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Riddle me this: Why do kids love brain teasers? Answer: They supply hours of free entertainment that challenge us to think outside the box. They also provide a healthy dose of humility when one is finally told the (so obvious!) answer. But brain teasers are the most fun when you — the parent — are asking them. Riddles and brain teasers allow you to feel much smarter than you really are. As your kid tries to come up with an answer, their brains will crackle with energy and smarts, which we can all agree is a great way to pass the time.

So here’s a list of easy-to-remember brain teasers for kids to entertain your children and prove, once and for all, that you do have more answers than your children.

Funny Brain Teasers

Who is bigger: Mr. Bigger, Mrs. Bigger, or their baby?

The baby because he is a little bigger.

Mike is a butcher. He is 5 foot 10 inches tall. What does he weigh?

Meat.

Which travels faster? Hot or cold?

Hot. You can catch a cold.

Imagine you are in a boat in the middle of the sea. Suddenly, you are surrounded by hungry sharks waiting to eat you. How can you put an end to this?

Stop imagining!

First, I threw away the outside and cooked the inside. Then I ate the outside and threw away the inside. What did I eat?

Corn on the cob.

How can you throw a ball as hard as you can, only to have it come back to you, even if it doesn’t bounce off anything?

Throw the ball straight up in the air.

A man left home running. He ran away and then turned left, ran the same distance, and turned left again, ran the same distance, and turned left again. When he got home, there were two masked men. Who were they?

The catcher and the umpire.

Which tire doesn’t move when a car turns right?

The spare tire.

— BDG; Getty Images

Math-Based Brain Teasers

A word I know, six letters it contains, remove one letter and 12 remains. What is it?

Dozens.

In my hand, I have two coins that are newly minted. Together, they total 30 cents. One isn’t a nickel. What are the coins?

A quarter and a nickel.

An elevator is on the ground floor. There are four people in the elevator, including me. When the elevator reaches the first floor, one person gets out and three people get in. The elevator goes up to the second floor. Two people get out and six people get in. It then goes to the next floor up. No one gets out, but 12 people get in. Halfway up to the next floor, the cable snaps, and the elevator crashes to the floor. Everyone else perishes in the lift. How did I survive?

I got out on the second floor!

A man perishes of old age on his 25th birthday. How?

He was born on Feb. 29.

How many months have 28 days?

All 12 months.

Two mothers and two daughters went out to eat. Everyone ate one burger, yet only three burgers were eaten in all. How is this possible?

They were a grandmother, mother, and daughter.

How many seconds are there in a year?

Twelve. Jan. 2nd, Feb. 2nd, March 2nd…

I am an odd number. Take away one letter and I become even. What number am I?

Seven. If I take away the “s” it becomes “even.”

I have a large money box, 10 inches wide, and 5 inches tall. Roughly how many coins can I place in my empty money box?

Just one, after which it will no longer be empty.

Turn me on my side, and I am everything. Cut me in half, and I am nothing. What am I?

The number eight.

Can you add one mathematical symbol in between 55,555 to equal 500?

555-55=500

— BDG; Getty Images

Letter And Word Play

What five-letter word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it?

Short.

What type of cheese is made backward?

Edam.

What is Rupert the Bear’s middle name?

The.

What is in the middle of America?

The letter “r.”

What is the end of everything?

The letter “G.”

Which three letters can frighten a thief away?

ICU.

What word begins and ends with an E but only has one letter?

An envelope.

What is at the end of a rainbow?

The letter W.

Railroad crossing, watch out for cars. Can you spell that without any Rs?

T-H-A-T.

What I can see once in a minute, twice in a moment, and never in a 1,000 years?

The letter M.

What are the next three letters in the following sequence? J, F, M, A, M, J, J, A, __, __, __ S, O, N.

The sequence is the first letter of the months of the year. Sept., Oct., and Nov. are the next in the sequence.

What is special about the words: job, polish, herb?

They are all pronounced differently when the first letter is capitalized.

What letters are easily found in every single day of the week?

D-A-Y.

— BDG; Getty Images

Clever Brain Teasers

What never asks questions but is often answered?

A doorbell.

What can you hold without ever touching or using your hands?

Your breath!

I’m tall when I’m young and I’m short when I’m old. What am I?

A candle.

A man was taking a walk outside when it started to rain. The man didn’t have an umbrella, and he wasn’t wearing a hat. His clothes got soaked, yet not a single hair on his head got wet. How could this happen?

The man was bald.

You walk across a bridge and you see a boat full of people, yet there isn’t a single person on board. How is that possible? All the people on the boat are married.

Beth’s mother has three daughters. One is called Laura, the other one is Sarah. What is the name of the third daughter? Beth.

What’s full of holes but still holds water? A sponge.

What gets wetter the more it dries?

A towel.

The more you take out of it, the bigger it becomes. What is it?

A pit.

What can travel around the world while staying in one corner?

A stamp.

What does this mean? I RIGHT I

Right between the eyes.

What belongs to you but other people use it more than you?

Your name.

Peter’s father has five sons. The names of the four sons are Fefe, Fifi, Fafa, and Fufu, respectively. What is the name of the fifth son?

Peter.

Jimmy’s mother had four children. She named the first Monday. She named the second Tuesday, and she named the third Wednesday. What is the name of the fourth child?

Jimmy! Jimmy’s mother had four children.

Give me food, and I will live; give me water, and I will perish. What am I?

Fire.

What goes on four feet in the morning, two in the afternoon and three in the evening?

A human.

What flies without wings?

Time.

What has cities, but no houses; forests, but no trees; and water, but no fish?

A map.

What has to break before you can use it?

An egg.

What is the one question you can never answer?

“Are you asleep yet?”

What’s the one thing you can break without ever touching it?

A promise.

What goes up but never comes down?

Your age.

I shave every day, but my hair only grows longer. What am I?

A barber.

You walk into a room, and on a table, there’s a match, a lamp, a candle and a fireplace. What would you light first?

The match.

What can’t talk but will respond when you speak to it?

An echo.

The more of this there is, the less you see. What is it?

Darkness.

I follow you all the time, but you can never catch or touch me. What am I?

Your shadow.

— BDG; Getty Images

More Clever Brain Teasers!

Fill me up with hot or cold. Put anything in me, and I will make sure I’ll hold. What am I?

A cup.

What breaks yet never falls, and what falls yet never breaks? Morning and night.

I come down, but I never go up. What am I?

Rain.

I am full of holes, but I can still hold a lot of water. What am I?

A sponge.

What came first, the chicken or the egg?

The egg. Dinosaurs laid eggs long before there were chickens!

What’s clean when it’s black and white when it’s dirty?

A chalkboard.

What has 88 keys but can’t open a single lock?

A piano.

What gets bigger the more you take away?

A hole.

When does today come before yesterday?

In a dictionary.

What is always in front of you but can’t be seen?

The future.

— BDG; Getty Images

What is harder to catch the faster you run?

Your breath.

What fastens two people yet touches only one?

A wedding ring.

What kind of running means walking?

Running out of gas.

What can be swallowed but can also swallow you?

Pride.

Before Mt. Everest was discovered, what was the highest mountain in the world?

Mt. Everest. It was still the highest in the world. It just had not been discovered yet!

You are driving a bus. At the first stop, two women get on. At the second stop, three men get on, and one woman gets off. At the third stop, three kids and their mom get on, and a man gets off. The bus is grey, and it is raining outside. What color is the bus driver’s hair?

Whatever color your hair is! Remember, you are the bus driver!

When you have me, you immediately feel like sharing me. But if you do share me, you do not have me.

A secret.

In a one-story pink house, there was a pink person, a pink cat, a pink fish, a pink computer, a pink chair, a pink table, a pink telephone, a pink shower — everything was pink! What color were the stairs?

There weren’t any stairs, it was a one-story house.