1. How many months of the year have 28 days?
Answer: All of them! Every month has *at least* 28 days.
2. What has hands and a face, but can’t hold anything or
smile?
Answer: A clock.
3. It belongs to you, but your friends use it more. What is it?
Answer: Your name.
4. Kate’s mother has three children: Snap, Crackle and ___?
Answer: Kate! It’s Kate’s mother, after all. (This is a good example of
how riddles use your existing expectations to trick you. Even though
the answer is right in front of you, you’re tempted to continue the
pattern instead.)
5. If you don’t keep me, I’ll break. What am I?
Answer: A promise.
6. There’s only one word in the dictionary that’s spelled
wrong. What is it?
Answer: The word “wrong.” It’s the only word that’s spelled W-R-O-N-
G.
7. You’re running a race and at the very end, you pass the
person in 2nd place. What place did you finish the race in?
Answer: You finished in 2nd place.
8. I have a tail and a head, but no body. What am I?
Answer: A coin.
9. What 2 things can you never eat for breakfast?
Answer: Lunch and dinner.
10. Which word becomes shorter when you add 2 letters to
it?
Answer: The word “short.”
11. What’s the capital of France?
Answer: The letter “F.” It's the only capital letter in France.
Math riddles for kids
1. When Grant was 8, his brother was half his age. Now, Grant
is 14. How old is his brother?
Answer: His brother is 10. Half of 8 is 4, so Grant’s brother is 4 years
younger. This means when Grant is 14, his brother is still 4 years
younger, so he’s 10.
2. Two fathers and 2 sons spent the day fishing, but only
caught 3 fish. This was enough for each of them to have one
fish. How is this possible?
Answer: There were only 3 people fishing. There was one father, his
son, and his son's son. This means there were 2 fathers and 2 sons,
since one of them is a father and a son.
3. Liam was 11 the day before yesterday, and next year he’ll
turn 14. How is this possible?
Answer: Today is January 1st, and Liam’s birthday is December
31st. Liam was 11 the day before yesterday (December 30th), then
turned 12 the next day. This year on December 31st he’ll turn 13, so
next year he’ll turn 14.
4. Mrs. Brown has 5 daughters. Each of these daughters has a
brother. How many children does Mrs. Brown have?
Answer: They have 6 children. Each daughter has the same brother.
There are 5 daughters and 1 son.
5. It’s raining at midnight, but the forecast for tomorrow and
the next day is clear. Will there be sunny weather in 48
hours?
Answer: No, it won’t be sunny because it will be dark out. In 48 hours,
it will be midnight again.
6. There are 3 apples in the basket and you take away 2. How
many apples do you have now?
Answer: You have 2 apples. You took away 2 apples and left 1 in the
basket.
7. What can you put between 7 and 8, to make the result
greater than 7, but less than 8?
Answer: A decimal point. Your result would be 7.8, which is between
7 and 8.
8. A new clothing store has a unique method of pricing items.
A vest costs $20, a tie costs $15, a blouse costs $30, and
underwear costs $45. How much would pants cost?
Answer: $25. The pricing method charges $5 for each letter needed
to spell the item.
9. 81 x 9 = 801. What do you need to do to make this
equation true?
Answer: Turn it upside down. 108 = 6 x 18.
10. Double it and multiply it by 4. Then divide it by 8 and
you’ll have it once more. What number is it?
Answer: Any number. If a number is doubled and multiplied by 4, it’s
actually been multiplied by 8, so dividing by 8 will get you the original
number again.
11. What 3 numbers give the same result when multiplied and
added together?
Answer: 1, 2, and 3 (1 + 2 + 3 = 6 and 1 x 2 x 3 = 6).
12. Zoey has a very big family. She has 20 aunts, 20 uncles
and 50 cousins. Each of her cousins has an aunt who is not
Zoey’s aunt. How is this possible?
Answer: Their aunt is Zoey’s mom!
Hard riddles for kids
Did your child ace the last two categories? Try to stump them with
these brain-teasing riddles that are a bit more of a challenge.
1. I go all around the world, but never leave the corner. What
am I?
Answer: A stamp.
2. You’ll find me in Mercury, Earth, Mars and Jupiter, but not
in Venus or Neptune. What am I?
Answer: The letter “R.”
3. What can go up a chimney down, but can’t go down a
chimney up?
Answer: An umbrella. If your umbrella is “down,” it can fit through a
chimney, but if it’s “up,” it won’t fit!
4. I make a loud sound when I’m changing. When I do change,
I get bigger but weigh less. What am I?
Answer: Popcorn.
5. A bus driver was heading down a busy street in the city. He
went past three stop signs without stopping, went the wrong
way down a one-way street, and answered a message on his
phone. But the bus driver didn’t break any traffic laws. How?
Answer: He was walking, not driving. (This riddle adds irrelevant
information to deceive the reader. You expect that since he’s a bus
driver, he’s currently driving the bus — but it never actually says
that!)
6. It has keys, but no locks. It has space, but no room. You
can enter, but can’t go inside. What is it?
Answer: A keyboard.
7. I can fill a room, but I take up no space. What am I?
Answer: Light.
8. It’s the only place in the world where today comes before
yesterday. Where is it?
Answer: The dictionary.
9. If I have it, I don’t share it. If I share it, I don’t have it.
What is it?
Answer: A secret.
10. What goes away as soon as you talk about it?
Answer: Silence.
11. A railroad crossing without any cars. Can you spell that
without any R’s?
Answer: T-H-A-T (This one is tricky! It makes readers think they’re
supposed to describe the scenario without using the letter “R.” But
the first sentence was actually used to distract the reader from the
real question.)
Funny riddles for kids
Want to get your child giggling?
Show them these riddles that also double as jokes!
The answers might not be what you expect, because each one comes
with a funny punchline for the solution.
1. What can jump higher than a building?
Answer: Anything that can jump — buildings don’t jump, silly!
2. An elephant in Africa is called Lala. An elephant in Asia is
called Lulu. What do you call an elephant in Antarctica?
Answer: Lost.
3. Imagine you are in a room with no windows or doors. How
will you get out?
Answer: Stop imagining.
4. A group of bunnies were having a birthday party. What
kind of music were they listening to?
Answer: Hip hop music.
5. Where would you take a sick boat?
Answer: To the dock.
6. What kind of room has no doors or windows?
Answer: A mushroom.
7. I’m orange, I wear a green hat and I sound like a parrot.
What am I?
Answer: A Carrot.
8. What fruit can you never cheer up?
Answer: A blueberry.
9. What did the zero say to the eight?
Answer: “Nice belt!”
