🍕 FOOD FIGHT
What fruit is famous for having its seeds on the outside?
Answer: Strawberry.
An octopus has THREE hearts. Real or ridiculous?
Answer: REAL. Two hearts pump blood to the gills, and the third pumps blood to the rest of its body. Apparently one heart was simply not enough for an octopus.
Your brother ate the LAST cookie and your brain announces, THIS IS THE WORST DAY OF MY LIFE. What is your brain doing?
Hint if stuck: Did one bad thing just become the whole entire day?
Answer: Making the problem approximately 900 times bigger.
Why: The actual problem is that the cookie is gone. Brain turned one annoying moment into a conclusion about everything.
A kid gets to a restaurant and finds out they are out of chicken nuggets. The kid screams, THIS IS THE WORST DAY EVER. What are THREE things that could actually be happening underneath?
Hint if stuck: Think about what might have been happening BEFORE they found out about the nuggets. How might their body feel? What might their day already have been like?
Possible answers: Hungry, tired, disappointed, overwhelmed, already had a bad day, really wanted the nuggets.
Why: Sometimes the thing everyone sees is just the final thing that happened after a bunch of feelings were already building.
What can travel all around the world while staying in the same corner?
Answer: A stamp.
Why: A stamp stays stuck in the corner of an envelope, but the envelope can travel all over the world. The stamp travels without ever leaving its corner.
Which of these is technically a fruit even though people usually treat it like a vegetable: cucumber, carrot, broccoli, or lettuce?
Answer: Cucumber. Vegetables have been lying to us.
The tiny pocket on jeans was originally designed so people could carry one emergency chicken nugget. Real or ridiculous?
Answer: RIDICULOUS. Tragically, there is no official emergency-nugget pocket. The tiny pocket dates back to early jeans and was designed to hold a pocket watch. Although I personally think society should reconsider the nugget idea.
You walk into a room, two people are laughing, and your brain immediately decides they are laughing about you. What important piece of evidence do we have that they are laughing about you?
Hint if stuck: What do we actually KNOW from what we can see?
Answer: Literally none.
Why: All we know is that two people are laughing. Brain filled in the missing information without having proof.
A kid loses a soccer game and immediately says, WHATEVER. SOCCER IS STUPID ANYWAY. I DON’T CARE. What might I DON’T CARE actually be protecting?
Hint if stuck: What might someone feel if they really wanted to win but do not want everyone to know how much the loss bothered them?
Possible answers: Disappointment, embarrassment, frustration, caring a lot, really wanting to win.
Why: Sometimes I don’t care is easier to show than a more vulnerable feeling underneath.
What has a neck but no head?
Answer: A bottle.
Why: Bottles have a part called the neck near the top, but obviously no actual head. The trick is that neck can describe part of an object, not just part of a person.
What sweet food can stay edible for an incredibly long time when stored properly and has even been found preserved at ancient archaeological sites?
Answer: Honey. Imagine someone handing you ancient honey and saying it’s still good. Are you eating it?
For a short time, people could buy alarm clocks that woke you up by releasing a smell like bacon or coffee into your bedroom. Real or ridiculous?
Answer: RIDICULOUS. People have invented modern scent-based alarm devices, but this was never a normal historical replacement for alarm clocks. Although waking up because your bedroom suddenly smells like bacon would be pretty convincing.
You lose one game and announce, I AM TERRIBLE AT EVERYTHING. What did your brain just do?
Hint if stuck: Did Brain stay with this one game, or did it suddenly start talking about EVERYTHING?
Answer: Took one thing and turned it into everything.
Why: Losing one game only tells us what happened in that game. It does not prove anything about everything else you do.
A kid’s sibling is having a hard time and getting LOTS of attention. The other kid stomps upstairs and says, I’M FINE. I DON’T CARE. What are at least THREE things that could be underneath?
Hint if stuck: Imagine everyone is focused on your sibling. What might you wish someone would notice about YOU?
Possible answers: Left out, jealous, sad, lonely, annoyed, wanting attention, feeling forgotten, guilty for wanting attention.
Why: Someone can understand why their sibling needs help and still need attention, connection, or fairness too.
What has four wheels and flies?
Answer: A garbage truck.
Why: It has four wheels, and flies—the bugs—often buzz around garbage. The trick is that flies means insects, not that the truck can fly.
What popular candy was originally created so the chocolate would be less likely to melt on soldiers’ hands?
Answer: M&M’s. Important follow-up: best M&M flavor?
Cows have best friends and can become stressed when they’re separated from them. Real or ridiculous?
Answer: REAL. Research has found that cattle can form preferred social relationships, and being with a preferred companion can reduce signs of stress. Even cows have a bestie.
Your new teacher is not Lindsay and your brain says, THEREFORE SHE IS GOING TO BE HORRIBLE. What did Brain sneak into that sentence?
Hint if stuck: Which part has actually happened, and which part is Brain saying will happen?
Answer: A prediction or guess.
Why: It is a fact that she is not Lindsay. It is not a fact that she will be horrible. That part is Brain predicting the future.
A kid is about to do something completely new and announces, THIS IS GOING TO BE TERRIBLE. Underneath terrible is actually a lot of nervous. What could nervous be telling us this kid CARES about?
Hint if stuck: If they truly did not care how this went at all, would they probably be this nervous?
Possible answers: Doing well, belonging, making friends, having fun, being liked, feeling comfortable, knowing what to expect.
Why: Nervous can show up because something matters. It does not automatically mean something bad is going to happen.
What has 13 hearts but no other organs?
Answer: A deck of cards.
Why: A standard deck has 13 cards in the hearts suit, but obviously no actual organs. The trick is that hearts means the card suit, not body parts.
What food can explode if you put it in the microwave without poking a hole in it first?
Answer: A potato. Steam can build up inside the potato with nowhere to escape, creating enough pressure for it to burst. Basically, a potato can become a tiny starchy pressure bomb. 🥔💥
The inventor of the Pringles can had some of his ashes buried inside a Pringles can. Real or ridiculous?
Answer: REAL. Fred Baur was a chemist who helped invent the distinctive Pringles can—the tall tube designed to keep the chips stacked and protected instead of getting crushed in a bag. He was apparently VERY proud of his invention. Before he died, he told his family that he wanted some of his ashes buried in a Pringles can. After he died in 2008, his family actually honored the request. His son later said they stopped at a store on the way to the funeral home to buy a can of Pringles to use. The flavor they chose? Original. Some of his ashes were placed inside the can and buried with him.
Your brain is screaming, I KNOW THIS IS GOING TO BE BAD. What four-word phrase keeps Brain from pretending it owns a crystal ball?
Answer: I DON’T KNOW YET.
Why: I don’t know yet is not pretending everything will be great. It simply means we do not have enough evidence to know the ending yet.
THE GIANT ICEBERG: Someone is REALLY angry. They are yelling, saying LEAVE ME ALONE and NOBODY UNDERSTANDS. Underneath, they feel left out, something felt unfair, they want someone to understand their side, they are overwhelmed, they want space, and part of them also wants someone to notice they are having a hard time. Which one is the REAL feeling? Hint if stuck: Do people always have to feel only ONE thing at a time?
Answer: All of them can be real at the same time.
Why: Feelings can overlap. Someone can be angry, hurt, overwhelmed, left out, and still want both space and understanding at the same time.
A man is looking at a picture. He says, Brothers and sisters, I have none. But this person’s father is my father’s son. Who is in the picture?
Answer: His son.
Why: Since the man has no brothers, my father’s son can only mean himself. So when he says this person’s father is my father’s son, he is really saying this person’s father is ME. That means he is looking at a picture of his son.