This or that food questions are the easiest place to start a conversation with a kid ages 5 to 9. Every kid has strong opinions about food. Some can argue about whether grapes are better than strawberries for ten minutes straight. The format is built for that energy: pick one, defend it, move on.
The 100 questions below are all real food choices. No gross combinations, no absurd pairings. Just the kinds of “pizza or pasta?” decisions kids actually make every day, sorted into 5 categories so you can drop into whichever one fits the moment.
This post is the food-themed companion to our 300 This or That Questions for Kids post. If you want the silly version with absurd food pairings (pickle pizza, mustard milkshakes), see the 100 Funny This or That Questions for Kids instead.
How to Play
Three rules: ask the question, let your kid pick, then ask why.
The “why” is where the real conversation happens. “Pancakes or waffles?” gets a quick answer. “Why pancakes?” gets the actual story about how they like the way maple syrup pools in the holes of waffles but the flavor of pancakes is better. That’s the moment you learn something about how your kid thinks.
A few things that work:
-
Use these at the dinner table, in the car, while waiting at restaurants, or grocery shopping. Food questions land best when food is around.
-
Answer the question yourself too. Kids engage better when it’s a real back and forth, not an interview.
-
Follow the tangent. A question about pancakes might turn into a five-minute story about the time grandma made them shaped like Mickey Mouse. That’s the whole point.
1. Breakfast Foods
Breakfast is when kids have the most opinions, because it is the meal they have eaten the most variations of by age 5.
1. Pancakes or waffles?
2. Cereal with milk or cereal dry?
3. Bacon or sausage?
4. Scrambled eggs or fried eggs?
5. French toast or pancakes?
6. Oatmeal or yogurt?
7. Toast with butter or toast with jam?
8. Bagel or muffin?
9. Donut or cookie?
10. Hot chocolate or orange juice?
11. Granola bar or breakfast burrito?
12. Cinnamon roll or chocolate croissant?
13. Banana or strawberries on your pancakes?
14. Maple syrup or honey?
15. Smoothie bowl or fruit cup?
16. Cheerios or Lucky Charms?
17. Oatmeal with berries or oatmeal with banana?
18. Crepe or regular pancake?
19. Yogurt with granola or yogurt with fruit?
20. Avocado toast or peanut butter toast?
2. Lunch and Sandwiches
The midday meal where every kid has a strong preference and will defend it forever.
21. Peanut butter and jelly or grilled cheese?
22. Hot dog or hamburger?
23. Turkey sandwich or ham sandwich?
24. Pizza or pasta?
25. Mac and cheese or spaghetti?
26. Chicken nuggets or fish sticks?
27. Quesadilla or taco?
28. Soup or salad?
29. Wrap or sandwich?
30. White bread or whole wheat bread?
31. Lunchable or homemade lunch?
32. Pita pocket or sub roll?
33. Tomato soup or chicken noodle soup?
34. Cheese pizza or pepperoni pizza?
35. Spaghetti with meatballs or spaghetti with just butter?
36. Mashed potatoes or french fries?
37. Mac and cheese with extra cheese or mac and cheese with hot dogs?
38. Burrito or taco?
39. Sushi or noodles?
40. Crackers and cheese or pretzels and dip?
3. Snacks
The category that runs the strongest opinions in any car ride.
41. Popcorn or pretzels?
42. Goldfish crackers or Cheez-Its?
43. Apple slices or carrot sticks?
44. Cheese stick or yogurt tube?
45. Granola bar or fruit snacks?
46. Chips or pretzels?
47. Crackers with cheese or crackers with peanut butter?
48. Trail mix or fruit cup?
49. Popcorn with butter or popcorn plain?
50. Veggie chips or potato chips?
51. Animal crackers or graham crackers?
52. Pita chips with hummus or tortilla chips with salsa?
53. Pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds?
54. Rice cakes or regular crackers?
55. Cheese cubes or pepperoni slices?
56. Edamame or seaweed snacks?
57. Apple or pear?
58. Frozen grapes or fresh grapes?
59. Peanut butter on celery or peanut butter on apples?
60. Chocolate chip cookies or oatmeal raisin cookies?
4. Sweets and Desserts
The dangerous category. Save these for after dinner or you will hear about ice cream for the rest of the afternoon.
61. Ice cream or cake?
62. Chocolate or vanilla?
63. Cupcakes or brownies?
64. Cookies or candy?
65. Lollipop or gummies?
66. Chocolate chip cookies or sugar cookies?
67. Chocolate ice cream or strawberry ice cream?
68. Sprinkles or chocolate chips?
69. Pie or cake?
70. Pudding or jello?
71. Donut or cupcake?
72. Cheesecake or chocolate cake?
73. Marshmallows or chocolate?
74. Ice cream sandwich or popsicle?
75. Cotton candy or caramel apple?
76. M&Ms or Skittles?
77. Whipped cream or sprinkles on top?
78. Ice cream in a cone or ice cream in a bowl?
79. Chocolate chip pancakes or chocolate chip cookies?
80. Hot fudge sundae or banana split?
5. Fruits and Vegetables
The category with the highest variance: some kids love this stuff, some kids will negotiate every bite. Either way, the choices reveal a lot.
81. Apple or banana?
82. Strawberries or blueberries?
83. Grapes or orange slices?
84. Watermelon or pineapple?
85. Carrot sticks or celery sticks?
86. Broccoli or cauliflower?
87. Peas or corn?
88. Cucumber or bell pepper?
89. Mango or pineapple?
90. Sweet potatoes or regular potatoes?
91. Salad or fruit bowl?
92. Cherries or peaches?
93. Avocado or guacamole?
94. Sliced apple with peanut butter or sliced banana with chocolate?
95. Tomato or cucumber?
96. Strawberries with whipped cream or strawberries plain?
97. Frozen blueberries or fresh blueberries?
98. Mashed potatoes or baked potato?
99. Steamed broccoli or roasted broccoli?
100. Raisins or dried cranberries?
How to Take These Deeper
Food questions are great for warming up a conversation. Once your kid has been making strong cases for chocolate ice cream over vanilla for ten minutes, they are practicing something useful: putting an inner preference into words and defending it. That is the same skill that makes the harder conversations work later.
When you want to move past food and into something deeper, Tell Me Cards is a 107-card conversation deck for families with kids ages 5 to 9. The questions are open-ended rather than binary choice, designed to pull something real from your child once they have warmed up. Many families use food this-or-that as the warm-up at dinner and Tell Me Cards for the actual conversation that follows.
When you want open-ended questions that pull deeper answers than food preferences, our 200 Questions to Ask Kids post covers seven areas of a child's inner world.
Frequently Asked Questions
What age are these food questions for?
The 100 questions in this post are written for ages 5 to 9. Younger kids (3 to 4) can play with simpler ones (apple or banana) but might not have opinions on more specific pairs. Older kids (10+) can still play but tend to want more varied or weird food questions. The 5 to 9 range is the sweet spot because every kid in that range has formed strong food preferences but still finds the format fun.
How is this different from the funny food questions?
Different vibe. This post asks real food choices (pancakes or waffles?) that kids actually pick between. The funny version pairs absurd or gross combinations (pizza topped with marshmallows or pizza topped with pickles?) that have no serious answer. Use this post when you want real preferences. Use the funny one when you want laughter.
When are food questions best to play?
Anywhere food is involved. Dinner table is the natural spot. Car rides past restaurants. Grocery store while shopping. Restaurant tables while waiting for food. Snack time. Picnic. Anywhere your kid is thinking about food, you have a built-in opener.
How do we make our own food questions?
Take any two foods your kid eats regularly and turn them into a pair: “your favorite cereal or your favorite chips?” “yogurt for breakfast or oatmeal?” The trick is to pick foods both options are real to your kid. They cannot pick between two things they have never tried, and the conversation gets stuck.
Keep the Conversation Going
If your kid loved these, take the next step. Tell Me Cards is a 107-card deck of conversation cards designed for families with kids ages 5 to 9. Written from a research foundation in child psychology, organized across seven areas of a child’s inner world, and built for the everyday moments at dinner, bedtime, or in the car.