In a school, looking to activate students’ critical thinking skills and problem-solving is a must.
Not only does this improve their output in school, but it increases their ability to solve problems in their careers in the future. Look at 105 riddles for students with answers, and watch your students consider the answers to these tough questions.
105 riddles for students
- Where can you find cities, streets, and buildings but no people? ANSWER: A map
- What runs but never gets tired? ANSWER: A faucet
- Where does Friday come before Thursday? ANSWER: A dictionary
- What has a bank but no money and a bed but never sleeps? ANSWER: A river
- What travels the world but never leaves its corner? ANSWER: A postage stamp
- What invention lets you look through solid walls? ANSWER: A window
- What do you add to one to leave nothing? ANSWER: The letter ‘N’
- What has four wheels and flies? ANSWER: A garbage truck
- What word becomes shorter when you add two letters? ANSWER: Short
- What coat do you put on when it is wet? ANSWER: A coat of paint
- What goes up but never comes back down? ANSWER: Your age
- What can you break without touching or seeing it? ANSWER: Promises
- What is the size of an elephant but is weightless? ANSWER: An elephant’s shadow
- After a plane crash, there wasn’t a single survivor. How did everyone live? ANSWER: They were all married
- What month has 28 days? ANSWER: All of them; some have more
- What starts with P, ends in E, and has thousands of letters? ANSWER: A post office
- A girl fell off a 20-foot ladder. Why didn’t it hurt? ANSWER: She was at the bottom
- A dog crosses a river without getting wet. How did he do it? ANSWER: On a boat
- If you feed me, I grow. Water me, and I die. What am I? ANSWER: A fire
- What vehicle is the same backward as it is forwards? ANSWER: A racecar
- What is the capital of Kyrgyzstan? ANSWER: K
- What word contains 26 letters? ANSWER: Alphabet
- What has a head and a tail, with nobody in between? ANSWER: A coin
- There are two in a corner and one in a room but none in the house. What is it? ANSWER: The letter R
- What is so fragile that the slightest vibration breaks it? ANSWER: Silence
- What falls for miles without getting hurt? ANSWER: Rain
- What tree fits in your hand? ANSWER: A palm
- What edible snack do you use to build a house? ANSWER: Walnuts
- You have a match, a candle, and a fireplace. Which is the most useful to light? ANSWER: The match
- Everyone has it, and nobody loses it. What is it? ANSWER: A shadow
- What has legs but cannot walk? ANSWER: A table
- What has arms but cannot hold things? ANSWER: A chair
- Tom’s father has three sons. Derek, Ian, and one more. Who is the third? ANSWER: Tom
- What has keys but cannot open a door? ANSWER: Pianos
- What building has the most stories? ANSWER: A library
- How do you secure an appointment at the library? ANSWER: Book it
- If I have it, I have not shared it. To share it is to lose it. What is it? ANSWER: A secret
- What gets wet when it dries? ANSWER: A towel
- What is the end of everything? ANSWER: G
- What gets shorter as it gets older? ANSWER: A candle
- What is brown and sticky? ANSWER: A stick
- I am the beginning of everything and the end of time. What am I? ANSWER: E
- I shave every day but keep my beard. Who am I? ANSWER: A barber
- Six children are not under an umbrella. Why didn’t they get wet? ANSWER: There was no rain
- What weighs more, a pound of feathers or lead? ANSWER: Neither; they are both a pound
- I am light, but nobody can hold me forever. What am I? ANSWER: Breath
- Where are the mountains always flat? ANSWER: On a map
- A man dies of old age on his 25th birthday. How? ANSWER: He was born on a leap year
- There’s a bungalow with yellow walls, floors, and ceilings. What color are the stairs? ANSWER: There are no stairs
- I have branches but no leaves or fruit. What am I? ANSWER: A bank
- A bus driver goes the wrong way down a one-way road and goes when the traffic lights are red. How didn’t he break the law? ANSWER: He was walking
- In which month do people sleep the least? ANSWER: February, there are fewer nights
- I make a loud noise when changing into something bigger that weighs less. What am I? ANSWER: Popcorn kernels
- What can you break but never fix? ANSWER: A deck of cards
- Which part of the body is best for carpentry? ANSWER: Nails
- I have no life and am constantly dying. What am I? ANSWER: A battery
- What starts with, ends with, and is full of T? ANSWER: A teapot
- How big are a rooster’s eggs? ANSWER: They don’t exist; roosters don’t lay eggs
- I run all of the time but never move. What am I? ANSWER: A fridge
- It’s raining at midnight, but will it be clear tomorrow? Will it be sunny? ANSWER: No, it’s midnight
- What question can you never answer with yes? ANSWER: Are you sleeping?
- What has a head, foot, and four legs but has never lived? ANSWER: A bed
- A man goes out in the rain without a coat or umbrella, but not a hair on his head gets wet. How? ANSWER: He’s bald
- What is in the middle of Toronto? ANSWER: O
- There are three apples, and you take away two. How many do you have? ANSWER: Two, you took them
- What has an eye but cannot see? ANSWER: A needle
- What word is spelled wrong in a dictionary? ANSWER: ‘Wrong’
- What is the only word spelled correctly in the dictionary? ANSWER: ‘Correctly’
- What has millions of trees and as many packages? ANSWER: Amazon
- What can you catch but never throw? ANSWER: A cold
- I can only point one way but direct people everywhere. What am I? ANSWER: A compass
- What has thirteen hearts, and you can cut it, but it won’t bleed? ANSWER: A deck of cards
- What has a mouth with no teeth? ANSWER: A river
- The further you go, the more you leave. What are they? ANSWER: Footsteps
- What is something you had but can never get back? ANSWER: The past
- What time is a gift? ANSWER: The present
- I am odd but take a letter, and I become even. What am I? ANSWER: Seven
- What loses its head in the morning but regains it at night? ANSWER: A pillow
- If you drop me, I’ll crack, but I always smile back. What am I? ANSWER: A mirror
- What can you never eat for dinner? ANSWER: Breakfast and lunch
- Susan has four daughters, and each daughter has a brother. How many children does she have? ANSWER: Five
- I met a man on the road to St Ive’s with seven wives, and each wife had seven sons. How many went to St Ive’s? ANSWER: Just one; the wives weren’t going.
- I can be cracked, made, told, and played. What am I? ANSWER: A joke
- If you eat me, I die. What am I? ANSWER: Nothing
- What is always ahead of you, no matter how far you go? ANSWER: The future
- What breaks before you use it? ANSWER: An egg
- You bought me for dinner but never eat me, what am I? ANSWER: A plate
- What’s the richest nut? ANSWER: The cash-ew
- I drink beer but don’t get drunk. How? ANSWER: It was root beer
- You cut me, slice me, dice me, and all the while, you cry. What am I? ANSWER: An onion
- I am a bird, person, and fruit. What am I? ANSWER: A kiwi
- Which fruit always comes in twos? ANSWER: A pear
- Which is the most romantic fruit around? ANSWER: A date
- Which vegetable do you use to grow eggs? ANSWER: An eggplant
- What is a word with six letters that makes twelve if you take a letter away? ANSWER: Dozens
- What can you always count on? ANSWER: Your fingers
- I add six to eleven and get five. How? ANSWER: Six hours past eleven is five
- What has hands but can never clap? ANSWER: A clock
- I fill a room without taking up space. What am I? ANSWER: Light
- What can’t talk but always replies? ANSWER: An echo
- What has a neck and arms but no head? ANSWER: A shirt
- I am good to taste but awful to smell. What am I? ANSWER: A tongue
- What is black, white, and blue? ANSWER: A sad zebra
- Why can’t a leopard hide no matter where he is? ANSWER: He is always spotted
- What animal can tell the time without a clock? ANSWER: A watchdog
Hopefully, these riddles and lateral thinking questions will help stimulate your students’ critical thinking. Why not ask a riddle at the start of each day or each lesson to help waken and engage your students’ minds?