Hard Riddles for Kids

Ten hard riddles for kids, each with a hint under its cover: think first, then tap Show answer.

I am a row of black stripes, and I am no zebra. One beep, and the machine knows my price. What am I?
Put the same two letters in front of LUCKY, TIDY and FAIR, and each word flips to its opposite. Which two letters?
Which one word can go in front of BALL, PRINT and STEP to make three new words?
One letter and one number, said aloud, name a dog that works with the police. Which letter and which number?
I have three coins in my pocket, and they are worth 16 cents. Which coins are they?
A candle burns down 1 inch every hour. A candle 6 inches tall is lit at 4 o'clock. At what time is exactly half of it gone?
You make me up yourself and tell me to nobody. Without me, your own things stay locked. What am I?
You face north. You turn right, then right again, then left. Which way are you facing now?
I have three eyes and never open them all at once. Cars obey me, and I never say a word. What am I?
A drawer holds six blue socks and six gray socks, all mixed up. The room is dark. How many socks must you pull out to be sure of two that match?

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How it works

A riddle here is hard because of the thinking it takes, not because of a trick: what-am-I riddles with no giveaway clue, short logic, number stories with the steps shown, and wordplay. They suit ages 8 to 12.

Read the full guide

The hardest riddles for kids

Every riddle is marked Hard or Hardest. To get only the top level, choose More filters in the menu under the button, then Level, then Hardest. The same menu keeps one kind: What am I?, Think it through, Number riddles or Wordplay and letters.

Give the hint before the answer

Read a riddle aloud and wait. When the room is stuck, tap Show answer where only you can see: under the answer are the reason and a hint. Read the hint out and let everyone try once more before you give the answer.

Tips

Paper helps with Think it through and Number riddles: draw the line of children, the fence, the tables.
Print gives ten riddles with a line under each and the answers on a page of their own.

Questions and answers

What are some hard riddles for kids?

Three to try. My steps move and I stay where I am: what am I? An escalator. The day before yesterday was Tuesday: what is the day after tomorrow? Saturday. Which word goes in front of ball, print and step? Foot.

What makes a riddle hard for a child?

Having to hold two or three things in mind at once: the clues of a what-am-I, the steps of a logic riddle, both meanings of a word. None of these riddles depends on a fact a child would not know.

What age are these hard riddles for?

About 8 to 12, by the editors' judgment. The number riddles use sums a third or fourth grader can do, with the steps printed under the answer. Younger children can solve many of them with the hint.

What do you do when a child is stuck on a riddle?

Read the hint that sits under the answer, and wait again. If that is not enough, ask which clue they have not used yet. The line after the answer says why it fits, so the riddle still makes sense afterward.

All 80 riddles

What am I? 20

A thin line lives inside me. It climbs on a hot day and sinks on a cold one, and I never leave my place on the wall. What am I? Answer: A thermometer. The liquid in the tube rises as it warms. Hint: It tells you whether you need a coat.
Everybody carries ten of me, and no two people share one. I stay behind on a glass you have touched. What am I? Answer: A fingerprint. The ridges on each fingertip leave their own pattern. Hint: Look closely at the tip of your thumb.
I am a row of black stripes, and I am no zebra. One beep, and the machine knows my price. What am I? Answer: A barcode. A scanner reads the stripes at the checkout. Hint: Turn over a cereal box and you will find me.
I am folded away until somebody jumps. Then I open like a flower and turn a fall into a float. What am I? Answer: A parachute. It catches the air and slows the drop. Hint: A skydiver wears me on the back.
I am full when I am new and empty when I am old, and nothing was ever poured into me. Toys stop when I do. What am I? Answer: A battery. A battery is full of stored energy, not of liquid you can see. Hint: Look for a plus sign at one of my ends.
I am one bent wire. I hold a stack of pages together and leave no hole in any of them. What am I? Answer: A paper clip. A paper clip grips the sheets between its loops. Hint: A stapler does my job with more force.
I go for a swim in hot water and leave my color behind. A string lifts me out. What am I? Answer: A tea bag. The leaves inside color and flavor the water. Hint: Look in a mug, not a pool.
I go round and round and get nowhere, and people walk through me to get somewhere. What am I? Answer: A revolving door. It spins in place while people pass through. Hint: Big hotels have me at the entrance.
I have three eyes and never open them all at once. Cars obey me, and I never say a word. What am I? Answer: A traffic light. Red, yellow and green take turns. Hint: I hang over a street corner.
I pull without hands and hold without glue, and only some metals can feel me. What am I? Answer: A magnet. A magnet draws iron and steel toward it and holds on. Hint: One may be holding a drawing to your refrigerator.
I was alive long before there were people. Now I am stone, and I keep the shape of what I was. What am I? Answer: A fossil. A fossil is the trace of a living thing kept in rock. Hint: Museums show the ones left by dinosaurs.
My steps move and I stay where I am. Stand still on me and you will still arrive. What am I? Answer: An escalator. It is a staircase that carries you. Hint: Shopping malls and airports have me.
Stand a row of us close together and tip the first. We all bow, one after another. What are we? Answer: Dominoes. Each one knocks over the next. Hint: We are small tiles with dots.
Throw me away the right way and I come back to you. Throw me the wrong way and you go and fetch me. What am I? Answer: A boomerang. A well-thrown boomerang curves back to the thrower. Hint: I am a bent piece of wood.
We rise on your arms when you are cold or scared, and we borrow our name from a bird. What are we? Answer: Goose bumps. Tiny bumps stand up on chilly or frightened skin. Hint: The bird honks.
When one end of me is happy in the air, the other is sitting on the ground. I am no fun for one. What am I? Answer: A seesaw. One rider goes up as the other comes down. Hint: You find me on a playground.
You can run a mile on me and end up exactly where you began. My road keeps rolling under your feet. What am I? Answer: A treadmill. Its belt moves backward as fast as you move forward. Hint: A gym has rows of me.
You catch me from other people, though I am not a cold. I open your mouth, and not a word comes out. What am I? Answer: A yawn. Seeing a yawn makes people yawn. Hint: I visit when you are sleepy.
You have me whenever you sit, and I am gone the moment you stand. A cat knows exactly where I am. What am I? Answer: Your lap. A lap exists only while you are sitting. Hint: A book or a kitten can rest on me.
You make me up yourself and tell me to nobody. Without me, your own things stay locked. What am I? Answer: A password. A password opens only for the one who knows it. Hint: On a screen I show up as a row of dots.

Think it through 20

A candle burns down 1 inch every hour. A candle 6 inches tall is lit at 4 o'clock. At what time is exactly half of it gone? Answer: 7 o'clock. Half of 6 inches is 3 inches, which takes 3 hours to burn. Three hours after 4 is 7. Hint: How many inches is half the candle?
A clock with hands and no numbers shows 3 o'clock. What time does it seem to show in a mirror? Answer: 9 o'clock. A mirror swaps left and right, so the hour hand pointing right at the 3 seems to point left at the 9. Hint: The long hand points straight up either way.
A drawer holds six blue socks and six gray socks, all mixed up. The room is dark. How many socks must you pull out to be sure of two that match? Answer: Three. Two socks might be one of each color. The third has to match one of them. Hint: Think about the unluckiest pulls you could make.
A pan holds 2 pancakes. Each side of a pancake takes 1 minute. What is the shortest time in which you can cook 3 pancakes on both sides? Answer: 3 minutes. Minute one: first sides of pancakes A and B. Minute two: second side of A and first side of C. Minute three: second sides of B and C. Six sides, two at a time. Hint: A pancake does not have to be finished in one go.
A puppy is behind one of three doors. The sign on the puppy's own door is false, and the other two signs are true. Door 1 says: "The puppy is behind door 2." Door 2 says: "The puppy is behind door 3." Door 3 says: "The puppy is not behind door 1." Where is the puppy? Answer: Behind door 2. Signs 1 and 2 name different doors, so one of them is the false one, and the puppy is behind door 1 or door 2. Behind door 1, sign 2 would have to be true, and it is not. Behind door 2, sign 1 is true and sign 2 is false, as the rule says. Hint: The signs on doors 1 and 2 cannot both be right.
A square floor is covered by 5 rows of 5 tiles. How many of the tiles touch a wall? Answer: 16. Only the 9 tiles in the middle, 3 rows of 3, touch no wall. 25 - 9 = 16. Hint: Count the tiles that touch no wall first.
A straight fence is 20 yards long. It has a post at each end and a post every 5 yards in between. How many posts hold it up? Answer: Five. Posts stand at 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 yards. Four gaps need five posts. Hint: Draw the fence and mark every post.
Ava is taller than Ben. Ben is taller than Cy. Dee is shorter than Cy. Who is the second shortest? Answer: Cy. From the tallest down they stand Ava, Ben, Cy, Dee. Dee is the shortest, so Cy is second shortest. Hint: Line all four up before you answer.
The day before yesterday was Tuesday. What day will the day after tomorrow be? Answer: Saturday. If the day before yesterday was Tuesday, today is Thursday. Two days on is Saturday. Hint: First work out what today is.
Five friends ran a race. Ida won. Eli finished ahead of Fay. Gus finished behind Fay and ahead of Hal. Who came third? Answer: Fay. After Ida come Eli, then Fay, then Gus, then Hal. That puts Fay third. Hint: Write the names in order, starting with the winner.
It takes 10 minutes to saw a log into 3 pieces. At the same speed, how long does it take to saw a log into 6 pieces? Answer: 25 minutes. Three pieces need 2 cuts, so one cut takes 5 minutes. Six pieces need 5 cuts, and 5 x 5 = 25. Hint: Count the cuts, not the pieces.
Kim reads before breakfast. She feeds the dog after breakfast. She waters the garden only after the dog is fed. Of these four things, which does she do third? Answer: She feeds the dog. The order is read, breakfast, feed the dog, water the garden. Hint: Put the four in order.
Maya lives on the middle floor of a building. When she walks up 3 floors, she is on the top floor. How many floors does the building have? Answer: Seven. Three floors lie above the middle one, so three lie below it as well. 3 + 1 + 3 = 7. Hint: The middle floor has as many floors below it as above it.
Mia, Noah and Omar wear a red hat, a blue hat and a green hat. Mia's hat is not red. Noah's hat is not red and not blue. Who wears the red hat? Answer: Omar. Noah can only have green. Mia's is not red, so hers is blue. Red is left for Omar. Hint: Start with the child who has only one color left.
One shirt takes an hour to dry on the clothesline. How long do five shirts take, hung side by side at the same time? Answer: One hour. Each shirt dries on its own. Five shirts hung together are all dry after the same hour. Hint: Do the shirts have to wait for each other?
Sam stands in a line of children. He is sixth from the front and third from the back. How many children are in the line? Answer: Eight. Five stand in front of Sam and two behind him. 5 + 1 + 2 = 8. Hint: Do not count Sam twice.
Six glasses stand in a row. The first three are full of juice and the last three are empty. Touching only one glass, how can you make them go full, empty, full, empty, full, empty? Answer: Pour the second glass into the fifth and put it back. Glass 2 becomes empty and glass 5 becomes full, which gives the pattern. Hint: You may pick a glass up and pour.
Three friends go on vacation, and each one sends a postcard to each of the other two. How many postcards are mailed? Answer: Six. Each of the three writes two cards: 3 x 2 = 6. A card from Ann to Ben is not the same card as one from Ben to Ann. Hint: How many does one friend write?
You face north. You turn right, then right again, then left. Which way are you facing now? Answer: East. North to east, east to south, then a left turn from south brings you back to east. Hint: Stand up and try it.
Zed never tells the truth. Zed says: "My pockets are not empty." Are his pockets empty? Answer: Yes. Whatever Zed says is false. He says they are not empty, so they are. Hint: Flip what he says.

Number riddles 20

A book lies open. The numbers on the two pages you can see add up to 49. Which pages are they? Answer: 24 and 25. The two pages are neighbors, so they are 24 and 25: 24 + 25 = 49. Hint: Half of 49 is 24 and a half.
A jar full of marbles weighs 50 ounces. With half the marbles taken out it weighs 30 ounces. How much does the empty jar weigh? Answer: 10 ounces. Half the marbles weigh 50 - 30 = 20 ounces, so all of them weigh 40. The jar is the other 10. Hint: What do the missing marbles weigh?
A month has 30 days, and its first day is a Sunday. How many Sundays are in that month? Answer: Five. The Sundays fall on the 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th. Hint: Keep adding 7 to the date.
A square table seats one person on each side. Three of these tables are pushed together in a row. How many people can sit now? Answer: Eight. The row has 3 seats along each long side and 1 at each end: 3 + 3 + 1 + 1 = 8. The sides that touch seat nobody. Hint: Draw the three tables touching.
Half of a number, plus 3, makes 10. What is the number? Answer: 14. 10 - 3 = 7, and 7 is half of 14. Hint: Take the 3 away first.
I am bigger than 1 and smaller than 100. I am a number times itself, and I am also a number times itself times itself. What number am I? Answer: 64. 8 x 8 = 64, and 4 x 4 x 4 = 64. Hint: Try 2 x 2 x 2, then 3 x 3 x 3, then the next.
I have three coins in my pocket, and they are worth 16 cents. Which coins are they? Answer: A dime, a nickel and a penny. 10 + 5 + 1 = 16. No other three coins make 16 cents. Hint: One of them must be a penny.
I think of a number. I multiply it by 3 and take away 4, and I get 11. What is my number? Answer: 5. Undo the steps backward: 11 + 4 = 15, and 15 divided by 3 is 5. Hint: Go backward from 11.
Lena is 4 years older than her brother. Their two ages add up to 16. How old is Lena? Answer: 10. Take away the extra 4 years: 12 is left, which is two equal shares of 6. The brother is 6 and Lena is 6 + 4 = 10. Hint: Take the 4 extra years away first.
Mia has twice as many stickers as Noah. If she gives him 6 of hers, they will have the same number. How many stickers does Mia have now? Answer: 24. Giving 6 away closes a gap of 12, so Mia has 12 more than Noah. Twice as many means Noah has 12 and Mia has 24. Check: 24 - 6 = 18 and 12 + 6 = 18. Hint: When 6 stickers change hands, the gap shrinks by 12.
Nora gives away half of her stickers, then 3 more, and has 5 left. How many stickers did she start with? Answer: 16. Go backward: 5 + 3 = 8 was half of them, so she began with 16. Hint: Start from the 5 and undo each step.
Rosa walks up from floor 1 to floor 4. Each flight of stairs between two floors has 12 steps. How many steps does she climb? Answer: 36. From floor 1 to floor 4 there are 3 flights, not 4. 3 x 12 = 36. Hint: Count the flights between the floors.
Sam has the same number of dimes as nickels, and nothing else. He has 60 cents. How many dimes does he have? Answer: Four. One dime and one nickel make 15 cents. 60 divided by 15 is 4, so he has 4 of each. Hint: Pair each dime with a nickel.
Three bakers bake 3 pies in 3 hours. How many bakers does it take to bake 12 pies in 12 hours? Answer: Three. Three bakers make 3 pies every 3 hours, which is one pie an hour between them. In 12 hours the same three make 12. Hint: How many pies do the three bake in one hour?
Three numbers that come one after another add up to 24. What are they? Answer: 7, 8 and 9. 24 divided by 3 is 8, which is the middle one. Its neighbors are 7 and 9. Hint: Find the middle number first.
Three numbers that come one after another multiply to 60. What are they? Answer: 3, 4 and 5. 3 x 4 = 12, and 12 x 5 = 60. Hint: They are all smaller than 6.
Tia saves 1 cent on Monday and doubles the amount every day: 2 cents on Tuesday, 4 on Wednesday. On which day of saving does one day's amount first pass a dollar? Answer: The eighth day. The days go 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128. The eighth amount is 128 cents. Hint: Keep doubling, and count the days.
Two numbers are 5 apart, and together they make 19. What are they? Answer: 7 and 12. Take the 5 away from 19: 14 is left, which is two lots of 7. The numbers are 7 and 7 + 5. Hint: Take the 5 away first.
Use the digit 5 exactly three times, with any of the signs +, -, x and ÷, to make 6. How? Answer: 5 + 5 ÷ 5. 5 divided by 5 is 1, and 5 + 1 = 6. Hint: Make a 1 out of two of the fives.
When I am twice as old as I am now, I will be three times as old as I was 4 years ago. How old am I? Answer: 12. Twice 12 is 24. Four years ago I was 8, and three times 8 is 24. Hint: Try 10, 11 and 12 and check each one.

Wordplay and letters 20

A day of the week lost all its vowels and became WDNSDY. Which day is it? Answer: Wednesday. Put back E, E and A: W-E-D-N-E-S-D-A-Y. Hint: It is in the middle of the school week.
A fruit lost all its vowels and became PNPPL. Which fruit is it? Answer: Pineapple. Put back I, E, A and E: P-I-N-E-A-P-P-L-E. Hint: It is yellow inside and spiky outside.
A large furry animal is hiding across two words in this sentence: "Please be artistic." Which animal? Answer: A bear. The end of BE and the start of ARTISTIC spell B-E-A-R. Hint: Look where the second word meets the third.
A pet is hiding across two words in this sentence: "Do good deeds." Which pet? Answer: A dog. DO and the G of GOOD spell D-O-G. Hint: Look where the first word meets the second.
A pet that purrs is hiding inside the word EDUCATION. Which pet? Answer: A cat. edu-CAT-ion. Hint: Read the fourth, fifth and sixth letters.
I am one word of four letters. I rhyme with bear when paper does it, and I rhyme with near when your eye does it. What word am I? Answer: Tear. To tear paper is to rip it. A tear is a drop from your eye. Same spelling, two sounds. Hint: It starts with T.
I am one word of four letters. I rhyme with pinned when I blow, and I rhyme with kind when you turn the key of a toy. What word am I? Answer: Wind. The wind blows. You wind up a toy. Same spelling, two sounds. Hint: It starts with W.
In the game called Pig Latin, the first sound of a word moves to the end and AY is added, so pig becomes ig-pay. Which word is iddle-ray? Answer: Riddle. Take off the AY and move the R back to the front: R-IDDLE. Hint: It is what you are solving right now.
One letter and one number, said aloud, name a dog that works with the police. Which letter and which number? Answer: K and 9. K-9 sounds like canine, a word for a dog. Hint: The number is one less than ten.
Put the same two letters in front of LUCKY, TIDY and FAIR, and each word flips to its opposite. Which two letters? Answer: U and N. Unlucky, untidy, unfair. Hint: They mean not.
Say two letters of the alphabet aloud, and you have named a piece of writing you do for school. Which two letters? Answer: S and A. S-A sounds like essay. Hint: A teacher asks for one with a beginning, a middle and an end.
Say two letters of the alphabet aloud, and you have named the feeling of wanting what somebody else has. Which two letters? Answer: N and V. N-V sounds like envy. Hint: The first letter comes right after M.
Spell me forward and I am one big swallow of water. Spell me backward and I stop the water from leaving the tub. What word am I? Answer: Gulp. GULP backward is PLUG. Hint: The backward word sits in the drain.
Spell me forward and you chew me. Spell me backward and you drink cocoa from me. What word am I? Answer: Gum. GUM backward is MUG. Hint: The forward word comes in sticks.
Spell us forward and we are animals that live with people. Spell us backward and we are one stair. What word are we? Answer: Pets. PETS backward is STEP. Hint: The backward word is something you climb.
Turn a CAT into a DOG in three steps. Change one letter each time: first make a folding bed, then a tiny spot, then the dog. What are the two words in between? Answer: Cot and dot. CAT, COT, DOT, DOG: one letter changes each time. Hint: The first new word rhymes with hot.
Which one word can go after FLOWER and also in front of HOLE to make two new words? Answer: Pot. Flowerpot and pothole. Hint: You can cook in one.
Which one word can go after SUN, FLASH and MOON to make three new words? Answer: Light. Sunlight, flashlight, moonlight. Hint: You switch it on in the dark.
Which one word can go in front of BALL, PRINT and STEP to make three new words? Answer: Foot. Football, footprint, footstep. Hint: It is a part of your body.
Which one word can go in front of BOW, COAT and DROP to make three new words? Answer: Rain. Rainbow, raincoat, raindrop. Hint: It falls from clouds.

How this list was compiled

Written by the Game Night Generator editors on October 3, 2026: 80 riddles that take a child of about 8 to 12 a minute of real thinking, in four sets of 20. Under each answer are one line that says why it fits and a hint to read out before giving the answer away. The what-am-I riddles and the wordplay are the editors' own. Several of the logic and number riddles are forms that have been passed around for generations and belong to nobody (the socks in the dark, the three pancakes, the six glasses, the shirts on the line); each is retold with the editors' own numbers and names, and none was copied from a book or a site. Every logic and number riddle was solved by computer on the day it was written, by trying every case, and the words in the wordplay set were checked against the word list of Webster's New International Dictionary, Second Edition (1934, public domain) and, for the two words said two ways, against the Carnegie Mellon University Pronouncing Dictionary (https://github.com/cmusphinx/cmudict). The two levels, Hard and Hardest, and the age range are the editors' judgment; nobody tested the riddles with a class. Licence: own work