Riddles and brain teasers provide an engaging way for middle school students to boost critical thinking skills outside the classroom. In this article, we will explore the cognitive benefits of riddles and provide a list of riddles tailored for tweens and early teens.
Why Are Riddles Important for Middle Schoolers?
Riddles help develop important reasoning abilities in developing minds. Solving riddles requires using logic to analyze clues, determine possibilities, and arrive at conclusions. This strengthens critical thinking, reasoning skills, and problem-solving approaches that are valuable for academic success. Riddles also encourage imagination and foster curiosity about how things work. The challenge of riddles can be mentally stimulating for middle schoolers.
How to Approach Solving Riddles
When facing a tricky riddle, breaking it down step-by-step increases the chances of solving it. Read the riddle carefully, underline key words and think about their different meanings. Brainstorm ideas without overthinking specifics. Asking others for clues is okay too. Common riddle terms require definition, like “I’m tall when I’m young and short when I’m old – what am I?” (a candle). Group solving riddles together mixes collaboration with friendly competition.
Interesting Riddles for Middle Schoolers
Riddle: It belongs to you, but your friends use it more. What is it?
Answer: Your name
Riddle: I am so simple that I can only point, yet I guide people all over the world.
Answer: Compass
Riddle: What can you catch but not throw?
Answer: A cold
Riddle: What begins with T ends with T and has T in it?
Answer: A teapot
Riddle: What has thirteen hearts, but no other organs?
Answer: A deck of cards
Riddle: What is easier to get into than out of?
Answer: Trouble
Riddle: Remove my skin and I won’t cry, but you might!
Answer: An onion
Riddle: What can fill a room but doesn’t take up space?
Answer: Light
Riddle: Where are the lakes always empty, the mountains always flat and the rivers always still?
Answer: A map
Riddle: A man looks at a painting and says, “Brothers and sisters I have none, but that man’s father is my father’s son.” Who is in the painting?
Answer: His son
Riddle: What has many keys but can’t open a single lock?
Answer: A piano
Riddle: What is always in front of you but can’t be seen?
Answer: The future
Riddle: Lighter than a feather, there’s nothing in it, but the strongest man can’t hold it for more than a few minutes.
Answer: Breath
Riddle: What has legs but cannot walk?
Answer: A chair
Riddle: If two’s company, and three’s a crowd, what are four and five?
Answer: Nine!
Riddle: Where would you take a sick boat?
Answer: To the dock
Riddle: What question can you never answer yes to?
Answer: Are you asleep yet?
Riddle: If you drop me, I’m sure to crack, but smile at me, and I’ll always smile back. What am I?
Answer: A mirror
Riddle: I can shave 25 times a day and still have a beard? What am I?
Answer: A barber
Riddle: What kind of band never plays music?
Answer: A rubber band
Riddle: Bob’s mother has three children. Their names are Huey, Dewey, and … ?
Answer: Bob
Riddle: What two things can you never eat for breakfast?
Answer: Lunch and dinner.
Riddle: What is powerful still so delicate that it breaks when you say its name?
Answer: Silence
Riddle: I can be cracked. And I can be made. I can be told. And I can be played. What am I?
Answer: A joke
Riddle: What is made of water, but if you put it into water it vanishes?
Answer: An ice cube.
Riddles: What has to be broken before you can use it?
Answer: An egg!
What has a face and two hands but no arms or legs?
Answer: A clock!
Easy and Funny Riddles for Kids
Riddle: There are 3 apples in a 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.
Riddle: 81 x 9 = 801. What do you need to do to make this equation true?
Answer: Turn it upside down: 108 = 6 x 18
Riddle: 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).
Riddle: What goes up but never comes down?
Answer: Age
Riddle: I am an odd number. Take away a letter and I become even. What number am I?
Answer: Seven
Riddle: During which month do people sleep the least?
Answer: February (as February has fewer nights)
Riddle: There is one word spelled wrong in every English dictionary. What is it?
Answer: Wrong
Riddle: You see it once in June, three times in September and never in May. What is it?
Answer: The letter E
Riddle: How do you make the number one disappear?
Answer: Add the letter G and it’s “gone”
Riddle: Where does Thursday come after Friday?
Answer: The dictionary
Riddle: What is in seasons, seconds, centuries, and minutes but not in decades, years, or days?
Answer: The letter N
Riddle: What did the triangle say to the circle?
Answer: You are pointless.
Riddle: How many seconds are in a year?
Answer: Twelve — January 2nd, February 2nd, March 2nd
Riddle:: A word I know, six letters it contains, remove one letter and 12 remains, what is it?
Answer: Dozens.
Riddle: When things go wrong, what can you always count on?
Answer: Your fingers.
Riddle: How many letters are there in the alphabet?
Answer: There are 11: three in “the” and eight in “alphabet.”
Riddle: If there are seven oranges and you take three away, how many oranges do you have?
Answer: Three, since that’s how many you took.
Riddle: You have a basket that’s one foot in diameter and one foot deep. How many apples can you fit in the empty basket?
Answer: Only one, because then it’s not empty anymore.
Riddle: Ms. Smith has four daughters. Each daughter has a brother. How many kids are there in total?
Answer: Five, there are four daughters and one son. Each daughter has the same brother.
Riddle: What month of the year has 28 days?
Answer: All of them!
Riddle: Four legs up, four legs down, soft in the middle, hard all around. What am I?
Answer: A bed.
Riddle: Why was 6 afraid of 7?
Answer: Because 7, 8 (ate), 9!
Riddle: The more you take, the more you leave behind. What am I?
Answer: Footsteps.
Related Reading: Brain Games for Kids to Nurture Holistic Development
Animal Riddles for Kids
Riddle: What kind of lion never roars?
Answer: A dandelion.
Riddle: What’s bright orange with green on top and sounds like a parrot?
Answer: A carrot.
Riddle: I grow down as I grow up. What am I?
Answer: A goose. Goose feathers are called down.
Riddle: A rooster is sitting on the roof of a barn facing west. If it laid an egg, would the egg roll to the north or to the south?
Answer: It’s impossible — roosters don’t lay eggs.
Riddle: Why do bees have sticky hair?
Answer: Because they use their honeycombs.
Riddle: What do you call a bear with no teeth?
Answer: A gummy bear.
Riddle: What’s black, white and blue?
Answer: A sad zebra.
Riddle: What has a thousand needles but cannot sew?
Answer: A porcupine.
Riddle: An elephant in Africa is called Lala. An elephant in Asia is called Lulu. What do you call an elephant in Antarctica?
Answer: Lost.
Riddle: Without me Thanksgiving and Christmas are incomplete, when I’m on the table everyone tends to overeat. What am I?
Answer: Turkey.
Riddle: I jump when I walk and sit when I stand. What am I?
Answer: Kangaroo.
Riddle: A cowgirl road into town on Friday. Three days later, she left on Friday. How is that possible?
Answer: Friday is the name of her horse.
Riddle: I am a sea animal with eight arms and a soft body. I squirt ink to protect myself. Who am I?
Answer: Octopus
Riddle: I am a big cat with black stripes and sharp claws. I love to hunt in the jungle. Who am I?
Answer: Tiger.
Riddle: I am a slow-moving animal with a hard shell on my back. I love to munch on leafy greens. Who am I?
Answer: Turtle.
Riddle: I have black and white stripes and live in Africa. I am the tallest land animal in the world. Who am I?
Answer: Zebra.
Riddle: I am a colorful bird with a curved beak. I love to imitate human speech. Who am I?
Answer: Parrot.
Riddle: What do you call a pig that does karate?
Answer: A pork chop!
Riddle: Why did the chicken cross the playground?
Answer: To get to the other slide!
Riddle: What do you call a camel that can play music?
Answer: A dromedary DJ!
Riddle: What do you get when you cross a zebra with a donkey?
Answer: A zonkey!
Riddle: Why did the frog call his insurance company?
Answer: He had a jump in his car!
Riddle: What do you call a dog magician?
Answer: A labracadabrador!
Riddle: What do you get when you cross a sheep and a kangaroo?
Answer: A woolly jumper!
Riddle: Why do gorillas have big nostrils?
Answer: Because they have big fingers!
Hard Riddles for Kids
Riddle: What starts with a P, ends with an E and has thousands of letters?
Answer: The post office
Riddle: What kind of tree can you carry in your hand?
Answer: A palm
Riddle: What building has the most stories in the world?
Answer: The library
Riddle: I make a loud sound when I’m changing. When I do change, I get bigger but weigh less. What am I?
Answer: Popcorn
Riddle: What runs but cannot walk, has a mouth but no teeth and has a bed but cannot sleep?
Answer: A river
Riddle: I’m taller when I’m young, shorter when I’m old. What am I?
Answer: A candle
Riddle: If you feed me, I grow, but if you give me water, I die. What am I?
Answer: Fire
Riddle: What’s full of holes but still holds water?
Answer: A sponge
What appears once in a minute, twice in a moment, but not once in a thousand years? Answer: The letter “M.”
If you drop me, I’m sure to crack, but smile at me and I’ll smile back. What am I?
Answer: Wet
What goes up but never comes back down?
Answer: Your age.
What is yours but mostly used by others?
Answer: Your name
I have cities, but no houses. I have forests, but no trees. I have water, but no fish. What am I?
Answer: A map
You’ll find me in Mercury, Earth, Mars and Jupiter, but not in Venus or Neptune. What am I
Answer: The letter R
I’m light as a feather, yet the strongest person can’t hold me for five minutes. What am I? Answer: Your breath
What goes in a birdbath but never gets wet?
Answer: The bird’s shadow
What two things can you never eat for breakfast?
Answer: Lunch and dinner
What has many rings but no fingers?
Answer: A telephone
What has hands and a face, but can’t hold anything or smile?
Answer: A clock
What can you break, even if you never pick it up or touch it?
Answer: A promise
I go all around the world, but never leave the corner. What am I?
Answer: A stamp
Give me a drink, and I will die. Feed me, and I’ll get bigger. What am I?
Answer: A fire
If you drop a yellow hat in the Red Sea, what does it become?
Answer: Wet
What word begins with E and ends with E, but only has one letter?
Answer: Envelope
I’m always on the dinner table, but you don’t get to eat me. What am I?
Answer: Plates and silverware
Which question can you never answer “yes” to?
Answer: “Are you asleep?”
Types of Riddles
There are many different types of riddles, including:
- Simple riddles: These riddles are usually short and easy to solve.
- Metaphorical riddles: These riddles use metaphors or similes to create a puzzle.
- Pun riddles: These riddles rely on puns or wordplay for their humor.
- Logic riddles: These riddles require the solver to use logic to figure out the answer.
- Wordplay riddles: These riddles play with the meaning of words to create a puzzle.
Some examples of different types of riddles-
Simple riddles:
- What has hands but cannot hold a thing? (A clock)
- What gets wetter the more it dries? (A towel)
- What can you catch but not throw? (A cold)
- I run, yet I have no legs. (A river)
- Take one out and scratch my head, I am now black but once was red. (A match)
Metaphorical riddles:
- What has a bed but never sleeps, a mouth but never eats, and a voice but never speaks? (A river)
- What has roots as nobody sees, Is taller than trees, Up, up it goes, And yet never grows? (A river)
- What has an eye but cannot see, Has a nose but cannot smell, Has ears but cannot hear, Has a mouth but cannot speak? (A needle)
- What has a neck but no head? (A bottle)
- What has a face but no eyes, ears, nose, or mouth? (A clock)
Pun riddles:
- I have keys but I can’t open doors. (A piano)
- What’s brown and sticky? (A stick!)
- What do you call a fish with no eyes? Fsh!
- Why did the scarecrow win an award? Because he was outstanding in his field.
- What do you call a lazy kangaroo? A pouch potato.
Logic riddles:
- What has four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs in the evening? (A human)
- What goes around the world but stays in a corner? (Your address)
- What gets bigger the more you take away from it? (A hole)
- What has an end but no beginning? (A circle)
- What has a head but no brain, a neck but no body, and arms and legs but cannot walk? (A shirt)
Wordplay riddles:
- What’s the difference between a hippo and a zippo? One is really heavy, and the other is a little lighter.
- What do you call a fish with no eyes? Fsh!
- What do you call a lazy kangaroo? A pouch potato.
- Why did the scarecrow win an award? Because he was outstanding in his field.
- What’s brown and sticky? A stick!
Solve more riddles here- Riddles for Kids
