There’s a reason that riddles are the bedrock of ancient folk tales and superhero sagas. Riddles are a great way to knock the mind out of its routine cognitive habits and to stimulate creative thinking in kids, adults, and mythic heroes alike. The best riddles for kids, like the best jokes for kids, are challenging, fun word puzzles that push them to examine their assumptions while giggling at language itself. Not every riddle is easy — in fact riddles for kids should offer a playful way to wrestle with truly challenging questions.
Most kids have a natural aptitude for the type of thinking they require, and will surprise you with how well they tackle a thinker. They just have to be the right riddles and answers — not too complex, not too easy. The best riddles engage a kid’s natural problem-solving skills and make them laugh along the way. These 40 riddles and answers for kids — ranging from hard riddles to medium riddles to easy riddles — are ones that children can solve, and have fun while doing so.
Train Fatalities
Riddle: After a train crashed, every single person died. Who survived?
Solution: All of the couples.
Parental Confusion
Riddle: A boy and his father get into a car accident. When they arrive at the hospital, the doctor sees the boy and exclaims “that’s my son!” How can this be?
Solution: The doctor is the boy’s mother.
Dry Without an Umbrella
Riddle: If a brother, his sister, and their dog weren’t under an umbrella, why didn’t they get wet?
Solution: It wasn’t raining.
Success Before Work
Riddle: Where does success come before work?
Solution: The dictionary.
Catch but Don’t Throw…
Riddle: What can you catch but not throw?
Solution: A cold!
Begins and Ends With T
Riddle: What begins with T, finishes with T, and has T in it?
Solution: A teapot.
Not Benjamin Button
Riddle: I’m tall when I’m young, and I’m short when I’m old, what am I?
Solution: A candle.
Easy to Break
Riddle: What is so fragile that saying its name breaks it?
Solution: Silence.
At the Start a Lummox
Riddle: Turn us on our backs and open up our stomachs, and you will be the wisest but at the start a lummox. What are we?
Solution: Books.
Impossible to Say ‘Yes’ To
Riddle: What answer can you never answer yes to?
Solution: Are you asleep yet?
Odd Number
Riddle: I am an odd number. Take away a letter and I become even. What number am I?
Solution: Seven.
Looking Ahead
Riddle: What is always in front of you but can’t be seen?
solution: The future.
A Zebra by Any Another Name
Riddle: What’s black and white and blue?
Solution: A sad zebra.
Blind With Four Eyes
Riddle: What has four eyes but can’t see?
Solution: Mississippi.
Apples…
Riddle: If you took two apples from a pile of three apples, how many apples would you have?
Solution: The one apple you took
All Streets, No People
Riddle: Where can you find cities, towns, shops, and streets but no people?
Solution: A map.
Neck and… Neck?
Riddle: What has a neck but no head?
Solution: A bottle.
How Did They Miss This One?
Riddle: What word is spelled wrong in the dictionary?
Answer: Wrong.
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Fox in the Woods
Riddle: How far can a fox run into the woods?
Solution: Only halfway, otherwise it would be running out of the woods!
Freak Occurrences
Riddle: What happens once in a lifetime, twice in a moment, but never in one hundred years?
Answer: The letter “M”
A Wet One
Riddle: What becomes wetter the more it dries?
Answer: A towel.
These Hands Can’t Clap
Riddle: What has hands but doesn’t clap?
Solution: A clock.
Break Before Using
Riddle: What has to be broken before you can use it?
Solution: An egg.
Numbers
Riddle: If two’s company, and three’s a crowd, what are four and five?
Solution: Nine!
Only Going Up
Riddle: What goes up but never comes back down?
Solution: Your age!
The Shorter Word
Riddle: What five-letter word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it?
Solution: Shorter. (Short + ‘er’)
Always on the Move in One Spot
Riddle: What travels around the world but stays in one spot?
Solution: A stamp.
You Can Count on Us
Riddle: When things go wrong, what can you always count on?
Solution: Your fingers.
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A Colorful Situation
Riddle: Mr. Blue lives in the Blue house. Mrs. Yellow lives in the Yellow House. Mr. Orange lives in the orange house. Who lives in the White House?
Answer: The President
Twelve in Six Letters
Riddle: A word I know, six letters it contains, remove one letter and 12 remains, what is it?
Solution: Dozens.
Full of Holes, But Still Holds Water
Riddle: What is full of holes but still holds water?
Solution: A sponge.
The English Alphabet
Riddle: How many letters are there in the English alphabet?
Solution: 18: 3 in ‘the’, 7 in ‘English,’ and 8 in ‘alphabet.’
Houses Made of…
Riddle: If a red house is made of red bricks, and a yellow house is made of yellow bricks, what is a greenhouse made of?
Solution: Glass, all greenhouses are made of glass.
One Letter and Starts With ‘E’
Riddle: What begins with an E but only has one letter?
Solution: An envelope.
The Long Line
Riddle: You draw a line. Without touching it, how do you make it a longer line?
Solution: Draw a short line next to it and now it’s the longer line.
How the Leopard Changed Spots
Riddle: How can a leopard change its spots?
Solution: By moving from one spot to another.
Easy in, Hard Out
Riddle: What is easy to get into but hard to get out of?
Solution: Trouble.
Brother of Daughters
Riddle: Mary has four daughters, and each of her daughters has a brother — how many children does Mary have?
Solution: Five, each daughter has the same brother.
Snap, Crackle…
Riddle: David’s parents have three sons: Snap, Crackle and…?
Solution: David!
Dinner
Riddle: You bought me for dinner but never eat me. What am I?
Solution: Cutlery.
