Winter Would You Rather Questions for Kids

Winter would you rather questions give kids two snowy, silly choices and one easy job: pick a side and say why. This page has 100 cards for ages 5 to 12: 60 would you rather questions, 20 winter this or that picks, and 20 New Year questions for January. Use the card picker above to filter by age, draw one card at a time, show it fullscreen on the classroom board, or print the set.

How to Play Winter Would You Rather in Class

One card takes about two minutes: 15 seconds to read it, 15 seconds to choose, and up to 30 seconds each for two or three reasons.

1. Choose an age in the picker: Ages 5–7 or Ages 8–12.
2. Press Present fullscreen and read both choices aloud.
3. Say "Go". Kids point left or right, or walk to that side of the room.
4. Ask two or three kids "Why?" Start the 30-second timer when a child begins to explain.
5. Press Next card. Cards do not repeat until every card for your filters has been used.

Before the first card, say the rule out loud: "Every answer is a good answer, and you can always say pass." A child who only points has taken a full turn.

Filters, timer, and print. The Format filter has three options: Would you rather, This or that, and New Year questions. The badge under the card shows how many cards match your filters. Print cards prints only those cards.

Ages 5–7. Read each card twice and hold up one hand for each choice. Accept a one-word reason, and stop after three or four cards.

Ages 8–12. Ask for a full sentence that starts with "I would rather ... because ...". Let partners tell each other first for 30 seconds, then call on two volunteers.

No snow where you teach? The cards still work, because most of them ask kids to imagine. Nobody needs to have seen snow to answer "Would you rather have purple snow or have sparkly snow?" Tell the class: "You don't need to know snow. Just picture it." If a card falls flat, press Next card.

Morning Meeting

Plan 5 to 10 minutes for a class of 20 to 30. Kids stay seated in the circle.

1. Say how many cards you will draw: "We have time for four cards today."
2. Put one card on the board and read it aloud.
3. Say: "Think in your head. When I say go, point to your side." Count down from three.
4. Kids turn to a partner and give one reason. Allow 30 seconds.
5. Call on one child from each side, then draw the next card.

In January, close the circle with one New Year question, such as "What is one small goal you have for January?" Each child answers in a few words or says pass.

Indoor Recess

Indoor recess usually means 15 to 20 minutes in the classroom with kids who need to move. Use the walking version.

1. Name the sides: "The window side is the first choice. The door side is the second choice."
2. Show a card in fullscreen and read it aloud.
3. Say: "Walk, don't run. Go." Count down from five while kids cross the room.
4. Ask one child on each side for a reason, then draw the next card.

Eight to ten cards fill about 15 minutes.

For a quieter option, print the cards and put a stack of ten on each table of four to six kids. One child reads a card, everyone at the table answers, and the stack moves to the next reader. The same stacks work as winter icebreaker questions when you change seating groups.

Winter Would You Rather Questions for Kids

These 45 cards are sorted into two age groups. Fifteen more are in the January list further down. For cards that fit any season, see the 160 would you rather questions for kids.

For Ages 5–7

Short choices about snow, animals, and cozy things, in words a kindergartner or 1st grader already knows.

• Would you rather build a snow castle or build a snow rocket?
• Would you rather be a white bunny or be a snowy owl?
• Would you rather slide like a penguin or splash like a seal?
• Would you rather catch snowflakes on your mitten or catch snowflakes in a cup?
• Would you rather hop through the snow like a fox or dig in the snow like a puppy?
• Would you rather have mittens that sing or have a scarf that tells jokes?
• Would you rather give a snowman a carrot nose or give a snowman a banana nose?
• Would you rather stomp in deep snow or tiptoe on crunchy snow?
• Would you rather meet a friendly polar bear or meet a friendly walrus?
• Would you rather live in an igloo or live in a cozy bear cave?
• Would you rather have purple snow or have sparkly snow?
• Would you rather roll one giant snowball or stack ten tiny snowballs?
• Would you rather make a snow angel or make a snow heart?
• Would you rather ride a sled pulled by puppies or ride a sled pulled by penguins?
• Would you rather ride on a giant snowflake or ride on a fluffy cloud?
• Would you rather keep a snowball in your pocket or keep a snowflake in a jar?
• Would you rather be a snowflake falling slowly or be a snowball rolling fast?
• Would you rather see snow fall up or see snow fall sideways?
• Would you rather sit next to a penguin or sit next to a baby seal?
• Would you rather jump over a snow pile or hide behind a snow wall?
• Would you rather have a snowman that tells stories or have a snowman that plays tag?
• Would you rather paint pictures on the snow or build towers of ice blocks?
• Would you rather wear ten scarves or wear ten hats?
• Would you rather follow bunny tracks in the snow or follow bird tracks in the snow?
• Would you rather listen to snow fall or listen to rain tap?

For Ages 8–12

Longer choices about inventions, arctic animals, weather, and science, which give 3rd to 6th graders more to explain.

• Would you rather explore a glittering ice cave or explore a snowy forest at sunrise?
• Would you rather design a snow fort with a secret door or design a snow fort with a lookout tower?
• Would you rather study penguins in Antarctica or study polar bears in the Arctic?
• Would you rather invent self-warming mittens or invent boots that leave funny footprints?
• Would you rather grow a thick winter coat like a musk ox or turn white for winter like an arctic hare?
• Would you rather be a scientist who studies snowflakes or be a scientist who studies icebergs?
• Would you rather see the world's biggest snowman or see the world's longest icicle?
• Would you rather design a hotel made of ice or design a library made of snow?
• Would you rather follow an arctic fox for a day or follow a pod of narwhals for a day?
• Would you rather drive a giant snowplow or steer an icebreaker ship?
• Would you rather be a weather reporter on the snowiest day or be a weather reporter on the windiest day?
• Would you rather carve a sculpture from ice or shape a sculpture from snow?
• Would you rather have a coat with twenty pockets or have a hat with a built-in umbrella?
• Would you rather watch snow fall from a cozy window seat or watch snow fall from inside a glass dome?
• Would you rather freeze a puddle with a clap or melt a snowbank with a stomp?
• Would you rather see a snowflake under a microscope or see a frozen lake from a hilltop?
• Would you rather name the next big snowstorm or name a new kind of snowflake?
• Would you rather ride a train through a snowy forest or ride a hot-air balloon over snowy peaks?
• Would you rather spend a winter day as a sled dog or spend a winter day as an emperor penguin?
• Would you rather see every snowflake in slow motion or hear every snowflake land?

January Would You Rather Questions for Kids

These fifteen winter would you rather questions suit the first weeks back at school: indoor recess, classroom routines, and the long middle of the season. The first five are for ages 5–7, and the rest are for ages 8–12.

• Would you rather warm up with soup or warm up with oatmeal?
• Would you rather sleep all winter like a bear or play all winter like an otter?
• Would you rather draw on a frosty window or draw in the snow with a stick?
• Would you rather spend indoor recess doing a puzzle or spend indoor recess playing a matching game?
• Would you rather look at books under a blanket or look at books in a pillow fort?
• Would you rather have gym class in the snow or have art class in the snow?
• Would you rather live where it snows all year or live where it is sunny all year?
• Would you rather have indoor recess in the gym or have indoor recess in the library?
• Would you rather invent a game for indoor recess or invent a game for a snowy field?
• Would you rather write a poem about falling snow or paint a picture of a quiet snowy night?
• Would you rather catch the first snowflake of winter or watch the last icicle melt?
• Would you rather eat ice pops in January or eat hot soup in July?
• Would you rather have winter last one extra month or have spring come one month early?
• Would you rather learn how igloos stay warm or learn how penguins stay warm?
• Would you rather make the first footprints in fresh snow or build the first snowman of the year?

Winter This or That for Kids

One this or that card takes about 20 seconds. Use five in a row for a two-minute transition, or while the class lines up. Kids point or step to a side, and nobody has to explain. The first ten are for ages 5–7, and the last ten are for ages 8–12.

• Snowman or snow fort?
• Mittens or gloves?
• Polar bear or snow leopard?
• Otter or seal?
• Soup or grilled cheese?
• Cocoa or warm milk?
• Blanket or sleeping bag?
• Snowflakes or icicles?
• Hat or hood?
• Indoor recess or outdoor recess?
• Snowy day or rainy day?
• Moose or walrus?
• Oatmeal or toast?
• Northern lights or shooting stars?
• Frost or fog?
• Morning snow or night snow?
• Icebergs or glaciers?
• Sunrise or sunset?
• Snow maze or snow slide?
• Jigsaw puzzle or word puzzle?

New Year Questions for Kids

These are open questions about school, the class, and imagination. They fit a January morning circle, a journal page, or a turn-and-talk. The first ten are for ages 5–7, and the last ten are for ages 8–12.

Ask one a day during the first two weeks of January, aloud or as a five-minute writing prompt. For a question every school day after that, open the question of the day picker.

• What is something new you want to try this year?
• What do you hope our class does this year?
• What kind of story do you want to hear this year?
• What game do you want to play more this year?
• If the new year had a color, what color would it be?
• If the new year were a puppy, what would you name it?
• What song do you want our class to sing this year?
• What animal do you want to learn about this January?
• What is the first thing you want to draw this year?
• How should our class cheer for the new year?
• What is one small goal you have for January?
• What is one school habit you want to keep this year?
• What is one thing our class has done that you want to do again this year?
• If you picked one word to guide your year, what would it be?
• What is a question you hope to answer this year?
• If you could add a thirteenth month to the year, what would you call it?
• What would you put in a class time capsule to open next January?
• What is one way our class could make this year kinder?
• What do you think someone will invent this year?
• What do you think our school will look like one year from now?

5 Indoor Recess Winter Games

All five games use classroom supplies only. None of them needs snow.

1. Freeze and Melt

Time: 5 minutes. Group: the whole class. Materials: none.

1. Kids stand beside their desks.
2. Say "Snowfall". Everyone moves slowly and quietly on the spot, like a drifting snowflake.
3. Say "Freeze". Everyone holds still like an ice sculpture while you count to five.
4. Say "Melt". Everyone sinks slowly back into their seat. Repeat four or five times.

2. Snowball Swap

Time: 10 minutes. Group: 10 to 30. Materials: scrap paper and a pencil for each child.

1. Show one would you rather card. Each child writes or draws their choice on scrap paper, with no name.
2. Kids crumple the paper into a "snowball" and, on your signal, toss it underhand into the middle of the circle.
3. Everyone picks up one snowball, opens it, and walks to the side written on it.
4. Count each side together, then play again with a new card.

3. Snowman Drawing Relay

Time: 10 minutes. Group: teams of four or five. Materials: one sheet of paper and one pencil per team.

1. Ask the class a warm-up card: "Would you rather give a snowman a carrot nose or give a snowman a banana nose?"
2. In each team, the first child draws one part of a snowman, then passes the pencil.
3. Each child adds one part per turn. Keep passing for three minutes.
4. Teams agree on a name for their snowman and hold up the drawing.

4. Arctic Animal Statues

Time: 8 minutes. Group: 8 to 30. Materials: none.

1. One volunteer, the guesser, faces the wall.
2. Write a winter animal on the board for everyone else to read, such as penguin, polar bear, or walrus. Then erase it.
3. Everyone else freezes in a pose of that animal, so no child performs alone.
4. The guesser turns around and gets three guesses. Choose a new volunteer and a new animal.

5. Winter Four Corners

Time: 10 minutes. Group: 12 or more. Materials: four sheets of paper and a marker.

1. Draw two this or that cards, such as "Snowman or snow fort?" and "Snowflakes or icicles?"
2. Write one of the four words on each sheet and place one sheet in each corner.
3. On "Go", kids walk to the corner they like best.
4. Each corner agrees on one reason and shares it. Allow about three minutes per round.

Frequently Asked Questions

Would you rather questions about the weather?

Several winter would you rather cards are about weather, including "Would you rather listen to snow fall or listen to rain tap?" For a quick vote, use "Snowy day or rainy day?" Both work as a warm-up before a science lesson on weather.

Are these winter questions okay for every child in the class?

Yes. The cards are about weather, animals, school, and imagination. None of them is tied to a celebration or a tradition, and every question can be answered by picturing the scene.

Can I print these winter would you rather cards?

Yes. Choose an age and a format, then press Print cards in the picker. The sheet opens in a new window, so allow pop-ups if nothing appears.