Halloween Would You Rather Free Printable: 31 Questions
Last October my four-year-old asked me, at full volume, in the middle of a crowded grocery store: “Mama, would you rather be a ghost or a witch?” A stranger in the cereal aisle answered before I could. She picked witch, “because witches get snacks from a cauldron,” and then the two of them debated it for an entire aisle while my two-year-old nodded along like a tiny referee. That is the whole magic of this game: one silly question, and suddenly everyone is talking, laughing, and revealing deeply held opinions about cauldrons.
This post gives you 31 Halloween would-you-rather questions written for kids — spooky-fun, never scary — as a free printable set of question cards. Print them, cut them apart, and play four different ways: around the dinner table, at a party, in the classroom, or in the car on the way to grandma’s.
Heads up: this post contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, MamaKinder may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you — it helps keep these guides free.
The download is a 7-page PDF: 31 question cards ready to cut, a how-to-play sheet, and a bonus page of 40 rapid-fire questions. No signup, no email, personal use. It prints in black-and-white beautifully if your color ink is precious.
Why This Game Is a Halloween Lifesaver
Would-you-rather is the rare game with zero setup, zero supplies, and zero cleanup — you can play it with nothing but your voice. That makes it the perfect filler for the dead zones of October: the hour before trick-or-treating when costumes are half on and everyone is feral, the last ten minutes of a classroom party, the drive to the pumpkin patch.
It is also secretly doing developmental work. Every question forces a choice and a reason, which means kids practice explaining their thinking out loud. My four-year-old’s cauldron-snack argument was, structurally, a thesis with supporting evidence. Teachers call this speaking and listening practice; kids call it “wait, I have a better reason.”
And the questions themselves do the heavy lifting of getting into the Halloween spirit without a single jump scare. Everything below is silly and gently spooky — friendly ghosts, wobbly broomsticks, dramatic capes. Nothing here is designed to frighten a four-year-old.
Print the Cards in 10 Minutes
The printable is designed to be genuinely print-and-play. One file, seven pages, no fiddling.
1. Print at “Actual size.” Set your printer to 100% (not “fit to page”) so the cards come out the right size. Print one test page first if you are making a classroom stack.
2. Use cardstock if you have it. Regular copy paper works fine for one night, but cardstock survives small hands, candy-sticky fingers, and being dropped in the treat bowl. Print in grayscale to save color ink — the cards look just as good in black-and-white.
3. Cut along the dashed lines. An adult handles the scissors while little kids stack and sort the finished cards — they love being in charge of the card pile.
4. Shuffle and stack. Put the cards face-down in a bowl or a pumpkin bucket and draw them one at a time.
For a party station, print the cards on the orange and purple sheets of construction paper — the colored paper doubles as decoration, and finished cards look great pinned to a bulletin board after the game.
Crayola Construction Paper — 480 Sheets
The party-station paper for this game — the orange and purple sheets make the question cards look festive, and there are enough sheets for a whole classroom batch. An adult does any trimming; kids do the stacking.
Epson EcoTank ET-2800 Printer
The cards print in grayscale to save ink, but a fresh deck for every kid still adds up over a Halloween season. The EcoTank ET-2800 uses refillable ink tanks instead of cartridges — Epson rates one ink set at up to 4,500 black and 7,500 color pages, with up to 2 years of ink in the box. Cheap pages are what make “just print another deck” an easy yes.
4 Ways to Play (Pick Your Chaos Level)
One set of cards, four games. Switch methods when the kids’ attention starts wandering.
1. Classic cards. Draw a card, read it aloud, everyone answers — and then everyone has to explain why. The “why” is the whole game. My house rule: “because” is not an answer; “because witches get cauldron snacks” is.
2. Pick a side. This is the movement version and it burns real energy. One side of the room is option A, the other side is option B. Read a card and everyone runs to their answer. Watching a roomful of kids sprint to the “pumpkin carriage” side is pure joy, and it works beautifully for big groups and classrooms. Give each team a color of glow stick as their team token — teams can flash their colors when they answer.
3. Quizmaster. One person reads the cards (an older kid loves this job); everyone else debates. After each question, the Quizmaster awards the point to the funniest or most creative reason, not the “right” answer — there are no right answers.
4. Story spark. After the group answers a card, someone makes up a two-minute story about their choice. “Tell me about the day your pumpkin head fell off at school.” This one is gold for the car ride home from the pumpkin patch.
Glow Sticks — 100 Pack
Team tokens for the pick-a-side version — hand each team a different color, and winners keep theirs for trick-or-treat visibility after dark. No candy required, every kid goes home with something.
The 31 Questions
Every question below is on the printable cards, word for word. Read them here to pick your favorites, or just print and be surprised.
1. Fly on a wobbly broomstick or ride in a super-speedy pumpkin carriage?
The wobbly broomstick is the comedy option — ask your kids to demonstrate the wobble. The pumpkin carriage is fast but, as my daughter pointed out, “it might roll into a ditch.” This is a great opener because both answers are fun and neither is scary.
2. Have a friendly spider who decorates your room with cobwebs or a friendly toad who croaks bedtime songs?
This one divides rooms. Cobweb decorators appeal to kids who love Halloween decor; bedtime-song toads win over the kids who are still a little nervous about spiders. The word “friendly” does a lot of work here — keep it friendly if you invent your own questions.
3. Eat one giant eyeball gummy or a whole handful of candy corn in one go?
A food question early keeps everyone engaged. The giant gummy is dramatic; the candy-corn handful is the quantity play. Ask the follow-up: “Okay, but what if the eyeball gummy was sour?” Sour changes everything.
4. Wear your costume to school for a whole week or wear pajamas to the Halloween party?
Kids who love their costume will suffer a week of school in it happily. The pajama kids have a point too: “then I’d be the comfiest person at the party.” This one works especially well the week before Halloween when costumes are the only topic of conversation.
5. Be a ghost who floats through walls or a witch who can mix one real potion?
The classic powers question, kept gentle. Ghost kids love the floating; witch kids immediately start designing their one potion (“it would make my brother share his candy”). Note the limit of one potion — constraints make the answers more creative.
6. Spend Halloween night on a friendly haunted-house tour or at a pumpkin-patch campfire?
An atmosphere question. The haunted-house tour is the adventure pick; the campfire is the cozy pick. For kids who find haunted houses a little much in real life, this lets them enjoy the idea of one at a safe distance — with marshmallows.
7. Have a pumpkin head for one day or purple monster fur for one whole week?
Silly-body questions are always the biggest laugh-getters. A pumpkin head for a day is a great story; a week of purple fur raises practical questions (“how would you wear a hat?”). Let them work through the logistics — that is the fun.
8. Trick-or-treat in the rain with your best friend or alone under a perfect full moon?
This one sneaks in a real value question: company versus perfect conditions. Most kids pick the friend, and then you get to say “see, the best part of Halloween is the people.” A little sentimental, but true.
9. Find a secret passageway behind your bookshelf or a treasure map hidden inside a pumpkin?
Adventure questions light up the storytellers. The passageway leads somewhere unknown; the treasure map promises something specific. Ask the follow-up: “Where do you think the passageway goes?” and clear your schedule.
10. Have a magic broom that sweeps your room by itself or a magic pumpkin that never runs out of seeds?
The practical-magic question. Kids who hate cleaning pick the broom instantly. The pumpkin kids are thinking about roasted seeds forever. This one plays well at the dinner table, right after someone has been asked to clean their room.
11. Eat pumpkin pie for dessert every day in October or candy corn for every snack?
The commitment question. A whole month of one dessert sounds great on day one and terrible by day nine — ask them to imagine day nine. “Every snack” versus “every dessert” is a genuinely hard tradeoff and kids will argue it passionately.
12. Dance to “Monster Mash” with a friendly mummy or sing “Ghostbusters” with a friendly vampire?
Play thirty seconds of each song before asking — it changes the answers. The mummy dancers tend to be the movers; the vampire singers are the performers. If your kids don’t know the songs yet, congratulations: you have tonight’s activity sorted.
13. Wear a witch’s hat that always flops over your eyes or a vampire cape that billows in every breeze?
A wardrobe-malfunction question. The hat is funny but impractical; the cape is dramatic but windy-day chaos. Have the kids act out both. The cape billow demonstration, arms spread wide, is worth the price of admission alone.
14. Carve your pumpkin on the porch where everyone can watch or carve it in secret and reveal it at midnight?
Performance versus mystery. Porch carvers love an audience; midnight revealers love the drama. A grown-up handles the actual carving tools either way — kids design, grown-ups cut. This is a lovely question to ask while the pumpkin guts are being scooped.
15. Be the house with the full-size candy bars or the house with the famous haunted yard?
The legacy question, and a perfect closer. Full-size candy bars make you a legend for one night; the famous haunted yard makes you a legend all October. Every neighborhood has opinions about this. Ask your kids which house they remember from trick-or-treating — then ask which one they want to be.
16. Ride a friendly dragon or sail on a pirate ghost ship?
The dragon is the speed pick, fast and high and a little bit showy. The pirate ghost ship is the adventure pick, slow and creaky and full of treasure maps. Ask the follow-up: would you rather fly over the clouds or sail under the stars? The dragon kids love the flying; the ship kids love the maps.
This one works beautifully as a bedtime question, since both answers lead straight into a story. Let the kids describe their dragon or their ship in detail, and the game turns into story time all by itself.
17. Have a pet black cat that talks or a pet bat that sings?
A talking cat would tell you everything, including the things you did not ask. A singing bat would fill the house with tiny concerts at bedtime. The cat kids want the gossip; the bat kids want the music.
Ask the follow-up: what is the first thing your pet would say, or the first song it would sing? The answers are reliably hilarious, and they tell you a lot about your kid.
18. Sleep in a pumpkin-shaped bed or a ghost-shaped bed?
The pumpkin bed is round, orange, and smells faintly of pie. The ghost bed is white, floaty, and glows softly in the dark. The pumpkin kids want the cozy; the ghost kids want the glow.
Ask the follow-up: what color are the sheets, and does the bed snore? This one is perfect for the night before Halloween, when beds are the only topic that matters.
19. Eat spaghetti that looks like worms or drink a potion that turns your tongue green?
The spaghetti is the bravery test, since it looks like worms and tastes like dinner. The potion is the magic test, since it turns your tongue green for a whole day. The spaghetti kids are the practical ones; the potion kids are the show-offs.
Ask the follow-up: what would you do with a green tongue at school? The answers usually involve scaring a teacher, and they are worth hearing.
20. Be a superhero with a pumpkin cape or a wizard with a candy wand?
The superhero is the action pick, fast and strong and always first to the candy bowl. The wizard is the clever pick, with a wand that turns homework into candy. The superhero kids want the cape; the wizard kids want the wand.
Ask the follow-up: what is your first spell, or your first rescue? This one plays well at the dinner table, right after someone has been asked to do the dishes.
21. Trick-or-treat with a flashlight or with a glowing jack-o-lantern backpack?
The flashlight is the practical pick, bright and steady and easy to point. The backpack is the style pick, glowing orange and visible from three houses away. The flashlight kids are the planners; the backpack kids are the show-offs.
Ask the follow-up: what else would you put in the backpack? The answers usually start with candy and end with a pet frog.
22. Have a haunted house in your backyard or a pumpkin patch in your living room?
The haunted house is the adventure pick, with creaky floors and friendly ghosts in every room. The pumpkin patch is the cozy pick, with pumpkins on the couch and vines on the stairs. The haunted-house kids want the scares; the pumpkin-patch kids want the harvest.
Ask the follow-up: who cleans up after the ghosts, or after the vines? The logistics are half the fun, and the kids will argue about them longer than the question itself.
23. Wear glow-in-the-dark skeleton pajamas or pumpkin pajamas every night in October?
The skeleton pajamas are the spooky pick, glowing green in the dark and visible from the hallway. The pumpkin pajamas are the cozy pick, orange and soft and smelling faintly of cinnamon. The skeleton kids want the glow; the pumpkin kids want the cozy.
Ask the follow-up: what happens when you wear them to school by accident? The answers are always worth hearing, and they usually involve a very confused teacher.
24. Bob for apples or pin the tail on the black cat?
Bobbing for apples is the wet and wild pick, with cold water and a lot of splashing. Pin the tail is the careful pick, with a blindfold and a lot of giggling. The bobbing kids are the brave ones; the pinning kids are the precise ones.
Ask the follow-up: what is your strategy, and does it involve cheating? This one is perfect at a party, since you can actually play both games right after asking.
25. Have a witch teach you to fly or a vampire teach you to dance?
The witch is the adventure teacher, with a broomstick and a lot of patience. The vampire is the style teacher, with a cape and a lot of flair. The witch kids want the flying; the vampire kids want the dancing.
Ask the follow-up: what is your first flight, or your first dance? The answers usually involve a lot of spinning, and sometimes a crash landing.
26. Eat a whole chocolate pumpkin or a whole bag of gummy worms?
The chocolate pumpkin is the rich pick, smooth and sweet and gone in ten minutes. The gummy worms are the quantity pick, wiggly and sour and lasting all afternoon. The chocolate kids want the luxury; the gummy kids want the marathon.
Ask the follow-up: do you share, or do you hide? The answers tell you everything about your kid’s candy strategy.
27. Spend the night in a friendly haunted library or a candy factory?
The haunted library is the quiet pick, with floating books and a ghost who reads bedtime stories. The candy factory is the loud pick, with chocolate rivers and machines that never stop. The library kids want the stories; the factory kids want the sweets.
Ask the follow-up: what do you read first, or what do you taste first? This one is perfect for the car ride, since both answers lead to long debates.
28. Be able to turn into a black cat or turn invisible whenever you want?
The black cat is the sneaky pick, with soft paws and nine lives. Invisibility is the ultimate pick, with no one seeing you at all. The cat kids want the whiskers; the invisible kids want the freedom.
Ask the follow-up: what is the first thing you would do? The answers range from adorable to deeply suspicious, and both are worth hearing.
29. Have candy rain from the sky or a pumpkin that grows a new toy every morning?
Candy rain is the instant pick, with sweets falling from the clouds and everyone running outside. The pumpkin is the patient pick, with a new toy waiting on the porch every single morning. The candy-rain kids want the spectacle; the pumpkin kids want the surprise.
Ask the follow-up: what toy grows first? The answers are usually the toy they already want most.
30. Carve a silly-face pumpkin or a scary-face pumpkin?
The silly face is the funny pick, with googly eyes and a crooked grin. The scary face is the classic pick, with triangle eyes and jagged teeth. The silly kids want the laughs; the scary kids want the gasps.
Ask the follow-up: what does your pumpkin say when it lights up? This one is perfect to ask while the pumpkin guts are being scooped, since the answer usually shapes the carving.
31. Be the kid with the biggest candy haul or the kid with the best costume?
The biggest haul is the quantity pick, with a bucket so heavy you need two hands. The best costume is the glory pick, with everyone at the party pointing at you. The haul kids want the candy; the costume kids want the applause.
Ask the follow-up: would you trade? The answers split rooms, and the debate is the whole game. It is the perfect closer, since every kid has an opinion about it.
5 Perfect Moments for These Cards
The trick-or-treat countdown. The hour before trick-or-treating is the wildest hour of October. Put the card bowl on the table while costumes go on — it gives all that energy somewhere to land.
The classroom party station. One printed set per table group, and you have a self-running station. For ages 4–6, read the cards aloud together; older kids can run the Quizmaster version themselves. Teachers: each card doubles as a writing prompt — “answer in three sentences” turns the game into a stealth language-arts activity.
The party rotation. Run the question cards between bigger party games. When the questions run out, keep the game-night energy going with an Augisteen 30-Player Halloween Bingo Card Set — 30 player cards, calling cards, and pumpkin chips in one box, so the whole party plays at once.
The road trip. No cards needed — just read questions off your phone from this page. “Story spark” mode was invented for back seats.
The dinner table. Replace “how was your day” for one night. My kids now open with their own would-you-rathers unprompted, which means the game has officially escaped containment.
Shop This Post
Everything mentioned in this guide, in one place:
| Product | Used For | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Epson EcoTank ET-2800 Printer |
Printing every card deck in this game — refillable tanks keep per-page ink cost tiny | Check Price |
| Crayola Construction Paper — 480 Sheets |
Printing cards on festive orange and purple sheets; classroom batches | Check Price |
| Glow Sticks — 100 Pack |
Team tokens for the pick-a-side version; trick-or-treat visibility gear | Check Price |
| Augisteen 30-Player Halloween Bingo Card Set | The second act — whole-party bingo when the question cards run out | Check Price |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the printable really free?
Yes. The PDF downloads with no signup and no email — 31 question cards, a how-to-play sheet, and 40 bonus rapid-fire questions, for personal use. If a site ever asks for your email for a “free” printable, close the tab.
What ages are these questions for?
Ages 4 to 10. For 4–6, read the cards aloud together and let little ones point or shout their answers. Ages 7–10 can read, debate, and run the Quizmaster version on their own.
Are any of the questions scary?
No — that was the whole design brief. Everything is silly and gently spooky: friendly monsters, wobbly broomsticks, dramatic capes. If your child is sensitive to spooky themes generally, start with questions 10 and 11, the least Halloween-y of the set.
Do I need a color printer?
No. The cards are designed to print cleanly in grayscale. Color is a nice-to-have, and printing the cards on orange or purple construction paper gives you the festive look without using color ink at all.
How many players do you need?
Two or more. It works as a family of three at the dinner table and as a classroom of thirty playing pick-a-side. There is no upper limit — just read louder.
Can I use these in my classroom?
Absolutely. Print one set per table group, or project the questions from this page. Each card works as a journal prompt too: answer the question in three complete sentences and explain your reasoning.
What if the kids finish all 31 questions?
The printable includes a bonus page of 40 rapid-fire questions for round two. After that, let the kids invent their own — “would you rather” questions written by eight-year-olds are reliably the funniest ones in the room.
Print, Cut, Ask Away
That is the whole recipe: download the PDF, print at actual size, cut along the dashed lines, and drop the cards in a pumpkin bucket. Ten minutes of prep buys you a game that fills the wildest hour of October, the dullest car ride, and the most chaotic classroom party morning.
And keep the cards when October ends. Tuck them in the Halloween box with the costumes. Next year, when you pull them out and your kids immediately start arguing about cauldron snacks again, you will be very glad you printed on cardstock. Happy Halloween, mama.
