Riddles for kids, with answers: twenty to read aloud and guess

Riddles are a good way for a child to practise listening, thinking and reading aloud, all at once. Below are twenty riddles with their answers, in order from easier to harder. Read one, wait, and let the child guess before you give the answer.

Easy riddles to start with

1. What has four legs in the morning, two at noon and three in the evening? A person (a baby crawls, a grown-up walks, an old person uses a stick).
2. What has a face and two hands but no arms or legs? A clock.
3. What has a neck but no head? A bottle.
4. What runs but never walks? Water.
5. What comes down but never goes up? Rain.
6. What has one eye but cannot see? A needle.
7. What gets bigger the more you take away? A hole.
8. What has many keys but cannot open a door? A piano.

Medium riddles

1. What has to be broken before you can use it? An egg.
2. What gets wetter the more it dries? A towel.
3. What has a head and a tail but no body? A coin.
4. What can you hold without touching it? A breath.
5. What has teeth but cannot bite? A comb.
6. What is full of holes but still holds water? A sponge.
7. What goes up but never comes down? Your age.

Harder riddles

1. What can travel around the world while staying in a corner? A stamp.
2. What has cities, but no houses, forests, but no trees, and water, but no fish? A map.
3. What belongs to you, but other people use it more than you do? Your name.
4. The more of me you take, the more you leave behind. What am I? Footsteps.
5. What is always in front of you but can never be seen? The future.

How to play with riddles

• Read it twice. Once slowly, then once more with a pause before the last line.
• Give a hint, not the answer. "It's in your kitchen" or "you can hold one" helps without giving it away.
• Let the child make one up. A child who writes a riddle has to think hard about what they know, which is good practice.
• Count the guesses. Many children enjoy trying more than one answer, so celebrate the wrong guesses too.
• Take turns. One person reads, the next guesses, and the reader gives the hint. Swap roles after each riddle so everyone gets a turn at both.
• Keep a riddle book. Write the riddles a child liked on a card, with the answer on the back. Over a few weeks it becomes a small book to read together.

Reading practice in disguise

Riddles repeat short words and useful sounds, so a child reading one aloud is practising the same reading again and again. For a child just starting out, free reading games give the same kind of practice, and the jokes and riddles post has more to read aloud.

Read a story after the riddles

A child who has been guessing for a while often wants a longer read. Peabody's library has free stories sorted by reading level, so a child can move from a riddle to a story at the same level. Peabody is free through 31 December 2026, with no sign-up and no card, so there is nothing to set up before you start.

Questions parents ask

What age are these riddles for?

Most suit a child from about five, once they can follow a simple idea. Start with the easy ones and move up as the child enjoys guessing.

Are the answers always the same?

Riddles often have more than one good answer. If a child gives a clever answer that makes sense, say so, even if it isn't the one here.

Is there a riddle game on Peabody?

Not yet. Peabody has jokes, stories and learning games. The riddles here are for reading aloud, not for a game.