather watch the parade live or watch football all afternoon?
• Would you rather be the one who says grace or the one who carves the turkey?
• Would you rather spend the day cooking with family or spend the day outside playing?
• Would you rather get seconds of your favorite dish or try something new on the table?
• Would you rather help plan next year's Thanksgiving or be surprised by it?
• Would you rather have Thanksgiving dinner at noon or at night?
• Would you rather be thankful for something big, like your family, or something small, like a good book?
• Would you rather spend Thanksgiving with a huge group of relatives or a small, quiet group?
• Would you rather bring a dish you made yourself or bring your favorite store-bought treat?
• Would you rather skip Thanksgiving leftovers entirely or eat leftovers for every meal for a week?
• Would you rather be the youngest person at the table or the oldest?
• Would you rather have a Thanksgiving with no screens at all or one where everyone video calls a relative who's far away?

Thanksgiving This or That for Kids

This or that moves faster than would you rather. There's no explaining, just two words and a quick answer, which makes it the better pick when you've only got a minute or two between courses. Read both words, let your child point or shout out an answer, and move straight to the next pair.

It's also an easy warm-up right before a longer classroom gathering. Keiki World's circle games for kids round out the party with a few more group-friendly options once the questions run out.

With more than a couple of kids playing, let the youngest go first each round. This or that moves fast enough that waiting through three or four older answers can make a younger sibling lose interest before their own turn comes around.

• Turkey or ham?
• Pumpkin pie or apple pie?
• Mashed potatoes or sweet potatoes?
• Stuffing or mac and cheese?
• Cranberry sauce or gravy?
• Pie first or dinner first?
• Watching the parade or watching football?
• A big family gathering or a small one?
• Helping cook or helping clean up?
• Fall leaves or fresh snow?
• Warm apple cider or cold apple juice?
• The kids' table or the grown-up table?
• A Thanksgiving nap or a Thanksgiving walk?
• Store-bought pie or homemade pie?
• Corn bread or dinner rolls?
• A board game or playing outside after dinner?
• Leftovers the next day or a brand-new meal?
• Sharing what you're thankful for before dinner or after?

Pair It With a Screen-Free Coloring Break

Once the questions run out and the kids still need something to do before dinner's ready, a stack of coloring pages keeps the table calm. Nobody needs a screen for it, and it works just as well after dinner, once the grown-ups settle in for a second slice of pie.

Keiki World has a full set of Thanksgiving coloring pages. The pages include turkeys, pumpkins, and harvest scenes sized for little hands, and they're part of a wider set of 500+ printable pieces Keiki World makes for exactly this kind of screen-free moment.

Print a few ahead of time and set them next to the kids' table as a backup, or hand them out the moment the would-you-rather questions run their course. A basket of crayons next to the gravy boat gives kids something to do with their hands while the adults linger over coffee, instead of handing over a phone for ten quiet minutes.

If you're hosting a mixed-age group, the coloring pages also give younger kids who've lost interest in the question game somewhere to land, while the older kids keep playing this or that at the table.

How to Play (At the Table, in the Car, or in the Classroom)

You don't need any supplies to play either game. Pick a question, read it out loud, and go around the table.

At the kids' table, go in a circle so nobody gets skipped and everyone gets a turn to answer and say why. If answers start repeating, ask a follow-up like "would anyone switch sides after hearing that?" to keep the round going a little longer.

If your table has a wide age range, alternate between the two question lists below instead of sticking to one. Read a question from the little kids' list, then one from the big kids' list, and back again. That way nobody's stuck answering something too easy or too hard for more than a minute or two.

In the car on the way to grandma's, would you rather questions fill the time without a screen. That matters if you're trying to keep car time low-tech. One parent calls out the question, the back seat answers, and you can keep a loose tally of whose answer made the whole car laugh.

If the ride runs long and the would-you-rather list runs out, Keiki World's trivia games for kids are another no-prep option. Just swap opinions for quick facts.

A thanksgiving this or that game is an easy five-minute filler for a classroom party or a morning meeting circle. Kids only need to pick a side, not come up with an answer from scratch.