Because I pressed the button on the clothes I was wearing.

When you hear someone say they got in the elevator and pressed a button, you’d assume they pressed one of the floor buttons, right? But actually, it wasn’t an elevator button at all—they were pressing a clothing button. It’s a funny trick riddle that plays on what we associate with the word “button,” isn’t it?

na

If you ask what’s in the middle of the word onaka (belly), many children might answer “the navel.” But this is a trick question—the correct answer is “na.” When you write onaka in hiragana (おなか), the character in the middle, between お and か, is な.

1 person

When four kids play tag and two get caught, many children might answer that 4 minus 2 leaves 2, so there are 2 left! But the reason the correct answer is 1 is that in tag, one of the four is the tagger. So from the start, only three are running away. That means if two are caught, there’s 1 left.

Because (he/she/you/I am) a teacher.

Even in the oldest preschool class, no children go to daycare by themselves, right? So why is Chiharu-chan able to go to daycare alone…? Actually, it’s because she’s a daycare teacher. It never said she was a preschooler, so Chiharu-chan is an adult and a teacher, which is why she goes on her own.

car

Why does a car become 'round' when it stands on its head? If the answer doesn’t click, try writing 'car' in hiragana. When 'くるま' stands on its head, it means reading it from the bottom (back to front), so it becomes 'まるく'!

Easy

It’s a trick question that makes you think you’re hearing today’s weather, like “It’s sunny today” or “It’s raining.” And even when you hear the answer, “simple,” some kids might not get it right away. In fact, the question tells you the answer at the very beginning: “The answer is simple!” Did you manage to avoid the trick and get it right?

Because there was nothing in the cup.

When you hear “turn the cup over,” you tend to assume, due to preconceived notions, that there’s something inside it, but in fact, there was nothing in the cup. Kids who’ve answered this many trick riddles might be able to solve it without getting caught!