If a funny riddle is like a brainier version of a corny joke, hard riddles with answers are like super challenging brainteasers that reward kids with laughter in the end.
In addition to teaching our kids empathy, cooperation, patience, and the like, we also want to engage their intellect. But that doesn’t mean giving them vocabulary quizzes at the dinner table — or relying exclusively on dumb jokes for laughs. Books, activities, and puzzles are all fun (emphasis on fun) ways to stimulate kids and engage them in problem-solving. But you don’t want to insult your kid’s intelligence by giving them puzzles that are too easy for them to figure out. As they get older, you’ll have to work harder to keep them on their toes with even tougher riddles.
When brainstorming tricky riddles with answers that’ll stump your kid, think about how their brain works. The best part of these tough riddles with answers is they reward every type of kid, depending on the riddle you give them: There are the number games for the math nerds, the wordplay for the book lovers, and the absurdist puzzles for the creative thinkers. Below are the best tricky riddles with answers that your kid may be able to figure out on their own… with enough patience.
Funny Riddles For Kids
1. Riddle: What is so fragile that saying its name breaks it?
Answer: Silence.
2. Riddle: What two things can you never have for breakfast?
Answer: Lunch and dinner.
3. Riddle: What is the capital in France?
Answer: The letter F is the only capital letter in France.
4. Riddle: What does man love more than life, hate more than any type of mortal strife; that which contented men desire; the poor have, the rich require; the miser spends, the spendthrift saves, and all men carry to their graves?
Answer: Nothing.
5. 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?
Answer: All greenhouses are made of glass.
6. Riddle: How do you fix a cracked pumpkin?
Answer: With a pumpkin patch.
6. Riddle: What can never be put in a saucepan?
Answer: It’s lid.
7. Riddle: What can you catch but never throw?
Answer: A cold.
8. Riddle: What can travel around the world without moving from its corner?
Answer: A stamp.
9. Riddle: What kind of room has no walls or corners?
Answer: A mushroom.
10. Riddle: When is a door no longer a door?
Answer: When it’s ajar.
11. Riddle: What begins with an “e” and only contains one letter?
Answer: An envelope.
12. Riddle: You see a boat filled with people. It has not sunk, but you don’t see a single person on the ship when you look again. Why?
Answer: They were all married.
13. Riddle: What English word has three consecutive double letters?
Answer: Bookkeeper.
14. Riddle: Which letter of the alphabet has the most water?
Answer: The “C.”
15. Riddle: What two words, added together, contain the most letters?
Answer: Post office.
16. Riddle: What type of cheese is made backward?
Answer: Edam.
17. Riddle: What can fill a room but takes up no space?
Answer: Light.
Math Riddles For Kids
1. Riddle: Mr. and Mrs. Mustard have six daughters and each daughter has one brother. How many people are in the Mustard family?
Answer: There are nine Mustards in the family. Since each daughter shares the same brother, there are six girls, one boy, and Mr. and Mrs. Mustard.
2. Riddle: If 11 plus two equals one, what does nine plus five equal?
Answer: 11 a.m. plus two hours = 1 p.m., 9 a.m. plus five hours = 2 p.m.
3. Riddle: Can you write down eight eights so that they add up to one thousand?
Answer: 888 + 88 + 8 + 8 + 8 = 1,000
4. Riddle: I am four times as old as my daughter. In 20 years’ time, I shall be twice as old as her. How old are we now?
Answer: I am 40 and my daughter is 10.
5. Riddle: A girl has as many brothers as sisters, but each brother has only half as many brothers as sisters. How many brothers and sisters are there in the family?
Answer: Four sisters and three brothers.
6. Riddle: Lily is a lily pad in a small pond. Lily doubles her size each day. On the 20th day, she covers the whole pond. On what day was Lily half the size of the pond?
Answer: Day 19, it’s not 10 because on day 20 she doubled from day 19, so 19 must be half the size of the pond.
7. Riddle: When asked how old she was, Suzie replied, “In two years I will be twice as old as I was five years ago.” How old is she?
Answer: She’s 12.
8. Riddle: When John was 6 years old, he hammered a nail into his favorite tree to mark his height. Ten years later, at age 16, John returned to see how much higher the nail was. If the tree grew by 5 centimeters each year, how much higher would the nail be?
Answer: The nail would be at the same height since trees grow at their tops.
Animal Riddles For Kids
1. Riddle: A dog crosses the river without getting wet, and without using a bridge or boat. How?
Answer: The river was frozen.
2. Riddle: First, think of the color of the clouds. Next, think of the color of snow. Now, think of the color of a bright, full moon. Now, answer quickly: What do cows drink?
Answer: Water.
3. Riddle: What has a head, a tail, is brown and has no legs? Answer: A penny.
Easy Riddles For Kids
1. Riddle: What breaks yet never falls, and what falls yet never breaks?
Answer: Day and night.
2. Riddle: A man looks at a painting in a museum and says, “Brothers and sisters, I have none, but that man’s father is my father’s son.” Who is in the painting?
Answer: The man’s son.
3. Riddle: The person who makes it has no need for it; the person who buys it has no use for it. The person who uses it can neither see nor feel it. What is it?
Answer: A coffin.
4. Riddle: It can’t be seen, can’t be felt, can’t be heard, and can’t be smelled. It lies behind stars and under hills, and empty holes it fills. What is it?
Answer: The dark.
5. Riddle: An electric train is headed east. Where does the smoke go?
Answer: Electric trains don’t produce any smoke!
6. Riddle: Where does today come before yesterday?
Answer: In the dictionary.
7. Riddle: What four-letter word can be written forward, backward, or upside down, and can still be read from left to right?
Answer: Noon.
8. Riddle: What is at the end of the rainbow? Answer: The letter W!
9. Riddle: What is seen in the middle of March and April that can’t be seen at the beginning or end of either month?
Answer: The letter R.
10. Riddle: What word in the dictionary is spelled incorrectly?
Answer: “Incorrectly.”
11. Riddle: What belongs to you, but everyone else uses it?
Answer: Your name.
12. Riddle: How far can you walk into the forest?
Answer: Halfway. After that, you’re walking out.
13. Riddle: Before Mt. Everest was discovered, what was the tallest mountain peak in the world?
Answer: It was still Mt. Everest.
“What Am I” Riddles For Kids
1. Riddle: If you drop me, I’m sure to crack, but give me a smile and I’ll always smile back. What am I?
Answer: A mirror.
2. Riddle: The more you take, the more you leave behind. What are they?
Answer: Footsteps.
3. Riddle: I am always hungry and need to be fed, but whatever I touch will soon turn red. What am I?
Answer: Fire.
4. Riddle: With pointed fangs, I sit and wait; with piercing force, I crunch out fate; grabbing victims, proclaiming might; physically joining with a single bite. What am I?
Answer: A stapler.
5. Riddle: I have lakes with no water, mountains with no stone, and cities with no buildings. What am I?
Answer: A map.
6. Riddle: I have branches, yet I have no leaves, no trunk, and no fruit. What am I?
Answer: A bank.
7. Riddle: When I’m used, I’m useless. Once offered, soon rejected. In desperation, I’m often expressed. What am I?
Answer: An excuse.
8. Riddle: Different lights make me strange, thus into different sizes I will change. What am I
Answer: I am the pupil of an eye.
9. Riddle: I have cities, but no houses. I have mountains, but no trees. I have water, but no fish. What am I?
Answer: A map.
10. Riddle: I have four legs, but no hair. People ride me for hours, but don’t go anywhere. Without needing to be tugged or turned on, I always manage to be ready for work. What am I?
Answer: A desk.
11. Riddle: You go at red and stop at green. What am I?
Answer: A watermelon.
12. Riddle: I am higher without a head. What am I?
Answer: A pillow.
13. Riddle: I am easy to lift but hard to throw. What am I?
Answer: A feather.
14. Riddle: You measure my life in hours, and I serve you by expiring. I’m quick when I’m thin and slow when I’m fat. The wind is my enemy. What am I?
Answer: Candle.
15. Riddle: Take one out and scratch my head. I am now black but once was red. What am I?
Answer: A match.
16. Riddle: Until I am measured, I am not known. Yet how you miss me when I have flown. What am I?
Answer: Time.
17. Riddle: Two in a corner, one in a room, zero in a house, but one in a shelter. What am I?
Answer: The letter “R.”
18. Riddle: Spelled forward I’m what you do every day, spelled backward I’m something you hate. What am I?
Answer: Live.
19. Riddle: I’m covered with eyes, but I can’t see and live mostly in the dark. What am I?
Answer: A potato.
20. Riddle: I have a single eye but can’t see. What am I?
Answer: A needle.
21. Riddle: I’m a well-established band, but I’ve never played a note. What am I?
Answer: A rubber band.
22. Riddle: I am an odd number. Take away a letter and I become even. What number am I?
Answer: Seven.
23. Riddle: Lighter than what I am made of, more of me is hidden than is seen. What am I?
Answer: An iceberg.
24. Riddle: I turn once, what is out will not get in. I turn again, what is in will not get out. What am I?
Answer: A key.
25. Riddle: I am something people love or hate. I change people’s appearances and thoughts. If a person takes care of themself, I will go up even higher. Some people might want to try and hide me, but I will show. No matter how hard people try, I will never go down. What am I?
Answer: Age.
26. Riddle: I have keys, but no locks and space, and no rooms. You can enter, but you can’t go outside. What am I?
Answer: A keyboard.
Logic Riddles For Kids
1. Riddle: The man who bought it doesn’t want it for himself. The man who buys it doesn’t buy it for himself. And the man who needs it doesn’t know he needs it. What is it?
Answer: A coffin.
2. Riddle: A room contains a match, a kerosene lamp, a candle, and a fireplace. What do you light first?
Answer: The match.
3. Riddle: If your uncle’s sister is not your aunt, what relation is she to you?
Answer: Your mother.
4. Riddle: Which is heavier: a ton of sand or a ton of feathers?
Answer: They’re the same: They both weigh a ton.
5. Riddle: What has a bottom at its top?
Answer: Your legs.
6. Riddle: What has a tail and a head but no body?
Answer: A coin.
7. Riddle: It’s shorter than the rest, but when you’re happy, you raise it up like it’s the best. What is it?
Answer: A thumb.
8. Riddle: Three playing cards in a row. Can you name them with these clues? There is a two to the right of a king. A diamond will be found to the left of a spade. An ace is to the left of a heart. A heart is to the left of a spade. Now, identify all three cards.
Answer: Ace of diamonds, king of hearts, two of spades.
9. Riddle: What is it that, given one, you’ll have either two or none?
Answer: A choice.
10. Riddle: George, Helen, and Steve are drinking coffee. Bert, Karen, and Dave are drinking soda. Using logic, is Elizabeth drinking coffee or soda?
Answer: Elizabeth is drinking coffee. The letter E appears twice in her name, as it does in the names of the others that are drinking coffee.
11. Riddle: What goes through cities and fields, but never moves?
Answer: A road.
13. Riddle: What common English verb becomes its own past tense by rearranging its letters?
Answer: Eat and ate.
14. Riddle: Which of the following words don’t belong in the group and why? CORSET, COSTER, SECTOR, ESCORT, COURTS.
Answer: Courts. All of the others are anagrams of each other.
15. Riddle: Only one color, but not one size. Stuck at the bottom, yet easily flies. Present in sun, but not in rain. Doing no harm and feeling no pain. What is it?
Answer: A shadow.
16. Riddle: Who is that with a neck and no head, two arms and no hands?
Answer: A shirt.
17. Riddle: What English word retains the same pronunciation, even after you take away four of its five letters?
Answer: Queue.
18. Riddle: What can run but never walk, has a mouth but never talks, has a head but never weeps, has a bed but never sleeps?
Answer: A river.
19. Riddle: A man calls his dog from the opposite side of the river. The dog crosses the river without getting wet, and without using a bridge or boat.
Answer: The river was frozen.
20. Riddle: The day before yesterday, I was 21, and next year I will be 24. When is my birthday?
Answer: December 31; today is January 1.
21. Riddle: Two fathers and two sons are in a car, yet there are only three people in the car. How?
Answer: They are a grandfather, father, and son.
22. Riddle: A man describes his daughters, saying, “They are all blonde, but two; all brunette but two; and all redheaded but two.” How many daughters does he have?
Answer: Three: A blonde, a brunette, and a redhead.
23. Riddle: What five-letter word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it?
Answer: Short.
24. Riddle: A word I know, six letters it contains; remove one letter, and 12 remain. What is it?
Answer: Dozens.
25. Riddle: What is 3/7 chicken, 2/3 cat, and 2/4 goat?
Answer: Chicago.
26. Riddle: What word of five letters has one left when two are removed?
Answer: Stone.
27. Riddle: If two’s company, and three’s a crowd, what are four and five?
Answer: Nine.
28. Riddle: If there are three apples and you take away two, how many apples do you have?
Answer: You have two apples.
29. Riddle: Two in a corner, one in a room, zero in a house, but one in a shelter. What is it?
Answer: The letter “r.”
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FAQs
What has 88 keys? ›
A standard piano has 88 keys: 52 white and 36 black. But who decided this number would be the norm, and why?
What can you lift but not throw? ›Q: I am easy to lift, but hard to throw. What am I? A: A feather. Q: Where do you take a sick boat?
What can run but Cannot walk? ›Answer: A River!
What has 13 hearts but nothing else? ›Q: What has 13 hearts, but no other organs? ... ... A: A deck of playing cards.
What has 24 keys but cannot open? ›I have 24 keys but cannot open any locks. Sometimes loud, sometimes soft. What am I? Answer: Music.
Which flowers have two lips? ›Tulips (Two Lips) For Lovers Flower Bouquet.
What goes into water black? ›What goes in the water black and comes out red? Answer: A lobster.
What is at the end of Rainbow? ›What is at the end of a rainbow? Answer: The letter "W".
Where do fishes keep their money? ›Q: Where do fish keep their money? A: In a river bank.
What can fly but no wings? ›"Time" is the response to the riddle "what flies without wings." Now it seems like a really simple puzzle. The best riddles all seem to be so straightforward and simple once the solutions have been found. It is very clear that time is the thing that can fly without wings.
What can hold a car but? ›
A garage can hold a car but can't lift a feather. A garage can hold a car but can't lift a feather because a garage is not at all designed to lift a feather.
What goes to Z to A? ›Explanation: Alphabets go in order from A to Z. The Word Zebra starts with the Letter 'Z' and ends with the Letter 'A'. So, the correct answer to the riddle is Zebra.
What has teeth but cannot eat? ›Bright 32 Family Dentistry - WHAT HAS TEETH but can't eat? A comb! Do you know any other tooth riddles, jokes, or puns? | Facebook.
What has legs but not walk? ›What has four legs and one back but can't walk? Chair.
What has more than 1 heart? ›Octopuses and squids (animals called cephalopods) have three hearts. Two hearts pump blood to the gills to take up oxygen, and the other pumps blood around the body (Figure 1). Worms are also unusual, with five structures called aortic arches acting as basic hearts.
What has 6 faces but no life? ›a die(dice) is the answer, it has six faces but dont wear makeup, but 21 eyes but cannot see, that is die.
What has 4 wings but never flies? ›Riddle. What has four wings but cannot fly and uses the wind but does not know why? Answer: Windmill.
What has 88 keys but C? ›What has 88 keys but can't open a single door? Answer: A piano.
What has many keys but C? ›The Answer is Piano.
What has 21 keys but no locks? ›The answer to the social media puzzle is Keyboard. If you read the question carefully, you will notice that the keyboard has keys but no locks.
What flower means kiss? ›
ALSTROEMERIA is the flower of devotion, signifying a bond of support between two people. With this bloom, a kiss on the cheek is almost guaranteed! Of course, if that's what you're looking for ;) CARNATIONS are not as passionate as red roses, but they still do the trick!
What flower looks like a kiss? ›Dianthus, often called pinks, are a trusted flower when you need easy to grow color in spring and summer. 'Kiss and Tell' give you a halo of pure white around a magenta lip shaped center. We like the name because the flower reminds of a note written and sealed with a kiss.
What is a kiss flower? ›THE ORIGINS OF THE KISS-ME-QUICK FLOWER
The Kiss-Me-Quick flower is also known as pink purslane and (and less pleasantly, hairy pigweed). It is considered a succulent and is characterized by its pink flowers and linear leaves.
It's teapot! The word teapot starts with the word 'T' and also ends with the word 'T'. In a teapot it has tea as tea is pronounced as 'T'. The answer is Teapot.
Which house weighs the least? ›What type of house weighs the least? A lighthouse!
What goes in water red? ›What goes in the water red, and comes out black? Answer: Iron.
What does 🌈 mean in texting? ›What does 🌈 Rainbow emoji mean? The rainbow emoji 🌈 depicts a colorful arc of a rainbow. When not representing the meteorological phenomenon, the emoji can express various positive emotions, such as happiness, feelings of togetherness, hope, and good fortune.
Can you stand in a rainbow? ›A rainbow isn't a fixed object that hangs in the sky. It's an illusion formed between the sunshine, the rain and your eyes. Light bounces out of the raindrops at an angle of 40° for red light, and 42° for blue. And that's true wherever you stand, so as you move, the rainbow moves too and you can never catch it.
Can a rainbow touch the ground? ›Rainbows never actually touch the ground! They look like they do due to a prism-ing effect but if you go high enough, in a plane or on a mountaintop, and look down on a rainbow; it will be completely circular! And did you know rainbows can literally go full circle?
Which fish bring money home? ›Arowana Fish
This is also popularly referred to as Dragon Fish and is amongst the most preferred feng shui fish for aquariums. Arowana fish symbolizes wealth, power, health and happiness in feng shui.
Does fish attract money? ›
Significance of Aquariums and Fishes According to Vastu
Believed to be the original reincarnations of Lord Vishnu, fishes are considered to be a source of positive energy that attracts wealth, happiness, and peace.
A fruit on a tree. A tree on a fruit. Answer: Pineapple.
Which bird has no wings? ›The only known species of flightless bird in which wings completely disappeared was the gigantic, herbivorous moa of New Zealand, hunted to extinction by humans by the 15th century. In moa, the entire pectoral girdle is reduced to a paired scapulocoracoid, which is the size of a finger.
What flies without flying? ›A blimp, or zeppelin, flies without wings.
Can animals fly without wings? ›Flying tree snakes in southern Asia undulate their bodies as they glide through the air. Flying fish have specialized pectoral fins that allow them to glide more than 600 feet after propelling themselves out of water at 35 miles per hour.
What moves in a car? ›Wheels and Tires
The system of engine, crankshaft, transmission, drive shaft, transfer case, and axle all work together to turn the wheels. If any part of that system doesn't work properly, the wheels will not move.
Some plastic shields are installed under the car to make the underside of a car more aerodynamic. The size of these underside vehicle shields can range from something small (less than a square foot) to a shield that stretches the entire length of the car between the front and rear wheels.
What stops a car from moving? ›They include hydraulic pump failure, cracked flywheel, failed sun-gear shell, worn out clutch plates, linkage problem and a variety of other internal problems.
What letter comes before Z? ›The English Alphabet consists of 26 letters: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z.
Where does the Z go? ›The first 25 letters of the alphabet are written either above or below the line according to a pattern. Should Z go above or below, and why? The letters above the line are all composed of straight line segments, so Z goes above the line.
What alphabet is lower A to Z? ›
a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y and z.
What has sharp teeth? ›Lions, tigers, wolves, and foxes are carnivores (meat-eaters). They have long, pointed teeth to grip their prey and sharp teeth for cutting up meat. These animals do not have flat chewing teeth because they swallow their food in chunks.
What kind of table has no leg? ›What kind of table has no legs? Answer: Periodic.
Which animal has no teeth? ›Birds. Probably the most famous toothless animal, birds swallow their food whole and depend on the gizzard in their stomachs to help them digest their food. The gizzard is an organ that grinds food down with the help of small stones and other particles.
Which animal has 4 legs? ›Quadrupedalism (from Latin, meaning "four legs") is a form of land animal locomotion using four legs. The majority of walking animals are quadrupeds, including mammals such as cattle and cats, and reptiles, like lizards. Birds, humans, insects, crustaceans and snakes are not quadrupeds.
Which cup doesn t hold water? ›The correct answer for your riddle "I'm a kind of cup that doesn't hold water but make a lot of noise repeatedly" is Hiccup.
What goes on 4 legs in the morning? ›What has one voice but goes on four legs in the morning, two in the afternoon, and three in the evening? The wise Sphinx posed this riddle, and clever Oedipus guessed the answer. It's a human being, who crawls as a baby, stands on two legs as an adult, and walks with a stick in old age.
What is the Harvard riddle? ›The riddle is, "I turn polar bears white and I will make you cry. I make guys have to pee, and girls comb their hair. I make celebrities look stupid and normal people look like celebrities. I turn pancakes brown and make your champagne bubble. If you squeeze me, I'll pop but if you'll look at me, you'll pop.
What is the riddle 98 of Harvard students fail? ›' Known as the 'I turn a polar bear white' riddle online, a number of people were able to figure out. 'The Answer is: "No,"' one user correctly said. 'Harvard students think because they try to find something that matches it the hints but kindergarteners just give up.
What is the answer to the world's hardest riddle I turn polar bears white? ›I turn polar bears white answer
The correct answer to I turn polar bears white riddle is 'Time'.
What is the answer to the world's hardest riddle that kindergarteners can answer? ›
What is greater than God, More evil than the devil, The poor have it, The rich don't need it, And if you eat it, you'll die? The answer to the riddle is "nothing." Nothing is greater than God.
What happened to the $1 riddle? ›Each of the 3 guests has $1 in his pocket, totaling $3. When added to the $27 revised cost of the room (including tip to the bellhop), the total is $30. To obtain a sum that totals to the original $30, every dollar must be accounted for, regardless of its location. This sum does indeed come out to $30.
What are the three gods riddles? ›“Three gods A, B, and C are called, in some order, True, False, and Random. True always speaks truly, False always speaks falsely, but whether Random speaks truly or falsely is a completely random matter.
What Colour was the bear? ›There's a famous riddle about a hunter who walks one mile south, one mile east, and one mile north and ends up right back where he started. He sees a bear and shoots it. What color is the bear? The accepted answer is white; the hunter is at the North Pole and the bear is a polar bear.