Fact: It’s always a good idea to have a few brain teasers for kids in your back pocket. Whether you want to stump them during a long car ride, while you’re in line at the grocery store or while you’re just hanging in the yard together, it’s a great way to pass time, bond and have a little fun. (Also, kids always love trying to best you with their thinking skills!)
From animal riddles to tricky math problems, here are 55 brain teasers for kids. May the odds be ever in your favor, kiddos.
Math brain teasers for kids
- There are seven apples and you take away three of them. How many apples do you have?
Three because that’s how many apples you took. - When does 9+5=2?
When we think in terms of time: 9 a.m. + 5 hours = 2 p.m. - A merchant can fit 10 large boxes or 8 small boxes into a container for shipping. In one shipment, he sent 96 boxes. If there were more large boxes than small boxes, how many full containers did he ship?
Eleven containers:
7 large boxes (7×8=56 boxes)
4 small boxes (4×10=40 boxes)
Therefore, the merchant shipped 96 boxes in 11 containers. - Multiply this number with any other number and you will always get the same answer. What’s the number?
Zero. - How many sides does a circle have?
Two: inside and outside.
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Animal brain teasers for kids
- You might be called this animal if someone thinks that you’re afraid. You also might eat this animal, as well as its eggs that it laid. What animal is it?
A chicken. - I hide my treasure in the ground, my tail is big and fluffy. If you spot me in a tree, please don’t call me scruffy. What am I?
A squirrel. - It takes me two weeks to digest food, but then again, I’m not known for being fast. What am I?
A sloth. - I have two long ears, and I don’t walk, I hop. What am I?
A rabbit. - I have wings but I am not a bird. I am small, colorful and beautiful. I live in gardens, fields and forests. What am I?
A butterfly. - My name sounds like something you might use on your hair or eat for dessert. What am I?
A moose. - The alphabet goes from A to Z but I go Z to A. What am I?
A zebra. - I’m spotty and speedy, but not at all greedy. I look like a leopard but don’t try to play me at cards. What am I?
A cheetah.
Outer space brain teasers for kids
- I am the beginning of the end and the end of time and space. I am essential to creation, and I surround every place. What am I?
The letter e. End, timE, spacE, Every placE. - Which one of Santa’s reindeer can you see in outer space?
Comet. - I’m a god, a planet and a measurer of heat. Who am I?
Mercury. - What do you call a wizard from outer space that can fly?
A flying sorcerer! - What kind of music can you hear in space?
A Nept-tune. - What object has keys that open no locks, space but no room and you can enter but not go in?
A computer keyboard. - What can fill a room but takes up no space?
Light. - How does NASA throw a party?
They planet. - How does the moon cut his hair?
E-clipse it!
Brain teasers for kids about food
- What kind of room has no doors or windows?
A mushroom. - What kind of apples do computers prefer?
Macintosh. - What kind of cup doesn’t hold water?
A cupcake. - What has to be broken before you can use it?
An egg. - What kind of foods are the most fun at parties?
Fungi. - What is the richest nut?
A cash-ew. - Why did the citrus tree go to the hospital?
Lemon-aid. - You cut me, slice me, dice me, and all the while, you cry. What am I?
An onion.
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Tricky brain teasers for kids
- I come down, but I never go up. What am I?
Rain. - I have hands, but I cannot clap. What am I?
A clock. - I am full of holes, but I can still hold a lot of water. What am I?
A sponge. - What happened in 1961 and will not happen again until 6009?
The year will again be the same upside down. - Can you make the letters in NEW DOOR one word?
ONE WORD. - If the red house is on the right side and if the blue house is on the left side, where’s the white house?
In Washington, D.C. - What has a head and a tail but no body?
A coin. - There was a pink one-story house in a cozy neighborhood. Everything in it was pink — the walls, the carpets, the furniture, even the cat! What color were the stairs?
There were no stairs. It’s a one-story house! - I am a ball that can be rolled but never bounced or thrown. What am I?
An eyeball. - You can catch me, but you can’t throw me. What am I?
A cold. - The more you take away from me, the larger I become. What am I?
A hole. - The Jones family started driving south for their summer vacation, going through five different states along the way. The Bradfords are driving in the opposite direction and only went through three states. What direction are they driving in?
North. - You’re running a race and, just before the finish line, you pass the person in second place. In what place did you finish the race?
Second place. - The one who makes me cannot use me. The one who buys me will always buy me for someone else. The one who uses me doesn’t know it. What am I?
A coffin. - What has 13 hearts, but no lungs, feet or bellybuttons?
A deck of cards. - Grandpa went for a walk, and it started raining. He forgot to bring an umbrella and didn’t have a hat. When he got home, his clothes were soaking wet, but not a hair on his head was wet. How was this possible?
Grandpa is bald. - What five-letter word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it?
Short. - I speak without a mouth and hear without ears. I have nobody, but I come alive with the wind. What am I?
An echo. - What is always in front of you but can never be seen?
The future. - Two mothers and two daughters are riding in a car, yet there are only three people there. How?
They are a grandmother, a mother and a daughter. - Give me a drink, and I will die. Feed me, and I’ll get bigger. What am I?
A fire. - What’s one thing that tastes better than it smells?
Your tongue. - What word begins with E and ends with E, but only has one letter?
Envelope. - What starts with a ‘P’, ends with an ‘E’, and has thousands of letters?
A post office. - What runs all around the backyard but never moves?
A fence.
