Let's Think Outside the Box! A Collection of Challenging Riddles for Kids
“Huh? The kids solved this problem faster than the adults!” That’s the magic of riddles—you can have those surprising experiences.
Adults tend to be bound by fixed ideas, while children tackle problems with flexible thinking, don’t they?
In this article, we’ll introduce challenging riddles for kids that parents and children can enjoy together.
They don’t just foster thinking and concentration—thanks to those eye-opening “Aha!” answers, they might boost your knowledge and spark of insight, too.
Try them for your own skill-building, or as a fun activity with family and friends!
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- [Challenging and Fun!] Quizzes & Riddles for Adults
- [Trick Quiz] Quiz Questions That Excite Everyone from Kids to Adults
- Fun riddles that kids will love
- [Easy] Quizzes That Elementary School Students Can Solve! A Collection to Nurture Wisdom
- Interesting riddles: a collection of simple and fun questions
- A collection of challenging quizzes for adults [Difficult]
- Fun quizzes for elementary school kids: a collection of questions everyone can enjoy together
- Simple! A quiz for kids. Let’s develop their thinking skills!
- [Easy] Quiz for Middle School Students
- [Satisfying When Solved] Challenging Quizzes Recommended for Elementary School Students!
- Take on the challenge like a puzzle! A collection of logic quizzes that also work as brain teasers.
Let's Think Outside the Box! A Collection of Challenging Riddles for Kids (21–30)
30 trick riddles that 80% of people can’t solve
Let’s play with words! Here are 30 ideas for trick riddles that 80% of people can’t solve.
Trick riddles can leave you feeling stumped, but seeing the answer often makes you think, “Ah, I get it now!” or “So that’s how it works!” This time, let’s take on riddles said to be unsolvable for 80% of people.
For example, one question goes: “One day, a precious musical instrument broke and could no longer be used.
What instrument was it?”
Daddy frog goes ribbit-ribbit-ribbit, Mommy frog goes ribbit-ribbit, so what sound does the baby frog make?
See the answer
I won’t cry.
Young frogs are still in the tadpole stage, so they can’t croak like adult frogs. That’s why the answer is “they don’t cry/make sounds.” Comparing them to the calls of their father and mother helps you notice the differences in development. Not only appearance but also whether they can make sounds is a point of growth.
Turn a kitten upside down and it’s still a kitten. What do you get if you turn a puppy upside down?
@igosso.youtube♪ Original Song – Igossou [YouTube] – Igossou [YouTube]
Let’s try a quiz about animals.
If you turn a kitten upside down, it’s still a kitten; if you turn a puppy upside down, it becomes… what? You’ll probably think, “Kitten is ‘koneko’… sure, even read backwards it’s still ‘koneko,’” and then tackle the question.
But if you follow that line of thinking, a puppy is ‘koinu,’ which can’t be read the other way around, and you’ll get stuck.
That’s when you should remember it’s a trick question.
That very line of thinking is the trick.
If you simply state the fact as it is, that’s the correct answer.
What are the two things a younger brother has but a younger sister has only one of?
See the answer
The hiragana “to”
The word otōto (younger brother) contains two instances of the syllable “to,” while imōto (younger sister) contains only one. Both are family terms, but in this riddle the key is not their meanings—it’s the letters within the words. If you look closely at the words and consider which characters appear and how many times, you’ll arrive at the answer.
The grandson played with a ball with his grandpa. What did they do?
The key to solving this puzzle is to think of a different way to say “ojīchan” (grandpa).
So, what word could you replace “ojīchan” with? If something immediately comes to mind, try connecting that word to a scene where he’s playing with his grandchild using a ball.
If you do that, the answer should naturally reveal itself.
If you know lots of ball games, you might also try thinking from the types of ball games.
The answer is a fairly mainstream ball sport, so you might have an “aha!” moment that leads you to the correct answer.
Will 80% of people be fooled!? Trick quiz
Will 80% of people be fooled!? Trick quizzes are brain-teasing, fun puzzles that make everyone blurt out “Aha!” or “I got tricked!” without thinking.
The fun ramps up as you come up with more difficult questions.
When you have people answer, limit their thinking time and encourage them to respond as quickly as possible.
Also, when the questions or answers are simple, overthinking can actually cause people to fall for the trick.
Come up with a variety of questions to keep the excitement going.
Five tough quiz questions in a row where flexible thinking is key
The collection includes problems that are challenging even for adults, and I’d say they’re so advanced that if a child can solve them, they must be very smart.
There are a few somewhat easier problems mixed in, but even those aren’t easy for adults.