What If Questions for Kids, Ages 5 to 12

150 what ifs to read out loud, each with a twist that keeps the story going.

What If Questions for Kids, Ages 5 to 12

Press Next question or the Space key and read it out. Show what happens next adds a twist.

Ages 8 to 12 · Medium

What if every class was taught outdoors, all year round?

Show what happens nextHide what happens next

What happens next Then winter arrives. What does your class change?

See all 150 questions

Print gives slips to cut apart, up to 120 questions at a time.

Age or theme

Level

All 150 questions are in play.

More options

No repeats: a question you have seen stays out until you press Start over.

Seen 1 of 150

Next step Guess a mind-blowing answerDraw a word instead

How it works

These what if questions for kids are 150 made-up situations for ages 5 to 12, such as What if spaghetti grew on trees? No card has options. Show what happens next adds a twist, so the answer becomes a story.

Ask, wait, then add the twist

Press Next question and read the card out. Let the first answer finish, then press Show what happens next. On What if the class hamster was the principal? it reads Then it makes one new rule. What is the rule? Keep asking And then what? until the story ends.

Two age bands, five themes

The Age or theme row leads with two bands. Ages 5 to 7 (70 cards) changes one familiar thing, like What if your desk could fly?, so a drawing can be the answer. Ages 8 to 12 (80 cards) asks how a whole town would cope, like What if birds delivered all the mail? Animals, School, Powers and magic, Food and The world outside follow, 30 cards each.

Tips

  • For a draw-or-write sheet, pick a theme, press Print questions and glue one slip onto a blank page.
  • In the car, the asker answers last, so a grown-up's answer does not become the right one.
  • A shy kid can answer as the animal: what would the penguin say when the fridge door opens?

Questions and answers

What are some funny what if questions for kids?

What if a penguin moved into your fridge?, What if pancakes flew off the plate like little flying saucers? and What if your shoes ran off to recess without you? are three silly ones. Press Easy for 48 quick ones a drawing can answer.

Can students use these what if questions as writing prompts?

Yes. The question is the opening line and the what happens next line is the middle, so a student only has to write the ending. School holds 30 classroom cards. One print holds 120 slips, so pick a band first.

How is a what if question different from would you rather?

A what if question gives one made-up situation and no options, so the kid invents the whole answer. Would you rather gives two options and asks for a pick, which suits a quick vote.

How do you make up your own what if questions?

Join something familiar to something it never does: a school bus that floats, a hamster in charge. Italian children's author Gianni Rodari called this the fantastic hypothesis in The Grammar of Fantasy (1973); his example was the city of Milan surrounded by the sea.

More tools

Random tool Browse Question Games

All 150 questions

Ages 5 to 7 70

  • What if a baby dragon followed you home? What happens next: Then it sneezes a tiny puff of smoke at dinner. What do you say?
  • What if a bear asked to nap in your bedroom all winter? What happens next: Then the bear starts to snore. Where do you sleep?
  • What if a carrot in the garden grew as tall as your house? What happens next: Then it is time to pull it up. Who helps you?
  • What if a cow lived in your backyard? What happens next: Then the grass is all gone by lunch. What do you feed it next?
  • What if a friendly giant lived next door? What happens next: Then the giant invites you to lunch. How do you reach the table?
  • What if a gingerbread cookie asked you not to eat it? What happens next: Then it asks you for a favor. What does it want?
  • What if a giraffe came to your birthday party? What happens next: Then it is time for party games. Which one can a giraffe win?
  • What if a line of ducks walked you to school every morning? What happens next: Then the ducks want to come inside. What does your teacher say?
  • What if a monkey was in charge at your house for one evening? What happens next: Then it is bedtime. What does the monkey want to do first?
  • What if a penguin moved into your fridge? What happens next: Then someone opens the door to get the milk. What happens?
  • What if all the dogs on your street started to sing? What happens next: Then the cats join in. What does the song sound like?
  • What if an elephant wanted a turn on your bike? What happens next: Then the bike starts to wobble. How do you help?
  • What if breakfast, lunch and dinner swapped places? What happens next: Then it is bedtime and you smell toast. What is going on?
  • What if every school day started with a parade? What happens next: Then it is your turn to lead it. What do you carry?
  • What if every sidewalk was a slide? What happens next: Then you need to get back up the hill. How?
  • What if everything you drew became real? What happens next: Then you draw a door. Where does it open to?
  • What if fish could walk on land? What happens next: Then one knocks on your door. What does it want?
  • What if flowers sang when the sun came up? What happens next: Then one flower sings the wrong song. What is it singing?
  • What if leaves fell up in the fall? What happens next: Then you look up. Where did they all go?
  • What if pancakes flew off the plate like little flying saucers? What happens next: Then one lands on the roof. How do you get your breakfast back?
  • What if puddles were doors to a splashy world below? What happens next: Then you jump in with both feet. What is down there?
  • What if recess lasted all day? What happens next: Then you get tired of the swings. What do you play next?
  • What if snow was warm? What happens next: Then you build a snowman. How long do you stay outside?
  • What if soup came out of the kitchen tap? What happens next: Then it is time to wash the dishes. What kind of soup is it?
  • What if spaghetti grew on trees? What happens next: Then it is picking day. What do you carry it home in?
  • What if stars could be picked like apples? What happens next: Then you take one home in a jar. Where do you keep it?
  • What if the class hamster was the principal? What happens next: Then it makes one new rule. What is the rule?
  • What if the clouds were close enough to touch? What happens next: Then you grab a handful. What do you make with it?
  • What if the grass grew as tall as your house in one night? What happens next: Then you need to find the mailbox. How do you get there?
  • What if the playground slide went all the way to your house? What happens next: Then your friends want to slide home with you. What happens?
  • What if the rain came down in a different color each day? What happens next: Then it is a purple day. What do the puddles look like?
  • What if the school bus was a boat? What happens next: Then it stops at your house. How do you climb on?
  • What if the sun forgot to set one night? What happens next: Then it is bedtime and still bright out. What do you do?
  • What if the trees in the park swapped places every night? What happens next: Then you look for your favorite tree. Where did it go?
  • What if the wind could carry you to the park? What happens next: Then it sets you down somewhere new. Where are you?
  • What if there were two suns in the sky? What happens next: Then you have two shadows. What game do you play with them?
  • What if vegetables tasted like candy and candy tasted like vegetables? What happens next: Then someone offers you a lollipop. What do you say?
  • What if you could bring anything to show and tell, even something huge? What happens next: Then it will not fit through the door. What do you do?
  • What if you could fly, but only as high as the rooftops? What happens next: Then you see something stuck on a roof. What is it?
  • What if you could hop like a kangaroo? What happens next: Then you hop over something very tall. Where do you land?
  • What if you could jump as high as a house? What happens next: Then you land on a cloud. What is up there?
  • What if you could make it snow inside your house? What happens next: Then the snow keeps falling. Which room gets the snowman?
  • What if you could ride on the back of a big, friendly turtle? What happens next: Then the turtle heads for the water. Where does it take you?
  • What if you could talk to the moon? What happens next: Then the moon asks you a question back. What does it ask?
  • What if you found a bright blue egg with gold spots? What happens next: Then the egg starts to crack. What comes out?
  • What if you found a hat that made you as tall as a tree? What happens next: Then you need to get through your front door. How?
  • What if you found a rainbow you could walk across? What happens next: Then you reach the top. What can you see from up there?
  • What if you had a magic wand that worked three times? What happens next: Then you have one wish left. What do you save it for?
  • What if you had a pocket that never got full? What happens next: Then you reach in and find something you did not put there. What is it?
  • What if you had super strength for one morning? What happens next: Then a neighbor asks for help. What do you lift?
  • What if you planted a jelly bean and a jelly bean bush grew? What happens next: Then the first beans are ready. What flavor grew?
  • What if you traded noses with a dog for one day? What happens next: Then you smell something a long way off. What is it?
  • What if you turned invisible whenever you stood on one foot? What happens next: Then you start to wobble. Who sees you pop back?
  • What if you were the chef at a restaurant for animals? What happens next: Then a hippo and a mouse sit at the same table. What do you serve?
  • What if you were the teacher for a week? What happens next: Then the class gets too loud. What do you do?
  • What if your bath turned into a tiny ocean? What happens next: Then a small, friendly whale pops up. What does it want to play?
  • What if your birthday cake was taller than you? What happens next: Then it is time to blow out the candles. How do you reach them?
  • What if your cereal bowl never ran out? What happens next: Then it fills up faster than you can eat. What do you do?
  • What if your class had a pet dinosaur? What happens next: Then it is your turn to take it home for the weekend. Where does it sleep?
  • What if your classroom floor was made of trampolines? What happens next: Then it is time for quiet reading. How does that go?
  • What if your crayons colored everything the wrong color? What happens next: Then you draw the sky. What color is it, and what else changes?
  • What if your desk could fly? What happens next: Then the bell rings and you are still in the air. How do you get down?
  • What if your ice cream cone never melted? What happens next: Then you carry it around all day. Where does it go with you?
  • What if your pencil drew whatever it wanted? What happens next: Then it draws something on your math paper. What is it?
  • What if your pet could talk for one day? What happens next: Then it asks for the one thing it has always wanted. What is it?
  • What if your sandwich was as big as your bed? What happens next: Then you cannot finish it. Who do you share it with?
  • What if your shadow could play with you? What happens next: Then it does not want to go home at sunset. What do you do?
  • What if your shoes ran off to recess without you? What happens next: Then you have to catch them. Where do they run to?
  • What if your spoon turned everything it touched into ice cream? What happens next: Then you stir the soup. What flavor does it become?
  • What if your teacher was a robot for one day? What happens next: Then the robot mixes up one thing. What is it?

Ages 8 to 12 80

  • What if a colony of ants asked you to design their next anthill? What happens next: Then it rains on moving day. What did you forget to build?
  • What if a kid from 500 years ago joined your class for a week? What happens next: Then they see the lunch room for the first time. What surprises them most?
  • What if a new fruit was found and you were the first person to taste it? What happens next: Then you have to describe it to people who never will. What is it like?
  • What if a new planet was found and you got to name its mountains and seas? What happens next: Then you land near the biggest mountain. What do you call it, and why?
  • What if a small bell rang every time anyone told a lie? What happens next: Then someone tells a kind fib about a gift. Should the bell ring?
  • What if a wizard taught you one spell, and it had to be for chores? What happens next: Then the spell works a little too well. What happens to the laundry?
  • What if animals kept diaries about the people they watch? What happens next: Then you find the one a squirrel wrote about you. What does it say?
  • What if birds delivered all the mail? What happens next: Then a package is too heavy for one bird. How do they solve it?
  • What if bread took a whole year to bake? What happens next: Then the town bakery opens its oven once a year. What is that day like?
  • What if cats and dogs swapped habits for a day? What happens next: Then a cat drops a ball at your feet. How does the rest of the day go?
  • What if every animal on Earth was the size of a house cat? What happens next: Then someone brings home a pet elephant. What goes wrong first?
  • What if every class was taught outdoors, all year round? What happens next: Then winter arrives. What does your class change?
  • What if every food came as a plain cube that tasted right but looked the same? What happens next: Then you get a surprise cube. Is dinner still as much fun? Why?
  • What if every home on your street cooked one dish and swapped each night? What happens next: Then it is your turn to cook for the street. What do you make?
  • What if every house had to be in a tree, under the ground or on the water? What happens next: Then you pick one. What is the hardest part of living there?
  • What if every pet got to pick its own owner? What happens next: Then a pet picks you, and it is not the kind you expected. What is it?
  • What if every street in your town was a canal? What happens next: Then you have to get to soccer practice. What does the trip look like?
  • What if every subject had to be taught as a game? What happens next: Then it is your job to turn spelling into a sport. What are the rules?
  • What if every test was replaced by building something? What happens next: Then your project has to show what you learned in math. What do you build?
  • What if everyone in the world got the same superpower on the same day? What happens next: Then the power stops being special. Which job changes the most?
  • What if gravity was half as strong for one day? What happens next: Then gym class starts. Which sport gets better, and which gets impossible?
  • What if kids wrote the grocery list and grown-ups had to follow it? What happens next: Then it is week three and everyone is tired of your list. What do you change?
  • What if magic was real, but every spell cost an hour of sleep? What happens next: Then a big test and a big game land on the same day. Where do your spells go?
  • What if night lasted a whole week, and then day lasted a whole week? What happens next: Then the first dark week starts. How does your town keep it fun?
  • What if nobody had ever discovered sugar? What happens next: Then you need a treat for a party. What do people eat?
  • What if nothing could be cooked, only eaten the way it grows? What happens next: Then you are making dinner for four. What do you put on the plates?
  • What if one food tasted different to every person who tried it? What happens next: Then you and a friend have to agree on a name for it. What happens?
  • What if one school day a week was for a project of your own? What happens next: Then you have to show it to the school in June. What is your project?
  • What if one spice could make you remember your best day? What happens next: Then you cook with it for a friend. What do they remember?
  • What if people had settled on the moon a hundred years ago? What happens next: Then a pen pal writes to you from there. What do they say about school?
  • What if people only needed to eat once a week? What happens next: Then the big weekly meal comes round. What is on the table, and how long does it last?
  • What if report cards graded kindness as well as math? What happens next: Then someone is kind just to get the grade. Does it still count?
  • What if school happened at night and everyone slept all day? What happens next: Then a ball game is set for 2 a.m. What else in town has to change?
  • What if students cooked the school lunch, one class each day? What happens next: Then it is your class's day and the oven will not heat. What is plan B?
  • What if students gave the teachers homework? What happens next: Then your teacher hands it in late. What do you say?
  • What if students wrote the school rules for a year? What happens next: Then a rule you voted for turns out to be a problem. Which one, and why?
  • What if the animals in your town could vote on one new rule? What happens next: Then the squirrels win the vote. What rule do they pass?
  • What if the bees asked for one thing in return for all their work? What happens next: Then the flowers ask for something too. How do you keep both happy?
  • What if the ground was see-through, like glass? What happens next: Then you look down in the yard. What is going on under there?
  • What if the library had a book that wrote down everything that happened today? What happens next: Then you turn to tomorrow's page and it is blank. What do you write?
  • What if the oceans were fresh water and the rivers were salty? What happens next: Then you plan a day at the lake. What is different about it?
  • What if the oldest and youngest students swapped classrooms for a day? What happens next: Then the little kids run the science lab. What do they discover?
  • What if the plant-eating dinosaurs were still around? What happens next: Then one wanders into the school garden. Whose job is it now?
  • What if the zoo animals ran the zoo every night until morning? What happens next: Then the keepers arrive an hour early. What do they find?
  • What if there were no cars and your town got around some other way? What happens next: Then you need to get a piano across town. How?
  • What if there were no maps and no street signs anywhere? What happens next: Then a new kid asks the way to the library. How do you explain it?
  • What if whales could send messages to people on shore? What happens next: Then the first message arrives. What do the whales want us to know?
  • What if you could borrow one animal's skill for a week? What happens next: Then your friends each borrow a different one. What job can the team do?
  • What if you could breathe underwater? What happens next: Then you find a spot in the lake nobody has mapped. What do you name it?
  • What if you could change size whenever you wanted? What happens next: Then you get stuck at the wrong size in class. What size, and what now?
  • What if you could control the weather, but only over your own street? What happens next: Then every neighbor wants different weather. How do you decide?
  • What if you could fly south with a flock of geese for one season? What happens next: Then the flock stops to rest halfway. Where are you, and what is for dinner?
  • What if you could hear what trees say to each other? What happens next: Then the oldest tree in the park tells you what it has seen. What is its story?
  • What if you could only eat foods that start with one letter, and you picked it? What happens next: Then you are bored by Friday. Which letter do you wish you had picked?
  • What if you could pause time for ten minutes every day? What happens next: Then you find out one other person can do it too. Do you team up?
  • What if you could see in the dark like an owl for one night? What happens next: Then you spot something in the yard that only comes out at night. What is it?
  • What if you could swap one skill with a friend for a week? What happens next: Then your friend does not want to swap back. How do you sort it out?
  • What if you could talk to your future self for five minutes? What happens next: Then your future self asks you for advice. What do you say?
  • What if you could taste colors? What happens next: Then you walk into the art room. What does it taste like in there?
  • What if you could visit any year in the past for one hour? What happens next: Then you may bring back one small thing. What do you choose?
  • What if you could walk through walls, but only the walls of your own home? What happens next: Then you walk in on a surprise being planned for you. What do you do?
  • What if you found a map that showed every lost thing in your house? What happens next: Then it shows one thing you did not know was lost. What is it?
  • What if you found a message in a bottle from a kid far away? What happens next: Then you write back. What three things do you say about where you live?
  • What if you found an animal nobody had seen before and got to name it? What happens next: Then a museum asks you to describe it. What does it look like and eat?
  • What if you had a door that opened to anywhere, but only once a day? What happens next: Then it will not open again until tomorrow. How do you spend the day there?
  • What if you had to invent an ice cream flavor using only things from a garden? What happens next: Then you have to sell it to your class. What do you call it?
  • What if you had to pack a suitcase for an octopus going on vacation? What happens next: Then the octopus reaches the hotel. What is the first problem?
  • What if you had to pack one meal to eat on a space station? What happens next: Then you open it and everything floats. What do you wish you had packed?
  • What if you opened a restaurant with only three things on the menu? What happens next: Then a customer asks for something else. What do you do?
  • What if you planted a tree that would still be standing in 300 years? What happens next: Then someone finds the note you left under it. What does it say?
  • What if you woke up able to speak every language on Earth? What happens next: Then someone at the airport needs your help. What happens?
  • What if your class could take one field trip to anywhere on Earth? What happens next: Then you may only bring what fits in your pockets. What do you take?
  • What if your school had no clocks and no bells? What happens next: Then the class has to decide when lunch is. How do you all agree?
  • What if your school moved to a new country every month? What happens next: Then you arrive where nobody speaks your language. How do you make a friend?
  • What if your school swapped buildings with a museum for a month? What happens next: Then math class meets under a huge whale skeleton. What else changes?
  • What if your superpower only worked while you were helping someone? What happens next: Then a friend asks you to use it to win a race. What do you say?
  • What if your town floated on the sea and drifted somewhere new each season? What happens next: Then it drifts up beside another floating town. What do the two towns trade?
  • What if your town had all four seasons in one day, every day? What happens next: Then you get ready in the morning. What do you wear, and what do you carry?
  • What if your town switched off every light for one night to see the stars? What happens next: Then you see more stars than ever before. What do you and your neighbors do?
  • What if your whole school had only ten students? What happens next: Then it is time to pick teams for a game. How does that work?
How this list was compiled

Written for this page by the Game Night Generator editors in September 2026; no question and no follow-up is copied from another list. Every card is one invented situation that starts What if, with no options to pick between, and every card carries a what happens next line that starts Then: it hands the child the next event or a small problem, because an answer turns into a story once something happens in it. Every line was read against the site blocklist for children's pages: nothing sexual or romantic, no alcohol or drugs, no self-harm, nothing frightening, nothing about family loss, illness, money or disasters, no strangers, no phones, no clothing removal, no risky food, nothing illegal, no politics or religion, no real people, no brand or franchise names, and no card asks a child to type anything or give a name. A word blocklist was run over all 300 lines by script on 2026-09-20. The two age bands are an editor's judgment, not a measurement. Ages 5 to 7 (70 cards) changes one familiar thing, such as a pet, a desk or a sandwich, so the answer can be said in a few words or drawn; its questions average 9.6 words. Ages 8 to 12 (80 cards) asks how a class, a street or a town would cope with the change; its questions average about 12 words. Easy, Medium and Hard are an editor's judgment as well: easy can be answered in a few words or a drawing, medium asks for a short story, and hard asks the child to think through a knock-on effect or what is fair, and all 33 hard cards sit in Ages 8 to 12. One card leans on a fact: a crew and the objects aboard an orbiting spacecraft appear to float because they are all in free fall together (https://www.nasa.gov/learning-resources/for-kids-and-students/what-is-microgravity-grades-5-8/, read 2026-09-20), so the packed-meal card is set on a space station. The page copy names Gianni Rodari's fantastic hypothesis; the book (Grammatica della fantasia, Einaudi, 1973), its what-would-happen-if chapter, the subject-plus-predicate recipe and the example of Milan surrounded by the sea were read at https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammatica_della_fantasia on 2026-09-20, and his 1970 Hans Christian Andersen Medal at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gianni_Rodari the same day. On 2026-09-20 a script compared every question with every other dataset on this site; five that repeated the idea of a card elsewhere (a talking backpack, a new school subject, waking up with a tail, food of one color, reading minds about lunch) were replaced. One card, What if you were the teacher for a week?, is the plan's own example for this page and stays although the kids icebreaker deck asks a nearby question; its follow-up is different. The all-ages what if deck was not written when this file was made, so its writer checks against this list. Licence: own work