I really enjoy riddles. My favorite part in the book The Hobbit is the chapter called “Riddles in the Dark” where the main character Bilbo exchanges riddles with a creature called Gollum. I love riddles that are written in that classic, rhyming style that Tolkien used.
Riddles have been around for a long time, for more than 2000 years in fact. The ancient Greeks told them. You’ll also find one in the Bible in the Book of Judges. Later, in the Middle Ages, they were told by entertainers. Today we see them in story books like The Hobbit and Pearls of Lutra.
Riddles are a fun tool for getting children (and adults) to think. They require the use of critical thinking skills like logic and inductive reasoning. Kids also have to use a bit of their imagination to figure them out.
I thought you might like some riddles to share with your children. Sometimes it’s nice to have a little something different to break up the monotony of a daily homeschool routine. Throwing in a little special activity like a joke or riddle can help to prevent burnout. So here are 5 riddles to get your kids (and yourself) thinking.
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Riddle 1
It is true I have both face and hands,
And move before your eye:
Yet when I go, my body stands;
And when I stand, I lie.
Riddle 2
In a garden there lived
A beautiful maid,
As fair as the flowers in the morn;
The first hour of her life
She was made a wife,
And she died before she was born.
Riddle 3
We are little airy creatures,
Each have different forms and features;
One of us in glass is set;
Another you will find in jet;
A third, less bright, is set in tin;
A fourth, the shining box within;
And the fifth, if you pursue,
It will never fly from you.
Riddle 4
Now, you that love riddles and guess them so well,
Pray tell who I am, for I know you can tell.
I was born before Adam, I should say the fall;
For Adam, you know, friend, was not born at all;
My father’s my mother, and now I’ve begun,
I will tell you still farther, my daughter’s my son.
I’m as ugly as Satan, yet give me my due,
I’m as handsome, fair nymph, and as modest as you.
Riddle 5
Ye bards, whose deep skill all dark mysteries can clear,
Pray attend and discover my name;
Four brothers I have, and the fifth I appear,
But our age is exactly the same.
Yet I to their stature shall never attain,
Though as fast as them always I grow;
By nature I’m fixed a dwarf to remain,
And hence the riddle you’ll know.
Scroll down to find the answers.
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Alright STOP.
Here are the answers.
Riddle 1 – A clock
Riddle 2 – Eve
Riddle 3 – Vowels
Riddle 4 – Nobody
Riddle 5 – The little finger
Were you and your kids able to solve these riddles?
If you’d like more like these, check out my book, 365 Days of Riddles: A Collection of Classic Rhyming Riddles to Sharpen Your Wits. It has classic riddles for every day of the year.