Looking for some fun riddles for kids to keep those little minds sharp? Or maybe even a few hard riddles for kids? We’ve found kid-friendly puzzlers just right for your family. Share these riddles for kids with answers on the way to school or over dinner. And for even more, check out this adorable kid’s book.
Don’t stop here! Check out our trivia for kids and our ultimate list of jokes for kids for more fun.
What is a riddle?
A riddle is a brain-teasing question with a hidden meaning or answer requiring creative, out-of-the-box thinking. The answers are often things you wouldn’t think about, so be sure to take your time solving these easy riddles for kids!
Why should you share riddles with kids?
Riddles, and other brain teasers like hidden word puzzles, sudoku, and crossword puzzles help keep the brain sharp and help to develop problem-solving skills and creativity. Plus, it’s just fun to ask kids funny riddles and see their reactions!
One-Word Answers for Easy Riddles
1. What has hands but cannot write or clap?
A clock.
2. What has stripes and goes through the air?
Hint: It sometimes goes on the ground, too!
A basketball.
3. I am yellow, and I write, and my mate is white. What am I?
A pencil.
4. What gets wetter the more it dries?
A towel.
5. What has a neck but no head and arms but no hands?
A shirt.
6. Remove my skin and I won't cry, but you might! What am I?
An onion.
7. What kind of ship has two mates but no captain?
A relationship.
8. I'm taller when I'm young and shorter when I'm old. What am I?
A candle.
9. What is always right in front of you, yet you cannot see it?
The future.
10. What has a tongue but cannot talk?
A shoe.
11. What is easier to get into than out of?
Trouble.
12. What always ends up broken before you use it?
An egg.
13. What begins with T ends with T and has a T in it?
A teapot.
14. What breaks as soon as you say its name?
Silence.
15. If you threw a yellow stone into a blue sea, what would it become?
Wet.
16. What number is odd until you take away one letter; then it becomes even?
Seven.
17. What runs but cannot walk, has a mouth but no teeth, and has a bed but cannot sleep?
A river.
18. There is one word spelled wrong in every English dictionary. What is it?
Wrong.
19. What goes in your pocket but keeps it empty?
A hole.
20. What has legs but cannot walk?
A chair.
21. I sometimes run but cannot walk. You follow me around. What am I?
Your nose.
22. What word begins and ends with the E but only has one letter?
Envelope.
23. What do you find at the end of a rainbow?
The letter W.
Related: Here Comes the Pun: 300+ Best Jokes for Kids
24. What are two things you can never eat for dinner?
Breakfast and Lunch.
25. I can be cracked or played; told or made. What am I?
A joke!
26. I give you one, and you have two or none. What am I?
A choice.
27. What has four eyes but cannot see?
MISSISSIPPI
28. What belongs to you but is used most often by everyone else?
Your name.
29. I fall but I never get hurt. What am I?
Snow.
30. What's full of holes but still holds water?
A sponge.
31. What has a bottom at the top?
Legs
Related: 18 Unique Facts About the Wright Brothers
Riddles for Kids with Long Answers
32. A man holds $5.50 in his hand but only has one coin. How is this possible?
He has a $5 bill and one 50-cent piece.
33. How many months of the year have 28 days?
All of them (they all have at least 28 days).
34. When is "L" greater than "XL"?
When you use Roman numerals.
35. What is always on the dinner table but you cannot eat it?
A plate. (Or a fork, etc.)
36. What can you hold in your right hand but never your left hand?
Your left hand.
37. A cowboy comes into town on Friday. He stays two nights at a local hotel. He leaves on Friday. How is this possible?
His horse's name is Friday.
38. A woman is sitting in his cabin in Minnesota. In less than three hours, she's in her cabin in Texas. How can this be?
The woman is a pilot and she's sitting in the cabin of her airplane.
39. What is as big as a hippo but weighs nothing at all?
A hippo's shadow.
40. What bank never has any money?
A river bank.
41. How do you make the number “one” disappear?
Add a “g” and it is “gone.”
42. If an electric train is traveling 60 MPH and going against the wind, which way will the train's smoke drift?
There is no smoke from an electric train.
43. Why did the kid bury his walkie-talkie?
Because the batteries died.
44. Two fathers and two sons went fishing. They only caught 3 fish, but they caught one fish each. How is this possible?
It was a grandfather, a father, and a grandson/son. (Both the grandfather and father are fathers and both the father and grandson are sons).
Easy Riddles Submitted by Readers
45. I am loved, for I am sweet
I come in many forms
but I’m always a treat
before apple and after cotton
dentists contend that I’ll
make your teeth rotten
What am I?
Candy
—from young reader Gloria, age 8
46. There was a circle house. There was a chef, a nanny, a butler, two children, and a maid. The boy child was found dead. The nanny said she was playing with the girl, the chef said he was cooking dinner and the maid said she was dusting the corners. So who killed the boy?
The maid because she was lying about dusting corners. A circle house has no corners.
—submitted by Joshua Y., age 9
47. What has a head and a tail but no body?
A coin.
—Young reader Katelyn
48. Mr. Red and Ms. Red live in the red house, Mr. Purple and Ms. Purple live in the purple house. Who lives in the white house?
The President!
—from young reader Gwen I
49. If you feed me, I grow, but if you give me water, I die.
Fire
—Young reader Sai Sri Vallabh
50. What has a mouth, a bed, and always runs?
A river.
—Chase, age 9
Riddles for Brain-Teasing Fun
51. What five-letter word gets short when you add two letters to the end?
Short.
52. What type of cheese is made backward?
Edam
53. A cat wants to get in better shape. She’s going to start by climbing the stairs. Starting on the fourth floor, she climbs up five stories, down seven stories, up six stories, down three stories, and up four stories again. What floor is she on?
The ninth floor.
54. There was a blue one-story house in a nice neighborhood. Everything in it was blue—the walls, the carpets, the furniture, and even the dog! What color were the stairs?
There are no stairs because it's a one-story house.
