For elementary school kids! Fun riddles recommended for the middle grades

What is something you use but cannot own?

Scissors, pencils, erasers, rulers… most tools you’re familiar with are basically things you hold in your hand to use, right? So let’s try a riddle: “What can be used but cannot be held?” You might think of various tools, but you won’t easily get the right answer if you only think in terms of “objects.” First, try considering things you can use that aren’t objects.

By the way, the answer is “your name.” You use it when introducing yourself or when you want friends to know about you, but you certainly can’t “hold” it.

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What time is it now?

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two characters

When someone asks, “What time is it now?” you’d normally answer with a time like three o’clock or six o’clock, right? But this riddle is different. If you focus on the phrase “What time is it now?” itself, it contains two words—“now” and “what time”—so together it makes ‘two characters’ (ni-moji).

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Daddy frog goes ribbit-ribbit-ribbit, Mommy frog goes ribbit-ribbit, so what sound does the baby frog make?

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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.

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What can go anywhere but doesn’t move?

Do many kids love traveling? Just going somewhere different from usual makes you feel excited, doesn’t it? So let’s try this riddle: “What can go anywhere but doesn’t move?” When you think of going anywhere, vehicles like cars, bicycles, and trains come to mind, but they all move, right? So those aren’t the answer.

If you think about something that makes you feel like you’ve gone somewhere without actually going, you might reach the answer.

The correct answer is “a map.” On a map, you can go to various countries, but the map itself doesn’t move.

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There are 5 candies. If you lick one, how many are there?

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Translation Trick quiz Igossou
♪ Original Song – Igossou [YouTube] – Igossou [YouTube]

It seems like a question that would trip up adults more than children.

When you read the problem statement, you instinctively want to treat it like an arithmetic problem and think, “5 – 1 = 4, so the answer is 4!” But remember, it’s a trick question.

The hint to solving it is that the candy wasn’t given to someone else, nor did it disappear.

If you think about how many candies you have after you lick one, you should arrive at the correct answer.

An elementary school student with a flexible mind might solve it right away!

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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’!

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What animal is bigger than a whale but smaller than a killifish?

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dolphin

To say that there’s no animal bigger than a whale and smaller than a killifish, we use a pun: we say “iruka” (which means dolphin) as a play on words with “inai” (there isn’t). The trick is to change the intonation when you say the comeback line, like “Sonna no iruka!” (which can sound like “Is that a dolphin?” or “Who would buy that?” depending on intonation). The correct answer is “iruka” (dolphin).

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mayumi

A taxi driver is going the wrong way down the road, but the police don’t stop him. Why is that?

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Because it’s the driver who’s running

The reason the taxi driver is going the wrong way down the road is that he isn’t driving a car—he’s walking or running himself. In other words, it’s a person running, not a car, so the police don’t stop him. The key is that it’s a play on the meaning of the words.

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When is honey sweet?

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Translation Trick quiz Igossou
♪ Original Song – Igossou [YouTube] – Igossou [YouTube]

Honey is sweet and delicious, isn’t it? You can pour it on pancakes, add it to tea instead of sugar—there are countless dishes and products that use honey.

So let’s try a honey-themed trick quiz! When is honey sweet? “In the season when bees fly a lot?” “Does it have something to do with the number eight?” Many people might think that, but the answer is actually very simple! Just think: when do you feel it’s “sweet”? If you approach it that way, the correct answer should come to you easily!

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