Educational play is all the rage these days. Educators and teachers have discovered the immense benefits of combining the joy of play with learning. We love including riddles as a part of our family banter as a way of encouraging that little bit of learning in our downtime.
Riddles are a phenomenal way of boosting kids (and adults) mental flexibility. Kids are like sponges and are absolutely primed for learning and riddles will help with their problem solving skills and other cognitive abilities.
Having to ponder a good riddle can also calm down busy brains and is a lovely little exercise in mindfulness. Solving a good word puzzle will also give you a little hit of dopamine, the happiness hormone, and this will improve a mood and prove to your kids how fun and rewarding it can be to make your brain work.
In our household, riddles are sometimes the gatekeepers of dessert, the price you pay to go on a play date or even the way we decide an argument in the household.
For example, if my kids are arguing over what TV show to watch, a quick way to sort it out is to ask them a riddle and whoever answers it quickest gets to choose.
If you’re keen to start using riddles as your argument breakers, we have got you covered! Below you’ll find over 140 mind melding ‘what am I’ riddles for kids that will have their brains working overtime!
What Am I Riddles For Little Kids
When the water comes down, when it rains, I go up. What am I?
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If you don’t keep me, I’ll break. What am I?
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I have a head and a tail, but no arms or legs. What am I?
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I’m orange, I wear a green hat and I sound like a parrot. What am I?
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I’m tall when I’m young and I’m short when I’m old. What am I?
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It have one eye but cannot see? What am I?
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I have 2 hands but cannot clap? What am I?
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I get beaten and whipped, but I never cry, I must be broken before you can use me. What am I?
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It come down but never go up? What am I?
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I have eyes that cannot see, a tongue that cannot taste, and a soul that cannot die.
I come in a pair that you will need to tie and untie.
What am I?
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I can clap without any hands. What Am I?
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I usually come in green and brown.
I’m a house for a bird and kids love to climb.
I have a hundred limbs but cannot walk or recline.
And with rain, I can live for a very long time.
What am I?
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I lose my head in the morning but get it back at night? What am I?
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I am always running, but never get tired or hot. What am I?
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I am often following you and copying your every move. Yet you can never touch me or catch me. What am I?
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I have many teeth, but I cannot bite. What am I?
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I go up but never come back down? What am I?
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If you drop me, I’m sure to crack.
Give me a smile, and I’ll always smile back.
And if you are looking for fun, I can double your money or make two people out of one.
What am I?
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I am easy to get into but hard to get out of. What am I?
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I’m hot and I live in the sky. I’m bright, don’t look directly at me. I will disappear at night. What am I?
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I’m red, blood pumps through me, and I live in your body. I’m the symbol for love, please don’t break me. What am I?
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I come in many different colors and I get bigger when I’m full. I will float away if you don’t tie me down and I will make a loud sound if I break. What am I?
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I am a tasty treat you can lick with your tongue. I come in a bowl or a cone. One of my common flavors is vanilla. What am I?
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You can catch me, but you can’t throw me. What am I?
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I live in the jungle and I love to eat bananas. I’m very similar to a human but I have a curly tail. What am I?
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I am a ball that can be rolled but never bounced or thrown. What am I?
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Fill me up with hot or cold. Put anything in me and I will make sure I’ll hold. What am I?
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White and sparkly I can be, kids make angels out of me. What am I?
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With my many legs, I swing from tree to tree.
I can make a house much bigger than me.
What am I?
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I get wet while drying. What am I?
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I get smaller every time I take a bath. What am I?
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I have a thumb and four fingers but I’m not alive. What am I?
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I come out at night without being called. I’m lost in the day without being stolen. What am I?
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I have a neck but no head. What am I?
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I have one head, one foot, and four legs. What am I?
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I have four teeth and a tail, but I have no arms and legs. What am I?
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I have a spine but no bones. What am I?
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I jump when I walk and sit when I stand. What am I?
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I am a nut with a hole. What am I?
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When I point up, it’s bright. When I point down, it’s dark. What am I?
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I have two eyes in the front and a lot of eyes on my tail. What am I?
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I am gold, or I can be black and white. I’m a symbol for a nation when freedom took flight. What am I?
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I give people a huge fright, but at the end I’m sweet. I usually celebrate at night. What am I?
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I’m the tool fairies use. What am I?
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I hop around hiding eggs. What am I?
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I am known for my tuxedo that I wear while marching. What am I?
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I’m white and I scare people. What am I?
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I keep boats from moving through the water. What am I?
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I am the kind of food that monkeys like to eat and if you throw my clothes on the ground, people could slip and fall. What am I?
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If you’re good, I will visit you once a year. What am I?
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I am a home for feathered animals. What am I?
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Old McDonald owns me. What am I?
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I’m a small piece of land in the water. What am I?
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I have every color, but no gold. What am I?
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I have wings, so I can fly. I’m not a bird, but I soar high in the sky. What am I?
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Give me food and I will thrive, give me water, and I will die.
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What Am I Riddles For Bigger Kids
I can fill a room, but I take up no space. What am I?
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I have no life, but I can die. What am I?
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I sound like I could cut you, but I’m actually quite comfortable. I can be green or yellow. I can be stiff or soft. I am a friend to bugs and also bare feet. What am I?
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I run, but I don’t walk. I drip and drop, but I can’t pick myself up. You have to consume me and sometimes I surround you. What am I?
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I run along your property and all around the backyard, yet I never move. What am I?
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I do not have wings, but I can fly. I don’t have eyes, but I will cry! What am I?
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I go around all the places, cities, towns and villages, but never come inside. What am I?
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I am full of keys, but I cannot open any door. What am I?
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People buy me to eat, but never eat me. What am I?
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I can sizzle like bacon, I am made with an egg…
and I have plenty of backbone, but lack a good leg.
I peel layers like onions, but still remain whole.
I can be long, like a flagpole, yet fit in a hole.
What am I?
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I belong to you, but your friends use me more. What am I?
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It have bark, but no bite. What am I?
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I am full of holes but still hold water? What am I?
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My life can be measured in hours, I serve by being devoured.
Thin, I am quick.
Fat, I am slow.
Wind is my foe.
What am I?
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The more you take away, the more I become. What am I?
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We come in a set. We can dash or pour. If we’re too much, the serving is ruined. If we’re held back, the course is flat. What are we?
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I have lots of eyes, but can’t see. What am I?
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I have legs, but don’t walk. What am I?
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I go through towns and over hills but I never move. What am I?
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It goes up and down, but never moves? What is it?
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Children love to play with me but not inside, only out.
Watch out for the wires and trees for you could tangle me.
Look up and watch me dance, the faster you run the faster I will wiggle.
What am I?
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With multiple colors, I appear after a storm. People like to point and take pictures of me.
Some say if you look hard enough you will find gold on the other side of me.
What am I?
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I never ask questions, but I’m always answered. What am I?
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I can go up the chimney when I’m down, but I cannot go down the chimney when I’m up. What am I?
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You can call me curly, you can call me bald. You can call me gray, you can call me shaggy, and I can even be short or long. What am I?
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The more you have of me, the less you see. What am I?
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Say my name and I will disappear. What am I?
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The more you take, the more you leave behind. What am I?
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My rings are not worth much, but they tell my age. What am I?
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I am strong enough to smash ships, but I fear the Sun. What am I?
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I get sharper the more I’m used. What am I?
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You can make me, but you can’t see me. What am I?
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I wiggle, and I cannot see.
Sometimes you find me on a tree.
I really don’t like being on a hook and sometimes I’m a character in a book.
What am I?
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I am a room, but you cannot enter me. Sometimes I’m poisonous, and sometimes I’m delicious to eat. What am I?
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I can wave my hands at you, but I never say good-bye. Use me when you’re hot and I will cool you off. What am I?
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I sleep when you’re awake, I’m awake when you go to sleep. I have no feathers, but I can fly. What am I?
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You use a knife to slice my head.
And weep beside me when I’m dead.
I add lots of flavor and have many layers.
But if you get too close I’ll make you cry.
What am I?
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You can throw me away, but I will always come back. What am I?
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I may seem real, but it always turns out that I was only there in your sleep. What am I?
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I twist and turn and leave a loop. What am I?
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I’m a water mammal who is always busy. What am I?
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My tail is long, my coat is brown.
I like the country, and I like the town.
I can live in a house, and I’m happy in a shed.
I come out to play when you’re in bed.
What am I?
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I spend the day in the window and I hide at night. When I get hungry I will visit your table for a bite. What am I?
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I always go to bed with my shoes on. What am I?
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I can go up and down without moving. What am I?
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I’m not clothes but I cover your body. The more I’m used, the thinner I grow. What am I?
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What Am I Riddles For Tweens and Teens
A word I know, six letters I contain, remove one letter and 12 remains, what word am I?
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I am not alive, but I grow; I don’t have lungs, but I need air; I don’t have a mouth, but water kills me. What am I?
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You’ll find me in Mercury, Earth, Mars and Jupiter, but not in Venus or Neptune. What am I?
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I make a loud sound when I’m changing. When I do change, I get bigger but weigh less. What am I?
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People have stepped on me, but not many. I never stay full for long. I have a dark side. What am I?
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I have a head much smaller than my long neck. People who play with me pick at me and that’s fine. What am I?
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I have seven rings made of rock and ice, but you cannot wear them on your fingers. They are way, way too big. What am I?
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You see me once in June, twice in November, but not at all in May. What am I?
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I have rivers, but do not have water.
I have dense forests, but no trees and animals.
I have cities, but no people live in those cities.
What am I?
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The one who makes me does not need me.
The one who buys me does not use me.
The one who uses me doesn’t know that he or she is using me.
What am I?
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I am always in front of you but can’t be seen? What am I?
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It is as light as a feather but even the strongest man in the world can’t hold it for long?
The faster you run, the harder it is to catch me.
What am I?
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I’m found in socks, scarves and mittens. I’m found in the paws of playful kittens. What am I?
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Turn us on our backs and open up our stomachs, and you will be the wisest but at the start a lummox. What are we?
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I am a word.
If you pronounce me rightly, it will be wrong.
If you pronounce me wrong it is right?
What word am I?
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I can point in every direction, but I can’t reach the destination by myself. What am I?
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I’m as flat as a leaf and round as a ring. I have two eyes, but I can’t see a thing. What am I?
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I am associated with spring and I love to hop around in the grass.
I like playing in your vegetable garden and my teeth are long and sharp.
What am I?
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You throw away my outside, then you cook my inside.
You eat my outside, then you throw away my inside.
What am I?
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I have a head but never weep.
I have a bed but never sleep.
I can run but I never walk.
I have a bank but no money.
What am I?
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I have no bones and I have no legs, but if you keep me warm I will soon walk away. What am I?
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You will throw me away when you want to use me, and you will take me in when you’re done with me. What am I?
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If you have me, you don’t share me. If you share me, you don’t have me. What am I?
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I have four eyes, but I cannot see. What am I?
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I am a seed with three letters in my name. Take away the last two, and I still sound the same. What am I?
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I start with an “E” and end with an “E”, but I only have one letter. What am I?
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I am constantly overlooked by everyone, yet everyone has me. What am I?
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I live in the winter, die in the summer, and I grow with my roots upward. What am I?
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I sound like one letter, but I’m written with three. I show you things when you look through me. What am I?
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I can be cracked, and I can be played. I can be told, and I can be made. What am I?
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I have a head, body, and feathers to fly, but I am not alive. How far I will go depends on you. What am I?
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I go in dry and come out wet. The longer I stay in, the shorter I get. What am I?
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I am the only word that looks the same when spelled upside down. What am I?
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Though I am only two words, I have thousands of letters in me. What am I?
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I’m the building with the greatest number of stories. What am I?
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Take me out and scratch my head. I am now black, but I once was red. What am I?
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I went to London and have been to Rome.
I could go to India and sometimes I get sent home.
I go all around the world, but never leave the corner.
What am I?
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Born in the ocean and white as snow. When I fall back to the water I disappear without a trace. What am I?
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If you need any help convincing your kids of the joy of riddles, look no further than pop culture and history to get them interested.
In Harry Potter, children must answer a riddle to enter the Ravenclaw tower; there are LEGO riddles; the Riddler perplexes Gotham with riddles in Batman Forever and of course, the Mad Hatter asks Alice the famous riddles ‘Why is a raven like a writing desk?’ in Alice in Wonderland.
If your kids are lovers of history, you can tell them that one of the oldest preserved riddles was found on an ancient Sumerian clay tablet from Lagash, all the way back in 2350 BC. Imagine archaeologists digging up a tablet and finding a riddle!
For lovers of fairy tales and stories, there are riddles in the Brothers Grimm. There’s even a German fairy tale called The Riddle about a man whose wife has been transformed into a flower. That particular one gets a little dark, so save it for kids when they’re older.
You can also use riddles as a jumping off place to introduce kids to other puzzles, like cross words, anagrams and Sudoku, which can help improve their language and math skills.
