101 Funny Brain Teasers for Kids (With Answers!)

Brain teasers for kids are a great way to battle boredom, enhance logic and creative thinking, and keep children’s (and grown-ups’!) minds sharp. They also make for great dinner conversation and can motivate kids to work together to find the answers. Plus, they are fun, humorous, and oh-so-satisfying to solve!

Here are 101 brain teasers for kids of all ages to tackle as a family. These brain teasers with answers will challenge children to use their language and math skills, reasoning, and more to find the solutions.

After you’ve tackled these brain teasers for kids, visit our Boredom Busters for Kids Guide for more ways to have fun as a family, from fun facts that will blow kids’ minds to awesome art projects.

2. There’s a one-story house and everything in it is red. What color are the stairs?

It has no stairs.

3. The red house is made out of red bricks. The white house is made out of white bricks. The yellow house is made out of yellow bricks. What is the greenhouse made out of?

Glass

4. What weighs more? A pound of hay or a pound of bricks?

They both weigh one pound.

5. What comes down but never up?

Rain

6. What goes up but never down?

Age

7. The more you take, the more you leave behind. What am I?

Footsteps

8. What can be broken by speaking?

Silence

9. What breaks without falling?

Dawn

10. Name something you have to break before you can use it.

An egg

11. What kind of bank has no money in it?

A river bank

12 What has eyes but can’t see?

A potato

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Brain teasers for kids are a fun and engaging way to fill up some free time.

13. A cowboy rode into town on Friday. He stayed for three days and rode out on Friday. How can this be so?

His horse’s name was Friday.

14. What type of house weighs the least?

A lighthouse

15. You’re driving a bus. At the first stop, three women get on. Two men get on at the second stop, and two women get off. Three kids and their dad get on at the stop, and four people get off. No one gets on at the next stop, but one person gets off. The bus gets to the last stop. What is the name of the bus driver?

It’s your name!

16. You have 20 roses and all but five die. How many roses do you have?

Five

17. Sara’s mother had three girls. The first was named “April.” The second was named “May.” What was the third girl’s name?

Sara

18. What happens once in a minute, twice in a moment and never in 1,000 years?

The letter “M”

19. What comes next in this pattern: J, F, M, A, M, J, J, A, __, __, __

S, O, N. They are the first letter of every month.

20. Tomorrow is not the weekend. Yesterday was not Friday or Wednesday. Today is not Tuesday or Sunday. Tomorrow is not Monday, or Friday, or Thursday. What day is today?

It’s Monday.

21. Cross out 10 letters to spell a hard word: j a d h r a c r s d e w t o m r l d y

Take away J, D, R, C, S, , E, T, M, L, Y and you get: a hard word.

22. An old lady was washing dishes one day. When she looked in the sink, there were more glasses than there had been when she started. No one else was home. How can this be?

Her glasses fell into the sink.

23. Two boys were born on the same day and have the same mother and father. They look a lot alike, but they say they aren’t twins. Are they lying?

No. They have another brother and the three boys are triplets.

24. A man is driving a truck that is exactly 10 feet tall. He gets to a bridge that has a clearance of exactly 10 feet. The driver stops and adjusts the truck and safely passes under the bridge. How did he do it?

He let a little air out of the tires.

25. A man lives 100 years, but he only has about 25 birthdays. How?

He’s born on leap day. His birthdays come only once every 4 years.

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Even younger kids can try their hand at some brain teasers.

Brain Teasers for Kindergarteners

27. What has four wheels and flies?

A garbage truck

27. Say white five times. What do cows drink?

Water, not milk!

28. What gets smaller when you shower?

A bar of soap

29. What has four legs, one foot, and one head?

A bed

30. What has teeth but never eats?

A comb (A saw could also be an answer.)

31. What has a bed but doesn’t sleep?

Flowers. They have a flower bed.

32. I have scales but can’t play a tune. What am I?

A fish (Other answers could be a snake or a lizard.)

33. The more it dries, the wetter it gets. What is it?

A towel

34 What has only a face and two hands?

A clock

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Try these brain teasers yourself to see how far the apple falls from the tree.

35. A basket has five apples in it. You take away three. How many apples do you have now?

You just took three apples, so you have three!

36. What can you catch but not throw?

A cold

37. What is orange, has a green top, and sounds like a parrot?

A carrot

38. I will always arrive but never today. What am I?

Tomorrow

39. What kind of flower does everyone have on their face?

Tulips

40. What happens when you throw a blue stone into the Red Sea?

It gets wet.

41. How many books can you put in an empty backpack?

One book. After that, the backpack isn’t empty anymore.

42. What comes next? Triangle, square, pentagon…

Hexagon

43. What flies but can’t jump?

Time

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Brain teasers for kids can spark interesting dinner conversations.

44. What’s tall when it’s young but short when it’s old?

A candle

45. Name a bird that can’t fly, but runs really quickly.

An ostrich

46. What kind of room has no doors or windows?

A mushroom

47. If three people didn’t stand under an umbrella, why did not they get wet?

It wasn’t raining.

48. How many bricks do you need to finish a brick house?

One. The final one.

49. I looked outside one day and saw a carrot, a scarf, and a pile of rocks on my lawn. No one put them there. How did they get there?

My snowman melted.

50. A truck driver went down a one-way street the wrong way! A police officer saw this but didn’t stop him. Why?

He was walking, not driving.

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Your kiddo will sleep well after all of that thinking!

Brain Teasers for Middle School Kids

51. What month do people typically sleep the least?

February. It has the fewest days.

52. A plane crashes between the US and Canada. Where do you bury the survivors?

Nowhere. You don’t bury survivors.

53. What has three Es and one letter?

Envelope

54. Sally’s mom has four children. Their names are North, East, and West. What’s the fourth one’s name?

Sally.

55. What falls but never breaks?

Night

56. What has three feet but doesn’t walk?

A yardstick

57. I have a bed but don’t sleep. I have a mouth but don’t eat. What am I?

A river

58. What has a head and a tail but no body?

A coin

59. Which month has 28 days?

Every month has 28 days.

60. What belongs to you but is used more by other people?

Your name

61. A is the brother of B. B is the brother of C. C is the father of D. So how is D related to A?

He is A’s uncle.

62. A boy and an engineer went fishing. The boy is the engineer’s son, but the engineer is not his father. Who is the engineer?

His mother

63. Mrs. Jones has four daughters. Each of her daughters has one brother. How many children does Mrs. Jones have?

Five. The girls each have the same brother.

64. If a rooster lays an egg on top of a barn roof, which way will the egg roll off?

Roosters are males, so they don’t lay eggs. But hens do.

65. What comes next in the sequence? 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36…

49 (Here’s why: 1×1, 2×2, 3×3, 4×4, 5×5, 6×6, and 7×7)

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Brain teasers for kids encourage good listening skills.

66. Danny is taller than Chris and Jake. Chris isn’t the smallest. Gabby is taller than Chris but not Danny. Tyler is taller than two people. What’s the order tall to small?

Jake, Chris, Tyler, Gabby, Danny.

67. How many two-cent stamps are there in a dozen?

12

68. My birthday is December 15, but I celebrate it in the summer. Why?

I live in Australia. It’s summer in the southern hemisphere.

69. If I have three jellybeans and eat one every half hour, how many minutes will pass from eating my first to eating my last?

60 minutes

70. Do you pronounce the capital of Illinois with a SH sound (Shicago) or a CH sound (Chicago)?

Neither. The capital of Illinois is Springfield.

71. I have a bag of three apples and three children. I gave each of my kids an apple, but there’s still an apple in the bag. How is this possible?

I gave my oldest child the bag with his apple in it.

72. What’s the next number in this sequence? 1, 2, 4, 7, 11…

16 (2-1=1, 4-2=2, 7-4=3. 11-7=4. 16-11=5)

73. You are trapped in a room and the only way out is one of three doors. Behind the first is a sea of poisonous snakes. Behind the second is a room of lions that haven’t eaten in years. And behind the third is a room of fire. Which is the best way out?

The room of lions. If they haven’t eaten in years, they are likely not alive.

74. I’m full of holes but can hold lots of water. What am I?

A sponge

75. How far can a fox run into the woods?

Halfway. Once it reaches halfway, it’s running out of the woods.

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Brain teasers for high school kids can be a little more complex.

Brain Teasers for High School Kids

76. Which vehicle is a palindrome?

Racecar

77. What gets bigger when you take more away?

A hole

78. There are two fathers and two sons in a car. How many people are in the car?

Three (a grandfather, a father, and a son)

79. What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs at night?

A human (as a baby, an adult, and an older person with a cane)

80. I am the beginning of the end, and the end of time and space. What am I?

The letter “E”

81. What can’t be kept until it’s given?

A promise

82. What becomes shorter when you add two letters to it?

The word “short”

83. What starts with T, ends with T, and has T in it?

A teapot

84. What is 2/7 chicken, 2/3 cat, and 2/4 goat?

Chicago

85. Two fathers and two sons go out fishing. Each of them catches two fish, but they only bring home six fish. Why?

It’s a grandfather, son, and grandson.

86. Forward I am heavy, but backward I am not. What am I?

Not

87. What is the similarity between “3 + 3 = 5” and your left hand?

Neither one is right.

88. You’re running in a race and you pass the person who’s in second. Which position are you in?

Second

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Psst! Don’t give away the answers to these brain teasers for kids!

89. If you have it, you don’t share it. If you share it, you don’t have it. What is it?

A secret

90. A girl fell off a 25-foot ladder but wasn’t hurt. Why?

She fell from the bottom rung.

91. When Tommy was 8, his brother was half his age. Now, Tommy is 14. How old is his brother?

His brother is 10.

92. Mrs. Brown has five girls. Jackie is younger than Gia but older than Katie. Olivia is older than Maddie who is older than Jackie. Gia is older than Olivia. Who is the middle child?

Maddie. From youngest to oldest, the order is: Katie, Jackie, Maddie, Olivia, Gia.

93. What is lighter than a feather, but you can’t hold it for more than two minutes?

Your breath

94. When does 9+5=2?

9:00 + 5 hours = 2:00

95. If you multiplied every number on a calculator, what answer would you get?

Zero

96. What is a one-syllable word that becomes a three-syllable word when you add just one letter?

“Are” becomes “area” when you add “a.”

96. Name a word that is pronounced differently when capitalized.

polish (and Polish)

97. A jar contains 25 black marbles and 35 white marbles. If you’re blindfolded, what’s the most number of marbles you would need to draw to ensure you get a matching pair?

Three

98. What is unusual about the following words: revive, banana, grammar, potato, uneven?

Put the first letter on the end and start spelling backward to get the original word.

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Light a fire in their brains with these interesting brain teasers for kids.

99. What’s black when you get it, red when you use it, and white after you’ve used it?

Charcoal

100. What has 26 letters and three syllables?

Alphabet

101. Two days ago, Suzy was 8. Next year, she’ll be 11. How is this possible?

Two days ago was December 30. She was 8. She turned 9 on December 31. Today is January 1. She’ll turn 10 this year, but 11 next year.