Easy Riddles for Elementary School Students

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.

Actually, I'm a triplet.

Taro and Jiro were born on the same day in the same year and are siblings, but they are not twins. That’s because they are actually two of a set of triplets. In the case of triplets or larger sibling sets, two of them alone are not called “twins,” which leads to this answer.

Neither of them is standing.

The question asks which came first: the Great Buddha of Nara or the Great Buddha of Kamakura. But since both the actual Great Buddha statues in Nara and Kamakura are displayed in a seated position, the correct answer is “Neither of them is standing.” The key is to read the question carefully and avoid being tricked.

kindergarten

A kindergarten isn’t a person; it’s the name of a building. Elementary school students and adults are people, but a kindergarten is a large building that many people can enter. So if you compare sizes, the kindergarten is the biggest. The key to this riddle is noticing the meanings of the words.

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 characters that read 'juice'

The word “juice” can be seen, but it can’t be drunk. The kind of juice you can’t drink no matter how hard you try isn’t an actual beverage, but the word “juice” itself. It’s a riddle that tests your ability to find the answer from the question text without being misled by appearances or the sound of the word.