60 Halloween Riddles for Kids With Answers

I cover your face so nobody knows who you are. What am I?

Then ask: How can you tell who someone is without seeing their face?

Answer: A mask.

Why it works: A mask hides your face, so people have to guess who is under it.

I'm shaped like a pumpkin, and I get heavier at every house. What am I?

Then ask: How would you sort your candy afterward?

Answer: A trick-or-treat bucket.

Why it works: Kids carry a bucket or bag to collect candy, and it fills up house by house.

I'm a white sheet with two holes cut in me. What am I?

Then ask: What's the easiest costume you could make at home?

Answer: A ghost costume.

Why it works: A sheet with eyeholes is the simplest ghost costume there is.

I come on the last day of October, and on me people dress up as somebody else. What am I?

Then ask: Who would you be if you could be anyone for a day?

Answer: Halloween.

Why it works: Halloween is October 31, the night people wear costumes.

When I'm switched on, I tell trick-or-treaters something without saying a word. What am I?

Then ask: What other signals do neighbors use without words?

Answer: The porch light.

Why it works: Many families leave the porch light on to show trick-or-treaters they're welcome to knock.

Bend me and I glow, so cars can see you in the dark. What am I?

Then ask: Why do you think bending it makes it glow?

Answer: A glow stick.

Why it works: Bending a glow stick breaks a little tube inside, two liquids mix, and they give off light.

A few houses hand me out instead of candy, and your teeth like me better. What am I?

Then ask: Would you be happy or disappointed to get one?

Answer: A toothbrush.

Why it works: Some dentists and their families hand out toothbrushes on Halloween.

I'm what a grown-up checks before you eat any candy. What am I?

Then ask: Why is it smart to check?

Answer: The wrapper.

Why it works: Grown-ups check that each wrapper is still sealed before kids eat the candy.

I'm a costume that's three things at once: a hat with a point, a cape and a broom. Who am I?

Then ask: Why do you think witches got pointy hats in the stories?

Answer: A witch.

Why it works: In stories, witches wear tall pointed hats and fly on broomsticks.

Long ago in Ireland, people carved scary faces into me before pumpkins took over. What vegetable am I?

Then ask: Why would a pumpkin be easier to carve?

Answer: A turnip.

Why it works: In Ireland and Scotland people carved turnips into lanterns, and in America pumpkins were bigger and easier to cut.

You scoop out my slimy insides, and my seeds get roasted for a snack. What am I?

Then ask: What does the inside of a pumpkin feel like?

Answer: A pumpkin.

Why it works: Pumpkin seeds can be cleaned, salted and roasted in the oven.

I'm a field where you walk between vines and pick your own pumpkin. What am I?

Then ask: How would you pick the best one?

Answer: A pumpkin patch.

Why it works: A pumpkin patch is a field where pumpkins grow on long vines.

I'm the handle on top of a pumpkin, and if you carry it by me, I might snap off. What am I?

Then ask: What's a better way to carry a pumpkin?

Answer: The stem.

Why it works: The stem is where the pumpkin grew on its vine, and it can break under the pumpkin's weight.

I'm a flavor that shows up in pies, drinks and muffins every October. What am I?

Then ask: Do you think pumpkin spice has any pumpkin in it?

Answer: Pumpkin spice.

Why it works: Pumpkin spice is a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves, the spices that go in pumpkin pie.

I grew on a vine and ended up weighing more than a small car. What am I?

Then ask: What do you think growers feed them?

Answer: A giant pumpkin.

Why it works: Prize-winning pumpkins can weigh well over 2,000 pounds.

Every day after Halloween my face droops a little more. What am I?

Then ask: Where could an old pumpkin go instead of the trash?

Answer: A carved pumpkin a week later.

Why it works: Once a pumpkin is cut open, it starts to soften and rot.

I'm a small pumpkin, just right for painting instead of carving. What am I?

Then ask: What would you paint on one?

Answer: A mini pumpkin.

Why it works: Mini pumpkins are small enough for little kids to decorate with paint, with no knife needed.

I'm the job of cutting the face into the pumpkin, and a grown-up should handle the knife. What am I?

Then ask: Which part of it could you do yourself?

Answer: Pumpkin carving.

Why it works: Carving needs a sharp knife or a little saw, so a grown-up does the cutting while kids draw and scoop.

I'm wrapped from head to toe in strips of cloth. What am I?

Then ask: Why do you think people in ancient Egypt did this?

Answer: A mummy.

Why it works: In ancient Egypt, bodies were wrapped in cloth strips to keep them from falling apart.

I sleep in a coffin all day and turn into a bat at night. Who am I?

Then ask: Why do you think the stories make vampires afraid of sunlight?

Answer: A vampire.

Why it works: In stories, vampires sleep in coffins during the day and can change into bats.

I'm green, I have bolts in my neck, and a scientist built me. Who am I?

Then ask: Who is the real Frankenstein, the scientist or the monster?

Answer: Frankenstein's monster.

Why it works: In the book, Dr. Frankenstein builds the creature, but people often call the creature by his name.

I'm a person who turns hairy and howls when the moon is full. What am I?

Then ask: Do real wolves howl at the moon? Why do they howl?

Answer: A werewolf.

Why it works: In stories, a werewolf is a person who turns into a wolf under a full moon.

I'm see-through, I float through walls, and I say "boo". What am I?

Then ask: What would a friendly ghost do all day?

Answer: A ghost.

Why it works: Ghosts in stories are see-through, float around, and say "boo" to scare people.

I'm a black cat, and some people say I bring bad luck. Is that true?

Then ask: What other superstitions do you know?

Answer: No.

Why it works: That's an old superstition, and in some countries a black cat is said to bring good luck.

I'm a house where the doors creak, the stairs groan and nobody lives except spiders. What am I?

Then ask: Would you go inside? Who would you take?

Answer: A haunted house.

Why it works: A haunted house is a spooky story, or a Halloween attraction built to look like one.

I'm stretched across porches in October, but real spiders make me out of silk. What am I?

Then ask: Why do spiders build webs in corners?

Answer: A spiderweb.

Why it works: Spiders spin webs from silk, and fake cobwebs are a favorite Halloween decoration.

I stir a big black pot and drop in strange things. What is the pot called?

Then ask: What would you put in your potion?

Answer: A cauldron.

Why it works: A cauldron is a large metal pot, and in stories witches brew potions in one.

I'm a black bird that sits on scarecrows in Halloween pictures, and I can remember your face. What am I?

Then ask: How do you think scientists found out crows remember faces?

Answer: A crow.

Why it works: Crows are clever black birds, and scientists have shown they can recognize human faces.

I come out at night and eat hundreds of mosquitoes. What am I?

Then ask: Why might people be glad to have me around?

Answer: A little brown bat.

Why it works: Little brown bats hunt insects at night and can eat hundreds of mosquitoes in an evening.

I'm the light you carry in your hand on the way from house to house. What am I?

Then ask: What could you use if it ran out?

Answer: A flashlight.

Why it works: A flashlight lights up the path so you can see where you're stepping in the dark.

I'm the sound an old door makes when it needs oil. What am I?

Then ask: How would you fix a creaky door?

Answer: A creak.

Why it works: Old hinges rub metal on metal and make a creaking sound.

I'm big and hairy with eight legs, and most of my kind are gentle with people. What am I?

Then ask: Why do you think so many people are scared of spiders?

Answer: A tarantula.

Why it works: Tarantulas look scary, but most of them are harmless to people.

I soak up light during the day and give it back slowly in the dark. What am I?

Then ask: What happens if you keep it in the dark all day?

Answer: Glow-in-the-dark paint.

Why it works: Glow-in-the-dark paint stores light and lets it out slowly once it's dark.

I follow you everywhere, I copy every move, and I'm longest when the sun is low. What am I?

Then ask: When is yours the shortest?

Answer: Your shadow.

Why it works: A shadow is where your body blocks the light, and a low sun stretches it out.

I'm an owl with a face shaped like a heart. What am I?

Then ask: How could the shape of a face help you hear?

Answer: A barn owl.

Why it works: A barn owl's heart-shaped face works like a dish that funnels sounds to its ears.

I'm orange and black, and every October I fly thousands of miles south. What am I?

Then ask: How do you think they find the way?

Answer: A monarch butterfly.

Why it works: Monarch butterflies fly from the United States and Canada to Mexico every fall.

I'm a candy bar with a name that says I'm tiny. What am I?

Then ask: Is fun-size really more fun?

Answer: A fun-size bar.

Why it works: Fun-size bars are mini candy bars, made for handing out on Halloween.

I'm an apple on a stick, coated in hard, shiny red sugar. What am I?

Then ask: What else could you dip an apple in?

Answer: A candy apple.

Why it works: A candy apple is dipped in hot sugar syrup that hardens into a shiny shell.

You try to grab me out of a tub of water using only your teeth. What game am I?

Then ask: Why do you think apples float?

Answer: Bobbing for apples.

Why it works: Apples float in water, and players try to catch one with their mouths.

I'm the deal you make with your brother or sister after trick-or-treating. What am I?

Then ask: What makes a trade fair?

Answer: A candy swap.

Why it works: Kids trade the candy they don't like for candy they do.

I'm a chocolate cup filled with peanut butter. What am I?

Then ask: Which candy would you keep and which would you trade?

Answer: A peanut butter cup.

Why it works: A peanut butter cup is a little chocolate shell filled with peanut butter.

I'm a chewy candy shaped like something that lives in the dirt. What am I?

Then ask: Would you rather eat a gummy worm or hold a real worm?

Answer: A gummy worm.

Why it works: Gummy worms are chewy candies shaped like worms.

How many licks does it take to get to the middle of a lollipop?

Then ask: How would you test it fairly?

Answer: It depends who's licking.

Why it works: People who have tested it got very different numbers, so there's no one answer.

I'm what the dentist hopes you do after all that candy. What am I?

Then ask: How long should you brush?

Answer: Brushing your teeth.

Why it works: Sugar feeds the germs that make cavities, and brushing clears them away.

I'm a chewy candy named after the sea, though there's hardly any sea in me. What am I?

Then ask: Why might a name be a little bit wrong?

Answer: Saltwater taffy.

Why it works: Saltwater taffy got its name in seaside towns, but it has only a pinch of salt and a little water.

What's a ghost's favorite dessert?

Then ask: What would a ghost eat for breakfast?

Answer: I scream.

Why it works: I scream sounds like ice cream.

Which room does a ghost stay out of?

Then ask: Which room would a ghost like best?

Answer: The living room.

Why it works: Ghosts aren't alive, and the living room has living in its name.

What do you call a witch at the beach?

Then ask: What's inside a sand-witch?

Answer: A sand-witch.

Why it works: Sand-witch sounds like sandwich.

What does a vampire never order at a restaurant?

Then ask: What would a vampire order instead?

Answer: A stake.

Why it works: In vampire stories a stake is a pointed stick, and it sounds like steak.

How do monsters like their eggs?

Then ask: How would a ghost like its eggs?

Answer: Terri-fried.

Why it works: Terri-fried sounds like terrified.

What's a mummy's favorite kind of music?

Then ask: What music would a skeleton like?

Answer: Wrap music.

Why it works: Mummies are wrapped, and wrap sounds like rap.

Why did the vampire read the newspaper?

Then ask: Did you know that word before?

Answer: He heard it had great circulation.

Why it works: Circulation means how many people read a paper, and it also means blood moving around the body.

What do birds say on Halloween?

Then ask: What would a cat say on Halloween?

Answer: "Trick or tweet!"

Why it works: Tweet is a bird sound, swapped in for treat.

Why are skeletons so calm?

Then ask: What gets under your skin?

Answer: Nothing gets under their skin.

Why it works: "Getting under your skin" means bothering you, and skeletons have no skin at all.