Riddles for kids are fun and thought-provoking. They are a step above jokes because they may cause laughter, but the point is to make the kid think and feel proud when they solve the riddle.
On top of that, there are many positive reasons to teach kids riddles.
Riddles For Kids Benefits
Riddles are very beneficial for kids. They’re great for connecting with your children and strengthening their brains.
Some riddles do a better job at this than others, but any riddle can benefit kids in some way.
- Clever Humor – this type of humor can prove beneficial in many circumstances and even build confidence
- Bonding – doing things with your kids will always be important
- Teamwork – when kids solve riddles together, it also helps them learn to work together in other situations
- Teaches Learning Can Be Fun – riddles are all about learning, which teaches kids that learning can be fun
- Problem-Solving – this is one of the basics of riddles that should be introduced early
- World Building – imagination and creativity are key parts of solving riddles
- Vocabulary and Spelling – learning about puns, wordplay, and homonyms will happen passively with riddles
- Critical Thinking – another key part of riddles that will teach kids to think outside the box
76 Best Riddles For Kids
Not all kids enjoy the same types of riddles. Start with the beginner ones to warm up before moving on to something more difficult.
Beginner Riddles
If you’re just beginning or if your kids are young, this is a good place to start. It will teach them what riddles are and how they work.
- Riddle: I have wings, and I can fly; I’m not a bird, yet I fly high in the sky. What am I?
Answer: An airplane.
- Riddle: What did one wall say to the other?
Answer: I’ll meet you at the corner.
- Riddle: What invention lets you look right through a wall?
Answer: A window.
- Riddle: What has hands but can’t clap?
Answer: A clock.
- Riddle: I follow you all the time and copy everything you do, but you can’t touch me. What am I?
Answer: Your shadow.
- Riddle: What has a head and tail but no body?
Answer: A coin.
- Riddle: Where do you take a sick boat?
Answer: To the dock.
- Riddle: What has keys but can’t open any doors?
Answer: A piano.
- Riddle: What is yours but primarily used by others?
Answer: Your name.
- Riddle: What are two things you can’t eat for breakfast?
Answer: Lunch and dinner.
- Riddle: What has a thumb and four fingers but isn’t alive?
Answer: A glove.
- Riddle: What fruit is always sad?
Answer: A blueberry.
- Riddle: What has a bottom at the top?
Answer: Legs.
- Riddle: I give milk and I have a horn, but I’m not an animal. What am I?
Answer: A milk truck.
- Riddle: What gets wet when drying?
Answer: A towel.
- Riddle: What animal sleeps with its shoes on?
Answer: Horse
- Riddle: Say Racecar backwards.
Answer: “Racecar backwards.”
Silly Riddles for Kids
These riddles are closer to jokes than riddles, so they can be delivered with the answer or without.
- Riddle: What did the baseball glove say to the ball when he left?
Answer: Catch you later.
- Riddle: What kind of nut always has the sniffles?
Answer: The “cash-ew.”
- Riddle: Why did Mickey Mouse go to space?
Answer: He wanted to visit Pluto.
- Riddle: What kind of lion is soft but roars?
Answer: A dandelion.
- Riddle: How do you fix a broken pumpkin?
Answer: With a pumpkin patch.
- Riddle: What do you call a chihuahua in the summertime?
Answer: A hot dog!
- Riddle: What do you get when you cross a snowman and a vampire?
Answer: Frostbite.
- Riddle: How does a bee go to school?
Answer: On a buzz!
- Riddle: An elephant in Africa is called Lala and an elephant in Asia is called Lulu. What do you call an elephant in Antarctica?
Answer: Lost.
- Riddle: Why are ghosts so bad at lying?
Answer: Because you can see right through them.
- Riddle: What did the triangle say to the circle?
Answer: You are pointless.
- Riddle: You will buy me to eat, but you’ll never eat me. What am I?
Answer: A plate.
- Riddle: Why did the tortilla chip dance?
Answer: Because they put on salsa.
- Riddle: Why aren’t teddy bears ever hungry?
Answer: Because they are always stuffed.
- Riddle: Why do bees have such sticky hair?
Answer: Because they brush it with their honeycombs.
- Riddle: How do oceans say goodbye to each other?
Answer: They wave!
- Riddle: What type of tree can you carry in your hand?
Answer: A palm.
Riddles for Older Kids
Younger kids may not understand these even after you reveal the answer. So ensure everyone present can keep up.
- Riddle: Give me a drink, and I will die. But feed me, and I will grow. What am I?
Answer: A fire.
- Riddle: What appears once in a minute, twice in each moment, but not once in a thousand years?
Riddle: What starts with “t,” contains “t,” and ends with “t”?
- Answer: The letter “M.”
- Riddle: I have no legs. I always run, yet I don’t walk. What am I?
Answer: A river.
- Riddle: I go all around the world, but I never leave the corner. What am I?
Answer: A stamp.
- Riddle: How can you catch a school of fish?
Answer: With a bookworm.
- Riddle: What did the mom tomato say to the slow-walking baby tomato?
Answer: “Ketchup.”
- Riddle: What word begins with E and ends with E, but only has one letter?
Answer: Envelope.
Riddle: What goes up but doesn’t come back down?
Answer: Your age.
- Riddle: What word has five letters but sounds like it only has one?
Answer: Queue.
- Riddle: I’m the father of fruits. What am I?
Answer: A papa-ya.
- Riddle: What starts with a P, ends with an E, and has thousands of letters?
Answer: Post office.
Think Small Riddles for Kids
These riddles are so simple that younger kids may answer before older kids. They may seem like trick questions to older kids, which can teach them a lot.
- Riddle: What is orange and green and sounds like a parrot?
Answer: A carrot!
- Riddle: What is it that you can hold in your right hand but not your left?
Answer: Your left elbow
- Riddle: Which fish is the most expensive?
Answer. A goldfish!
- Riddle: An electric train is heading east at 400 mph. How fast will the smoke blow?
Answer: There is no smoke on an electric train. - Riddle: A cowgirl road into town on Friday. Four days later, she left on Friday. How is that possible?
Answer: Her horse’s name is Friday.
- Riddle: A rooster is on the roof of a barn facing west. If it laid an egg, would the egg roll to the north or to the south?
Answer: Neither— roosters don’t lay eggs.
- Riddle: Which word is spelled wrong in the dictionary?
Answer: Wrong.
- Riddle: How Many Months Have 28 Days?
Answer: All of them. - Riddle: If you put a yellow hat in the Red Sea, what does it become?
Answer: Wet.
- Riddle: What can you break without touching it?
Answer: A promise.
- Riddle: Which question can you not answer “yes” to?
Answer: “Are you asleep?”
- Riddle: Sam’s parents have three kids. Their names are Snap, Crackle, and _____?
Answer: Sam!
- Riddle: Mr. Green lives in the green house, Mr. Purple lives in the purple house, and Mr. Blue lives in the blue house. Who lives in the white house?
Answer: The President.
- Riddle: What animal can jump higher than a skyscraper?
Answer: Any animal – skyscrapers can’t jump.
- Riddle: Imagine you’re in a room that is filling fast with water. There are no doors or windows. How do you get out?
Answer: Stop imagining!
Deep Thinking Kid Riddles
These riddles will require deep thinking, even after they are solved. The answer won’t be what it seems.
- Riddle: Three people jump into the water, but only two come out with wet hair. Why?
Answer: One was bald.
- Riddle: I am such an odd number. Take away a letter, and I become even. What number am I?
Answer: Seven.
- Riddle: I can fill a room but take no space. What am I?
Answer: Light.
- Riddle: What has to be broken before you use it?
Answer: An egg
- Riddle: I’m as light as a feather, yet the strongest person can’t hold me for five minutes. What am I?
Answer: Your breath.
- Riddle: Nobody empties me, but I never stay full. What am I?
Answer: The moon.
- Riddle: What’s easy to get into and hard to get out of?
Answer: Trouble.
- Riddle: The more you take, the more you leave. What am I?
Answer: Footsteps.
- Riddle: I’m tall when I’m young, and I’m short when I’m old. What am I?
Answer: A candle.
- Riddle: You see a boat full of people, but there isn’t a single person on board. How is that possible?
Answer: All the people on the boat are married.
- Riddle: There’s a line. Without touching the line, how do you make it longer?
Answer: You draw a shorter line next to it.
Math Riddles for Kids
Math riddles don’t require math, but they seem like they do. This is a good way to teach kids that there are many ways to do things.
- Riddles: If there are eight oranges and you take four away, how many oranges do you have?
Answer: Four, since that’s how many oranges you took.
- Riddle: Why did the math book look sad?
Answer: Because it was full of problems.
- Riddle: If two’s a company, and three’s a crowd, what are four and five?
Answer: Nine!
- Riddle: Why is 6 afraid of 7?
Answer: Because 7, 8, 9! Chomp chomp!
- Riddle: You have a basket that’s two feet in diameter and one and a half feet deep. How many average oranges can you fit in the empty basket?
Answer: Only one, because then it’s not empty.