93 riddles
Easy riddles for little kids
Read them slowly and repeat the last clue if anyone is stuck.
I'm round and bouncy. You can kick me, throw me or dribble me. What am I?
Ages 3+
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A ball.
I'm big, yellow and hot. I wake you up in the morning and go down at night. What am I?
Ages 3+
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The sun.
You pull me onto your feet before your shoes, and I come in a pair. What am I?
Ages 3+
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Socks.
I have four legs and a tail, I say moo, and I give you milk. What am I?
Ages 3+
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A cow.
I get bigger when you blow into me, and I float away if you let go of my string. What am I?
Ages 3+
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A balloon.
I'm cold and white, I fall in winter, and you can roll me into a snowman. What am I?
Ages 3+
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Snow.
I come out of the faucet, and you drink me when you're thirsty. What am I?
Ages 3+
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Water.
I'm orange and crunchy, I grow under the ground, and bunnies love to munch me. What am I?
Ages 3+
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A carrot.
I'm big and yellow with lots of windows and wheels, and I take kids to school. What am I?
Ages 3+
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A school bus.
What am I?
I have plenty of keys, but I can't open a single door. What am I?
Ages 5+
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Think music, not locks.
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A piano.
I have a neck but no head, and you take my cap off before you drink. What am I?
Ages 5+
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A bottle.
I have a row of teeth, but I never chew anything. I just keep your hair neat. What am I?
Ages 5+
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A comb.
I have one eye, but I can't see a thing. I help people sew. What am I?
Ages 5+
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A needle.
I can travel all the way around the world while staying in one corner. What am I?
Ages 5+
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Look at the corner of an envelope.
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A stamp.
I have a spine but no bones, and a cover but no blanket. What am I?
Ages 5+
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A book.
Every time you take one of me, you leave one behind. What am I?
Ages 5+
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A footstep.
I belong to you, but your friends use me far more than you do. What am I?
Ages 5+
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What do people call you?
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Your name.
I can be cracked, made, told and played. What am I?
Ages 5+
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A joke.
The more I dry, the wetter I get. What am I?
Ages 5+
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A towel.
I have a thumb and four fingers, but I'm not alive. What am I?
Ages 5+
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A glove.
You have to break me before you can use me, and then I'm breakfast. What am I?
Ages 5+
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An egg.
Animal riddles
I take my trunk everywhere I go, but I never pack a suitcase. Who am I?
Ages 3+
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An elephant.
I wear a black-and-white suit all year. I can't fly, but I'm a speedy swimmer. Who am I?
Ages 3+
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A penguin.
I carry my house on my back and leave a shiny trail wherever I go. Who am I?
Ages 3+
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A snail.
I sleep upside down all day and fly around at night. Who am I?
Ages 3+
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A bat.
I start out as a crawling, munching caterpillar and wake up with wings. Who am I?
Ages 3+
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A butterfly.
I have eight arms and squirt ink when I'm scared. Who am I?
Ages 3+
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An octopus.
I can change my color to match a leaf, and my eyes can look two ways at once. Who am I?
Ages 5+
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A chameleon.
I'm called the king of the jungle, but I actually live on grassy plains. Who am I?
Ages 5+
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A lion.
I'm black and white with stripes from my head to my hooves. Who am I?
Ages 3+
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A zebra.
My shell is like a helmet, and I pull my head inside when I'm shy. Who am I?
Ages 3+
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A turtle.
I hoot at night, I can turn my head way around, and people say I'm wise. Who am I?
Ages 3+
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An owl.
Food riddles
I have ears, but I can't hear a sound. You might eat me on the cob at a barbecue. What am I?
Ages 3+
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Corn.
I have lots of eyes, but I can't see. You can mash me, bake me or fry me. What am I?
Ages 3+
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A potato.
You peel off my yellow jacket before you eat me. What am I?
Ages 3+
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A banana.
I'm red, and I wear my seeds on the outside. What am I?
Ages 3+
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A strawberry.
I start out small and hard, but heat makes me jump and turn fluffy and white. What am I?
Ages 3+
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Listen for a pop at the movies.
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Popcorn.
I'm full of holes, but I still keep my shape on your sandwich. What am I?
Ages 5+
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Swiss cheese.
I'm green outside, red inside and full of black seeds, and I'm perfect for a summer picnic. What am I?
Ages 3+
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A watermelon.
You can turn me into pie, juice or sauce, and I might be red, green or yellow. What am I?
Ages 3+
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An apple.
I'm bread with a hole in the middle, and you might spread cream cheese on me. What am I?
Ages 5+
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A bagel.
Around the house
I have four legs and a back, but I never go for a walk. What am I?
Ages 5+
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A chair.
I have a tongue, but I can't taste anything, and you lace me up every morning. What am I?
Ages 5+
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A shoe.
Smile at me and I'll smile right back, but drop me and I might crack. What am I?
Ages 5+
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A mirror.
I go all the way around the yard, but I never move an inch. What am I?
Ages 5+
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A fence.
I have lots of buttons but no shirt, and I make the TV change its mind. What am I?
Ages 5+
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A remote control.
I have a head, a foot and four legs, and you visit me every night. What am I?
Ages 5+
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A bed.
I'm full of holes, but I can still soak up a spill. What am I?
Ages 5+
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A sponge.
I open wide and swallow letters every day, but I never read a single one. What am I?
Ages 5+
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A mailbox.
I'm tall when I'm new and short when I'm old, and I glow when you light me. What am I?
Ages 5+
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A candle.
I go up when the rain comes down. What am I?
Ages 5+
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An umbrella.
Nature & weather
I have a bed, but I never sleep, and a mouth, but I never eat. What am I?
Ages 5+
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Think of where water flows.
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A river.
I fall from the sky but never get hurt, and I leave puddles for jumping. What am I?
Ages 5+
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Rain.
I'm white and fluffy, I float across the sky, and sometimes I look like an animal. What am I?
Ages 5+
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A cloud.
I change my shape a little every night, and some nights you can't see me at all. What am I?
Ages 5+
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The moon.
I have bark but never bite, and I add a ring for every year I grow. What am I?
Ages 5+
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A tree.
I can whistle without a mouth and lift a kite without hands. What am I?
Ages 5+
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The wind.
I show up after the rain wearing stripes of every color. What am I?
Ages 5+
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A rainbow.
I hang from the roof in winter, pointy and clear, and drip away when the sun comes out. What am I?
Ages 5+
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An icicle.
Word & letter riddles
I'm a word that gets shorter when you add two letters to me. What word am I?
Ages 8–12
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Read the riddle again, word by word.
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Short. Add -er and you get shorter.
Which word does every dictionary spell wrong?
Ages 8–12
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Wrong.
I start with E, end with E, and usually hold just one letter. What am I?
Ages 8–12
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The letter is the kind you mail.
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An envelope.
You'll find me once in a minute, twice in a moment and never in a thousand years. What am I?
Ages 8–12
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Look at the spelling, not the time.
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The letter M.
I appear once in June, twice in November and never in May. What am I?
Ages 8–12
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The letter E.
I begin with T, I end with T, and there's tea inside me. What am I?
Ages 8–12
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A teapot.
Which letter of the alphabet is a buzzing insect?
Ages 5+
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B (bee).
Which letter of the alphabet is a big body of salty water?
Ages 5+
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C (sea).
Which letter of the alphabet asks a question all by itself?
Ages 8–12
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Y (why).
I'm the middle of the day, and I'm spelled the same forward and backward. What word am I?
Ages 8–12
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Noon.
Number riddles
I'm an odd number, but take away one of my letters and I become even. What number am I?
Ages 8–12
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Spell the odd numbers out loud.
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Seven (s-even).
Turn me upside down and I grow by three. What number am I?
Ages 8–12
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6, which becomes 9.
How can you add eight 8s to get 1,000?
Ages 8–12
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Start with the biggest number you can make.
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888 + 88 + 8 + 8 + 8 = 1,000.
Which three whole numbers give the same answer whether you add them or multiply them?
Ages 8–12
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1, 2 and 3. Added or multiplied, they make 6.
Which weighs more, a pound of feathers or a pound of rocks?
Ages 5+
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Neither. They both weigh one pound.
Some months have 31 days and some have 30. How many months have 28 days?
Ages 5+
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All 12 of them.
You have three apples and you take away two. How many apples do you have?
Ages 5+
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Two, the ones you took.
A farmer has 12 sheep, and all but 5 wander off. How many sheep are left?
Ages 8–12
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Read 'all but 5' slowly.
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Five.
I'm the only number whose letters come in alphabetical order. What number am I?
Ages 8–12
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Try spelling the tens.
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Forty.
Add me to myself or multiply me by myself and you get the same answer, and I'm not zero. What number am I?
Ages 8–12
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Two. 2 + 2 and 2 × 2 both make 4.
Tricky riddles for big kids
Each one hides a trick in the wording. Read carefully.
A rooster lays an egg right on the peak of a barn roof. Which way does the egg roll?
Ages 8–12
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Neither way. Roosters don't lay eggs.
You can catch me, but you can't throw me back. What am I?
Ages 8–12
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A cold.
What can you break without ever touching it?
Ages 8–12
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A promise.
What gets bigger the more you take away from it?
Ages 8–12
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A hole.
What can you hold in your right hand but never in your left?
Ages 8–12
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Your left hand.
Sam's mom has four children: North, South and East. What's the fourth child's name?
Ages 8–12
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Read the first word again.
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Sam.
What has a head and a tail but no body?
Ages 8–12
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A coin.
I'm so delicate that just saying my name breaks me. What am I?
Ages 8–12
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Silence.
What goes up and up but never comes back down?
Ages 8–12
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Your age.
If you share me, you don't have me anymore. What am I?
Ages 8–12
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A secret.
How can someone go eight days without sleep?
Ages 8–12
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By sleeping at night.
What do sailors throw out when they want to use it and pull back in when they're done?
Ages 8–12
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An anchor.
A boy falls off a 20-foot ladder but doesn't get a single bump. How?
Ages 8–12
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He fell off the bottom step.
What is always in front of you but can never be seen?
Ages 8–12
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The future.
Play it at a party
Riddle Treasure Hunt
5–10
Ages
3–12
Players
15–25 min
How long
- Pick five or six "Around the house" riddles whose answers are things in your home.
- Hide each riddle at the answer to the one before it: the chair riddle leads to a chair, with the next clue taped underneath.
- Hand the kids the first riddle and let them solve and run.
- Hide the prize at the answer to the last riddle.
Borrowed from treasure hunt, where the full rules live.
Riddle Relay
6–12
Ages
8–20, two teams
Players
10–20 min
How long
- Line up two teams at one end of the room, with a grown-up holding the riddles at the other end.
- The first runner from each team races to the grown-up and hears a riddle.
- They run back and whisper it to their team, who must agree on an answer together.
- A right answer sends the next runner; the first team through every runner wins.
Borrowed from relay races, where the full rules live.
Unwrap a Riddle
4–8
Ages
5–15, seated in a circle
Players
10–15 min
How long
- Wrap a small prize in layers of paper, tucking an easy riddle under each layer.
- Pass the parcel around the circle while music plays.
- When the music stops, the child holding it unwraps one layer and a grown-up reads the riddle aloud.
- Everyone guesses together; the last layer holds the prize.
Borrowed from pass the parcel, where the full rules live.
When to run it
- As a treasure hunt that fills the middle of the party.
- Seated while the cake is cut.
- On the car ride to the party venue.
More games for the same party: Scavenger Hunt and Indoor Party Games for Kids.
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- What is a good riddle for a 5-year-old?
- One that describes something they can picture with two or three clues, like a cold white thing you roll into a snowman. The easy riddles group is written that way. Read it slowly, and repeat the last clue if they're stuck.
- What's the difference between a riddle and a joke?
- A riddle is meant to be solved, and a joke is meant to make you laugh. Riddles give clues and reward thinking, so kids get a turn to guess before the reveal. Plenty of riddles are funny too, which is why they work so well at parties.
- How do you use riddles in a treasure hunt?
- Hide each clue at the answer to the riddle before it. A riddle about a chair sends kids to a chair, where the next riddle is taped underneath. Five or six clues fill about 15 minutes, and the last one leads to the prize.
- How can I help a kid who's stuck on a riddle?
- Give a hint instead of the answer; many riddles here come with one. You can also ask what the clues have in common, or narrow it down to a room of the house. Solving it themselves is the fun part.
