Sixty tricky and hard riddles for kids aged 8 to 12, with answers: what-am-I riddles with a twist, stories you have to think through, logic puzzles, wordplay, sneaky questions and a few science riddles.
In this deck · 6 groups
Hard what-am-I riddles
The more of me there is, the less you can see. What am I?
Then ask: What else do you see less through the more of it there is?
Answer: Darkness.
Why it works: More darkness means less light, and with less light you see less.
I have keys but no locks, space but no room, and you can enter but never go inside. What am I?
Then ask: Which clue gave it away for you?
Answer: A keyboard.
Why it works: A keyboard has keys, a space bar and an Enter key.
I travel all around the world but stay in one corner. What am I?
Then ask: What else goes far while staying in one place?
Answer: A stamp.
Why it works: A stamp stays in the corner of an envelope while the letter travels.
I have lots of needles, and I never sew. What am I?
Then ask: Two answers fit. Which one do you like better?
Answer: A pine tree, or a porcupine.
Why it works: A pine tree's leaves are called needles, and a porcupine is covered in quills as sharp as needles.
I can be cracked, made, told and played. What am I?
Then ask: Can you think of another word that goes with lots of different verbs?
Answer: A joke.
Why it works: You crack a joke, make a joke, tell a joke and play a joke on someone.
I get sharper the more you use me. What am I?
Then ask: What have you practiced that got easier?
Answer: Your mind.
Why it works: People say a mind gets sharp when it is used to think and learn, the way a skill gets better with practice.
I have no life, but I can die. What am I?
Then ask: What else do people say dies without ever being alive?
Answer: A battery.
Why it works: We say a battery dies when it runs out of power, even though it was never alive.
I run all the way around the yard without moving. What am I?
Then ask: What else runs without moving? Think of roads and rivers.
Answer: A fence.
Why it works: We say a fence runs around a yard because it goes all the way around, but it stays put.
Feed me and I grow, give me a drink and I die. What am I?
Then ask: What else does a fire need besides wood?
Answer: Fire.
Why it works: A fire keeps burning when you add wood, and water puts it out.
I have a heart that never beats. What am I?
Then ask: What else has a heart that isn't alive?
Answer: An artichoke.
Why it works: The soft middle part of an artichoke is called its heart.
These take longer. Give your kid time, and don't hand over the answer at the first "I don't know." Ask which clue doesn't fit yet. Every answer comes with a line that explains the trick, so you can show how it works and not only say what it is.
For easier ones, see the main list of 150 riddles.
Rather not read them out yourself? Thonko asks your kid tricky riddles out loud and wants a reason for every guess, even the wrong ones.
Think it through
A man looks at a photo and says, "I have no brothers or sisters, but that man's father is my father's son." Who is in the photo?
Then ask: Can you draw a family tree to check?
Answer: His son.
Why it works: With no brothers, "my father's son" is the man himself. So the photo shows a man whose father is the speaker: his son.
A girl falls off a 20-foot ladder and doesn't get hurt. How?
Then ask: What did you picture first, and why?
Answer: She fell off the bottom step.
Why it works: The ladder is 20 feet tall, but she was standing on the lowest rung.
Two mothers and two daughters go fishing. They catch three fish, one each. How?
Then ask: How many mothers are in your family right now?
Answer: There are only three of them.
Why it works: A grandmother, her daughter and her granddaughter make two mothers and two daughters, because the middle one is both.
A boy and a doctor go fishing. The boy is the doctor's son, but the doctor isn't the boy's father. How?
Then ask: Why do you think so many people get this one wrong?
Answer: The doctor is his mother.
Why it works: The doctor is the boy's mom. The riddle only seems hard if you picture a man when you hear "doctor".
What can you hold in your right hand but never in your left?
Then ask: Try it. Can you find anything else like that?
Answer: Your left elbow.
Why it works: Your right hand can grab your left elbow, but your left hand can't reach its own elbow.
An electric train is going north, and the wind is blowing west. Which way does the smoke go?
Then ask: Which clue was only there to distract you?
Answer: There is no smoke.
Why it works: Electric trains don't burn fuel, so they make no smoke.
You're running a race and you pass the person in second place. What place are you in now?
Then ask: What place are you in if you pass the person in last place?
Answer: Second.
Why it works: You took the place of the person you passed. The one in first is still ahead of you.
You drop a yellow hat into the Red Sea. What does it become?
Then ask: What other riddles try to fool you with colors?
Answer: Wet.
Why it works: The colors don't matter. Anything that falls into the sea gets wet.
A cowboy rides into town on Friday, stays three days and leaves on Friday. How?
Then ask: What name would you give a horse to make a riddle like this?
Answer: His horse is named Friday.
Why it works: Friday is the name of the horse, not the day of the week.
How can someone go eight days without sleep?
Then ask: Was this riddle fair? Why or why not?
Answer: They sleep at night.
Why it works: They only go without sleep during the day, like everyone else.
Logic puzzles
Three boxes hold apples, oranges, and a mix of both, and every label is wrong. You may take one fruit from one box. Which box should you pick from?
Then ask: Once you know that box, can you work out the other two?
Answer: The box labeled "Both".
Why it works: Its label is wrong, so it holds only apples or only oranges, and one fruit tells you which. Then the other two wrong labels can only go one way.
A farmer has to take a wolf, a goat and a cabbage across a river. His boat holds him and one more. Left alone, the wolf eats the goat and the goat eats the cabbage. How does he do it?
Then ask: Can you act it out with three toys?
Answer: Goat over, wolf over and goat back, cabbage over, then the goat again.
Why it works: The goat is the trouble in both pairs, so it can never be left alone with either one. Bringing it back once fixes that.
A drawer holds 10 black socks and 10 white socks, and it's dark. How many socks must you pull out to be sure of a matching pair?
Then ask: How many to be sure of a black pair?
Answer: 3.
Why it works: There are only two colors, so with 3 socks at least two have to match.
Amy is taller than Ben, and Ben is taller than Cara. Who is the shortest?
Then ask: Could you line up your family by height the same way?
Answer: Cara.
Why it works: Amy is taller than Ben, and Ben is taller than Cara, so Cara is shorter than both.
Four friends sit in a row. Zoe sits at the left end and Sam at the right end. Lea sits right next to Max, on his right. Who sits next to Zoe?
Then ask: Can you make up a seating puzzle about your family?
Answer: Max.
Why it works: Only the two middle seats are left. Lea has to be on Max's right, so Max takes the seat next to Zoe.
A clock takes 5 seconds to strike 6 at six o'clock. How long does it take to strike 12 at noon?
Then ask: Why isn't the answer 10 seconds?
Answer: 11 seconds.
Why it works: 6 strikes have 5 gaps between them, so each gap is 1 second. 12 strikes have 11 gaps, so 11 seconds.
You have a 3-cup jug and a 5-cup jug. How do you measure exactly 4 cups of water?
Then ask: Can you try it at the sink with two cups?
Answer: Fill the 5, pour it into the 3, empty the 3, pour in the 2 cups left, fill the 5 again and top up the 3.
Why it works: After the first pour, 2 cups stay in the big jug. Moving them to the small jug leaves room for just 1 more cup, so topping it up from a full 5 leaves 4.
A snail climbs a 10-foot wall. Every day it climbs 3 feet, and every night it slides back 2. On which day does it reach the top?
Then ask: Why isn't the answer the tenth day?
Answer: Day 8.
Why it works: After 7 days and nights it is 7 feet up. On day 8 it climbs 3 more feet and reaches 10 before it can slide back.
Two coins add up to 30 cents, and one of them is not a nickel. What are the coins?
Then ask: Which word in the riddle did the tricking?
Answer: A quarter and a nickel.
Why it works: One of them, the quarter, is not a nickel. The other one is.
It takes 5 machines 5 minutes to make 5 toys. How long would it take 100 machines to make 100 toys?
Then ask: What was in your first guess, and why?
Answer: 5 minutes.
Why it works: Each machine makes one toy in 5 minutes, so 100 machines make 100 toys in the same 5 minutes.
Hard wordplay
I'm black when you buy me, red when you use me and gray when you throw me away. What am I?
Then ask: Where have you seen it used?
Answer: Charcoal.
Why it works: Charcoal is black, glows red while it burns and turns into gray ash.
I have a head, a foot and four legs. What am I?
Then ask: What else has a head and a foot but no body?
Answer: A bed.
Why it works: A bed has a head end, a foot end and four legs.
What kind of band never plays any music?
Then ask: What other band doesn't play music?
Answer: A rubber band.
Why it works: A band can also mean a loop, like a rubber band.
You can serve me, but nobody eats me. What am I?
Then ask: What other sports words mean two things?
Answer: A tennis ball.
Why it works: In tennis, the first hit of each point is called a serve.
Where does today come before yesterday?
Then ask: Is there anywhere Monday comes before Friday for the same reason?
Answer: In the dictionary.
Why it works: In alphabetical order, t comes before y, so today comes before yesterday.
What two things can you never eat for breakfast?
Then ask: Has your family ever had breakfast for dinner?
Answer: Lunch and dinner.
Why it works: Lunch and dinner are the later meals, so they can't be breakfast.
It belongs to you, but other people use it more than you do. What is it?
Then ask: What name would you pick if you had to choose a new one?
Answer: Your name.
Why it works: Other people say your name to call you far more often than you say it yourself.
I have branches but no leaves, no trunk and no fruit. What am I?
Then ask: What else has branches that aren't on a tree?
Answer: A bank.
Why it works: A bank's offices in different places are called its branches.
I am always coming, but I never arrive. What am I?
Then ask: What are you looking forward to tomorrow?
Answer: Tomorrow.
Why it works: When tomorrow comes, we call it today, so tomorrow is always one day away.
I am at the start of eternity and at the end of time and space. What am I?
Then ask: Which letter is at the end of your name?
Answer: The letter E.
Why it works: Eternity starts with an e, and time and space both end with one.
Sneaky questions
How many birthdays does a person have?
Then ask: What is the difference between a birthday and a birthday party?
Answer: One.
Why it works: You are born on one day. Every year after that you celebrate that same birthday.
What question can you never answer "yes" to?
Then ask: Can you think of a question you can never answer "no" to?
Answer: "Are you asleep?"
Why it works: If you can answer at all, you're awake, so the answer is always no.
Before Mount Everest was discovered, what was the tallest mountain in the world?
Then ask: What else is true before anyone finds out?
Answer: Mount Everest.
Why it works: It was already the tallest. It didn't need anyone to find it for that to be true.
You can hear it, but you can't touch it or see it, and you take it everywhere. What is it?
Then ask: Why does your voice sound different in a recording?
Answer: Your voice.
Why it works: Your voice is a sound, so you hear it but can't hold it or look at it.
Which side of a cat has the most fur?
Then ask: Did you think of left and right first?
Answer: The outside.
Why it works: All of a cat's fur is on the outside.
What has four eyes but can't see?
Then ask: What other word is full of the same letter?
Answer: Mississippi.
Why it works: Mississippi has four i's, and the letter i sounds like eye.
You are in a room with no doors and no windows. How do you get out?
Then ask: What other riddle can you only solve by stepping out of the story?
Answer: Stop imagining.
Why it works: The room is only in your imagination, so you leave it by stopping.
How far can a dog run into the woods?
Then ask: Where exactly is the middle?
Answer: Halfway.
Why it works: After the middle, the dog is running out of the woods, not into them.
What is the longest word in English?
Then ask: Can you find a word with another word hiding inside it?
Answer: Smiles.
Why it works: There is a mile between its first and last letters.
I go through cities and fields, and I never move. What am I?
Then ask: What else stretches a long way but stays put?
Answer: A road.
Why it works: A road stretches through cities and fields while the cars on it do the moving.
Science riddles
I have a tail but I'm not an animal, and I come back near the sun again and again. What am I?
Then ask: Why would the tail point away from the sun?
Answer: A comet.
Why it works: A comet is a ball of ice and dust. Near the sun it heats up and grows a glowing tail.
I'm the planet with the biggest rings. What am I?
Then ask: Do any other planets have rings?
Answer: Saturn.
Why it works: Saturn's rings are made of chunks of ice and rock circling the planet.
I fall from the sky, I'm in every living thing, and you are mostly made of me. What am I?
Then ask: Where does the water you drink go?
Answer: Water.
Why it works: About 60 percent of your body is water, and rain is water falling from clouds.
I'm all around you and you can't see me, but you can't live more than a few minutes without me. What am I?
Then ask: How do you know air is there if you can't see it?
Answer: Air.
Why it works: You breathe all the time because your body needs the oxygen in air.
I pull everything toward the ground, and nobody has ever seen me. What am I?
Then ask: What would breakfast look like without me?
Answer: Gravity.
Why it works: Gravity is the pull that makes things fall and keeps you on the ground.
I'm the hardest natural thing on Earth, and I started out as plain carbon. What am I?
Then ask: What else is made of carbon? Look at the tip of a pencil.
Answer: A diamond.
Why it works: Diamonds form from carbon squeezed deep underground under huge heat and pressure.
I'm a bird that can't fly, but I can run as fast as a racehorse. What am I?
Then ask: Why would a bird stop flying and start running?
Answer: An ostrich.
Why it works: Ostriches are too heavy to fly, but their long legs carry them up to about 45 miles an hour.
I have no bones and no brain, I'm mostly water, and I can sting. What am I?
Then ask: How do you think it catches food without a brain?
Answer: A jellyfish.
Why it works: A jellyfish is about 95 percent water, has no brain or bones, and stings with its tentacles.
I'm the biggest animal that has ever lived, bigger than any dinosaur. What am I?
Then ask: How would you measure something that big?
Answer: The blue whale.
Why it works: A blue whale can grow to about 100 feet long, longer than any dinosaur we know of.
I'm the side of the moon that nobody on Earth ever sees. What am I?
Then ask: Is that side dark all the time? What do you think?
Answer: The far side of the moon.
Why it works: The moon turns exactly once each time it circles Earth, so the same side always faces us.