Your next adventure could be a moment together.
Now that you have met Pigúiça here, discover the story behind her world. See the illustrations, read the beginning and choose a book to share with your child, one page at a time.
Looking for hard riddles with answers for kids? Here are 25 of them, pitched at children 7 and up and tricky enough to stump the adults at the table too. They are split into five groups: logic, wordplay, numbers, animals and trick questions. Each answer sits right after its riddle, so you can read aloud and cover the screen at the right moment.
If your child is still little, start with our easy riddles for kids with answers. This list is the next step up.
How to use these riddles without tears
Hard riddles are great exercise for the brain, but only while they still feel like a game. Allow 30 seconds to a minute per riddle. If nobody gets it, give a hint instead of the answer. And cheer the creative guesses, even the wrong ones: that is how kids learn to think sideways.
Logic riddles
The answer is hiding inside the question. Careful listeners win this round.
- Mary’s father has five daughters: Nana, Nene, Nini and Nono. What is the fifth daughter’s name? Answer: Mary. She was named in the very first words.
- A man walked in the rain for half an hour with no umbrella, no hat and no hood, yet not a single hair on his head got wet. How? Answer: He is bald.
- If you have me, you want to share me. If you share me, you no longer have me. What am I? Answer: A secret.
- The more you take, the more you leave behind. What am I? Answer: Footsteps.
- I have cities but no houses, rivers but no water, and forests but no trees. What am I? Answer: A map.
Wordplay riddles
These play with how English words sound and what they mean. Expect groans and giggles in equal measure.
- What gets wetter the more it dries? Answer: A towel.
- What has teeth but can’t bite? Answer: A comb.
- What word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it? Answer: Short. Add “er” and you get shorter.
- What has keys but can’t open a single lock? Answer: A piano.
- What starts with T, ends with T and has T in it? Answer: A teapot.
Number riddles
Simple sums with a trap in the wording. Paper and pencil are allowed.
- A farmer had 17 sheep. All but 9 ran away. How many are left? Answer: 9 sheep.
- If three cats catch three mice in three minutes, how long does it take one cat to catch one mouse? Answer: Three minutes.
- How many times can you subtract 5 from 25? Answer: Only once. After that you are subtracting 5 from 20.
- Which number gets bigger when you turn it upside down? Answer: 6, which becomes 9.
- When I was 6, my sister was half my age. Now I am 10. How old is my sister? Answer: 7. The gap between us is always 3 years.
Animal riddles
For the animal lovers in the house, and for the adults who think they know every creature.
- What do you call a bear with no teeth? Answer: A gummy bear.
- Why are fish so smart? Answer: Because they live in schools.
- I have wings but I am not a bird. I sleep upside down and find my way by sound. What am I? Answer: A bat.
- When I am small I swim with a tail. When I grow up I hop without one. What am I? Answer: A frog, which starts life as a tadpole.
- A dog was tied to a 3 meter rope and a bone lay 5 meters away. The dog still ate the bone. How? Answer: The rope was not tied to anything.
Trick questions
The toughest ones come last. Most grown-ups fall for the first one, and kids love watching it happen.
- A rooster lays an egg right on the peak of a roof. Which way does the egg roll? Answer: Neither way. Roosters don’t lay eggs.
- Which is heavier: a kilo of feathers or a kilo of bricks? Answer: They weigh the same, one kilo each.
- In a race, you pass the person in second place. What place are you in now? Answer: Second place.
- Some months have 30 days and some have 31. How many have 28 days? Answer: All 12 of them.
- A house has all four walls facing south. A bear walks past it. What color is the bear? Answer: White. The only place that works is the North Pole, home of polar bears.
How to run a family riddle championship
Turning the list into a contest makes it even more fun, and it works on car trips, at birthday parties or on a screen free evening.
Build mixed teams. Put one adult and one child on each team so younger players never get left behind.
Keep score kindly. Right with no hint, 3 points. With one hint, 2 points. With two hints, 1 point. Nobody gives up that way.
Play themed rounds. A logic round, a numbers round, an animal round, and a grand final of trick questions. Whoever reads the riddle can’t guess.
Offer a small prize. The winning team picks the movie or the next game. A round of the free Pigúiça game is a good choice: it runs in the browser, with no sign up and no ads.
Add a bonus round. Each child invents a riddle for the adults. This is where the funniest ones show up, and making up a question teaches as much as answering one.
Once the championship is over, anyone with energy left can draw their favorite riddle. Our free printable coloring pages are a calm way to wind down before bed.
Why hard riddles are good for kids
Riddles build attention, vocabulary and the habit of looking at a question from a new angle, all without feeling like homework. In the Dogavios story, Pigúiça solves her problems with curiosity and imagination too.
Frequently asked questions
What age are hard riddles right for?
Usually from about 7, when children read more confidently and start to get double meanings. Before that, stick to simpler, more visual riddles.
What if my child gets frustrated?
Give hints step by step, praise the thinking, and alternate a hard riddle with an easy one. The goal is fun, not winning at any cost.
Can I translate riddles from other languages?
Logic and number riddles translate well. Wordplay rarely does, because it depends on how words sound, so it is better to use riddles born in your own language.
Your next adventure could be a moment together.
Now that you have met Pigúiça here, discover the story behind her world. See the illustrations, read the beginning and choose a book to share with your child, one page at a time.
Your next adventure could be a moment together.
Now that you have met Pigúiça here, discover the story behind her world. See the illustrations, read the beginning and choose a book to share with your child, one page at a time.
