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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- 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!
Let's think outside the box! A collection of tricky riddles for kids (31–40)
What is something that won’t break no matter how much you try to break it?
Have you ever had the experience of dropping something and breaking it? As the saying goes, “Anything with form will eventually break,” and glass or pottery will most likely shatter if you drop it.
But there are things in this world that don’t break even when you split them! In fact, they aren’t objects.
If you’re an elementary school student, isn’t there something you split during class? With that hint, you’ve probably figured it out.
The answer is “division.”
A turtle, a camel, and a rhinoceros are shopping. What will they buy?
A turtle, a camel, and a rhino go shopping…
When you imagine it, you can’t help but wonder what on earth is going on—sounds like a riddle, right? But let’s set that aside for now! Since they’re shopping, they must each have something they want to buy.
Still, thinking about items related to each animal won’t solve this puzzle.
You need to approach it from a completely different angle.
The key is to read the question repeatedly.
If you connect ‘kame’ (turtle), ‘rakuda’ (camel), and ‘sai’ (rhino), you get ‘kamera kudasai’ (which means ‘a camera, please’ in Japanese).
So the answer is ‘camera’!
What is a ball that’s square, even though it’s still a ball?
Speaking of balls, they’re one of the tools used in ball sports, right? When you picture a ball, most of you probably imagine a round sphere.
However, since the question in this quiz says “square,” we need to look for a square ball.
Let’s forget about balls used in sports for a moment and think of something square that includes the word “ball” (booru) in Japanese.
If you’re an elementary school student, you’ve probably seen it at home or used it for crafts.
The correct answer is “danbooru” (cardboard).
What kind of neck comes out of a mouth?
A neck coming out of your mouth…
It sounds a bit scary if you imagine it, but don’t worry—it’s just a riddle, not a scary story.
With that in mind, let’s solve it! The key to this puzzle is to convert the keyword “首” (kubi, neck) into hiragana and think of it that way.
Then, associate things that include “kubi” which come out of the mouth.
Everyone has put this out of their mouth at least once.
It’s an easy answer, so if you get the hint, you’ll solve it right away.
The answer is “akubi” (a yawn)!
What gets smaller the bigger it gets?
The bigger it gets, the smaller it becomes… What does that even mean? you might wonder.
“Getting bigger” and “getting smaller” are opposites, and something that gets bigger doesn’t become smaller.
What we need to consider when solving this riddle is how to interpret “bigger.” In this puzzle, “bigger” means “growing.” When you grow, isn’t there something that becomes smaller? You probably experience it often when the seasons change.
The answer is clothes! As your body grows and gets bigger, the clothes you wore last year become too small and no longer fit.
Let’s Think Outside the Box! A Collection of Challenging Riddles for Kids (41–50)
Five people are playing hide-and-seek. Two have been found. How many are left?
See the answer
2 people
When five people are playing hide-and-seek and two are found, that means three still haven’t been found. But one of those three is the seeker, so only two are actually hiding. The seeker is the one who looks for others, not the one who gets found, so they’re not counted.
What part of speech is “strawberry”?
If you’re asked what language “strawberry” is, you’d naturally say English.
But this is a trick question! The answer isn’t English.
So what is it? To solve it, you need to realize it’s a trick and notice that the “go” in “nani go” (“what language”) is written in hiragana, not the kanji for “language.” And what does “strawberry” actually refer to in the first place? Once you see that, you’ll reach the answer! It’s a question that tends to be swayed by your knowledge, but a child might answer it in an instant.