[For Toddlers] Fun Trick Questions! Recommended Gotcha Riddles

Shiritori

The game where big, strong-looking animals like lions and giraffes lose to dogs and ducks is shiritori. The reason is that their names end with the syllable “n.” Since both “raion” (lion) and “kirin” (giraffe) end with “n,” they lose in shiritori.

hand

It’s the kind of question where you can almost hear children answering, “To drive out demons.” But the correct answer is “hand.” The question asks, “With what?” and you throw beans with your hand, right? So the correct answer is “hand.” Children who know about the Setsubun tradition may have been tricked by this.

Because it was sunny

Since the problem doesn’t say “it was raining,” you wouldn’t get wet at all even if you went outside on a sunny day with an umbrella and a raincoat. Because kids strongly associate umbrellas and raincoats with rainy days, this question might trip them up.

seven

When you hear “necks in the body,” some kids might answer, “One! The neck under the face!” But think carefully about body parts. The body has one neck, two wrists, two ankles, and two nipples—for a total of seven! Did anyone get it right?

Because only three people are participating

When you hear someone got 3rd place in a marathon or a footrace, you’d think they’re really fast and impressive. But this is a trick question—the correct answer is “because only three people participated.” When children hear the question, they might assume it means 3rd place out of many and struggle with the answer.

Hard to read.

If you’re a kid who’s good at riddles, you might try turning the picture book upside down and reading the letters from the bottom up. You’d be tempted to answer “nhoe” since you’re reading “ehon” upside down, but it’s a trick question—the answer is “hard to read.” When you turn a picture book upside down and read it, it’s hard to read, right?

elementary school

Since it’s about an elementary school and an adult, between a building and a human, the building is bigger, right? The trick is that it’s not about an elementary school student. If you listen to the question calmly, you’ll understand, but children who want to answer quickly and be first might get tripped up.