Fun Brain Teasers for Kids and Adults Alike!

Moon

Speaking of things that come out at night, the moon comes to mind. The moon changes shape from day to day, swelling into a full moon or thinning into a crescent. As the moon orbits the Earth, the way sunlight hits it changes daily, altering how it appears to us. That’s why it seems to grow fatter or thinner.

Add a dot to 'water' (水) to make it 'ice' (氷).

If you think of this quiz in terms of water or ice themselves, the answer won’t come easily. Instead of treating water and ice as objects, convert them into letters—specifically kanji—to find the solution. Once you can convert “water” into its kanji, the answer should come to you right away!

Trump

When we hear the word “cut,” we tend to think of things that cut objects, like scissors or knives, but the key is to jump to a different meaning of “cut.” When shuffling playing cards, in Japanese we say “to cut” the deck (kiru), but no matter how much you “cut,” the cards aren’t actually severed. So the answer is “playing cards.”

husband

If you add the character for “person” (人) to the right of the kanji for “husband” (夫), it becomes “夫人,” which denotes a woman. And on its own, it changes into the word “夫,” which refers to a man, so the answer is “夫.” Quickly visualizing the kanji when you hear the question is the key to finding the answer!

swing

Vehicles like bicycles move forward the more you pedal. However, a swing is attached to its frame, so no matter how much you pump your legs, it only moves back and forth and can’t go far. Therefore, the answer to this riddle is “a swing.”

umbrella

An umbrella isn’t used when it’s sunny, so it stays folded up and small. But when it rains, it’s opened wide to keep you from getting wet. Instead of getting too hung up on the words “gets bigger” and “gets smaller,” think of it as something not used in sunny weather but used in rainy weather to arrive at the answer!

Draw two lines on the kanji for 'three' (三) to make it 'five' (五).

Do not think of this quiz in terms of shapes. As stated in the problem, start by thinking in terms of the kanji for “regular triangle” (正三角形) and “regular pentagon” (正五角形). Then, by drawing one vertical line in the middle of the kanji for ‘three’ (三) in 正三角形, and one line going downward from the right end of the middle horizontal stroke, the kanji ‘five’ (五) appears.