Riddles for Kids (With Answers) for Party Games

The best riddles for kids are short, read out loud, and have an answer that makes everyone groan “ohhh!” Match them to age: four to six-year-olds want riddles about everyday objects they can picture, seven to nine love wordplay, and ten to twelve want a real puzzle. Below are riddles with answers for every age, a set of birthday and Halloween riddles we wrote just for parties, and four easy ways to turn riddles into a party game. Copy the page onto a sheet, cut it into strips and you’re ready!

Four ways to play riddles at a party

Riddles are the most flexible party activity we know. They need no supplies, fill any five-minute gap and work for a group of three or thirty.

• Riddle relay. Split into two teams. Read a riddle; the first team to shout the right answer wins a point. First to five wins.
• Riddle hunt. Each riddle’s answer is the hiding place of the next one (a towel, a clock, a teapot). This is exactly how our scavenger hunt clues for kids work, just in rhyme.
• Earn your prize. At the end of the party, every child answers one riddle to pick from the goody bags. Nobody loses; the tricky ones get team help.
• Cake-table riddles. Write one riddle on the back of each place card. They keep the table busy while the candles get lit.

For the times the energy needs burning off instead, our Minute to Win It games for kids are the faster, louder alternative.

Easy riddles for kids (ages 4 to 6)

Keep these about things little ones can see around them. Give hints freely. The fun is in getting it, not in being stumped.

What has hands but can’t clap?
Answer: A clock.

What has a face and two hands but no arms or legs?
Answer: A clock, again! Little ones love the same answer twice.

I’m yellow, I’m long, and monkeys love me. What am I?
Answer: A banana.

What has legs but can’t walk?
Answer: A table.

What goes up when rain comes down?
Answer: An umbrella.

What has four wheels and flies?
Answer: A garbage truck (with flies buzzing around it).

I have a mouth but never eat, and a bed but never sleep. What am I?
Answer: A river.

What has lots of teeth but can’t bite?
Answer: A comb.

I’m full of holes but I still hold water. What am I?
Answer: A sponge.

What do you have to break before you can use it?
Answer: An egg.

Medium riddles (ages 7 to 9)

This is the age of wordplay. Read them slowly, then read them again.

What has keys but can’t open a single lock?
Answer: A piano.

What gets wetter the more it dries?
Answer: A towel.

What goes up but never comes down?
Answer: Your age.

I’m tall when I’m young and short when I’m old. What am I?
Answer: A candle.

What has a neck but no head?
Answer: A bottle.

What can you catch but can’t throw?
Answer: A cold.

What has one eye but can’t see?
Answer: A needle.

What belongs to you, but other people use it more than you do?
Answer: Your name.

What has words but never speaks?
Answer: A book.

What runs all day but never gets tired?
Answer: A river (or a fridge, if they argue, and they will).

Tricky riddles (ages 10 to 12)

These want a pause and a little arguing. Let the table debate before you read the answer.

The more you take, the more you leave behind. What are they?
Answer: Footsteps.

What can travel all around the world while staying in one corner?
Answer: A stamp.

Some months have 30 days and some have 31. How many have 28?
Answer: All twelve of them.

What begins with T, ends with T, and has T in it?
Answer: A teapot.

Forward I’m heavy, but backward I’m not. What am I?
Answer: The word “ton.”

What can fill a room but takes up no space?
Answer: Light.

What has cities but no houses, forests but no trees, and water but no fish?
Answer: A map.

What has a head and a tail but no body?
Answer: A coin.

I’m always in front of you but you can never see me. What am I?
Answer: The future.

If you drop me I’m sure to crack, but smile at me and I’ll smile back. What am I?
Answer: A mirror.

Birthday riddles we wrote for parties

These are ours, written for the cake table and the goody-bag line. Swap in the birthday child’s name wherever you like.

I wear candles but I’m not a lamp. Everyone sings to me, then cuts me up. What am I?
Answer: A birthday cake.

I’m wrapped up tight but I’m never cold, and I’m always opened by someone one year older. What am I?
Answer: A present.

I float above the party on a string. Squeeze me too hard and I’ll make everyone jump. What am I?
Answer: A balloon.

You blow me out but I’m not the wind, and you make a wish before I’m done. What am I?
Answer: A birthday candle.

I come in a bag you take home, and I’m full of little things that say “thanks for coming.” What am I?
Answer: A goody bag.

Everybody at the party knows my words, but nobody ever reads them. What am I?
Answer: “Happy Birthday,” the song.

Halloween riddles for October parties

I have a face that glows but no one’s inside my head. What am I?
Answer: A jack-o’-lantern.

I’m white, I’m light, and I say “boo” at night. What am I?
Answer: A ghost.

I ride a broom but I never sweep. Who am I?
Answer: A witch.

Why didn’t the skeleton go to the Halloween party?
Answer: He had no body to go with. (The classic groaner.)

You carry me door to door, and I’m heavier when you come home. What am I?
Answer: A trick-or-treat bucket.

These slot right into a classroom party. Pair them with the games in our Halloween party games for kids roundup.

How to write your own riddles

Kids eight and up love writing riddles for each other, and it’s a lovely quiet party-table activity. Give them this three-step method:

1. Pick an object in the room. A cup, a shoe, a lamp.
2. List two true things about it that sound strange. A shoe “has a tongue but can’t talk” and “gets tied up every morning.”
3. End with “What am I?” Then read it to the next person.

FAQ

What are good riddles for kids?

Short ones about everyday objects work best: “What has hands but can’t clap? A clock.” Match them to age, with objects for little ones, wordplay for seven to nine, and real puzzles for tweens.

How do you use riddles at a kids’ party?

Play a riddle relay between two teams, hide the next clue at each riddle’s answer, have every child answer one riddle to earn a goody bag, or write riddles on the place cards for the cake table.

What age are riddles for?

Around four is when most children start to enjoy them, with plenty of hints. By seven or eight they love wordplay, and tweens enjoy the tricky ones and writing their own.

What is a good Halloween riddle for kids?

“I have a face that glows but no one’s inside my head. What am I? A jack-o’-lantern.” It works for preschoolers and gets a groan from the big kids.

Cut them into strips, tuck them in a bowl and let the groaning begin, friend!