Solve riddles with your kid!

Solving riddles helps to develop your kid's intellectual skills and is a lot of fun for the whole family!

Coming up with good treasure hunt clues can be just as fun as solving them. A good riddle is challenging and clever without being impossibly difficult, aiming to present a new way at looking at a familiar object. Many riddles rhyme, but they don't have to--creativity is the most important quality.  

You can find lots of riddles in the Internet, books and magazines for kids.

Trees

• A riddle for a tree could say, "I drink, but not from a glass; I eat with ten thousand fingers. What am I?" This works best if you have one very prominent tree in the yard; otherwise it could get confusing. Or, you could add something else to clarify it such as "I keep watch over all that lies in front of me."

Soap

• "You use it between your head and your toes, the more it works the thinner it grows," says Creative Youth Ideas, referring to soap. You could tuck a clue behind a bar of soap in the bathtub, since this clue specifically leads kids to bathtub soap.

Piano

• You could tuck a clue into the piano, laying it beneath the covering for the keys. The clue leading to the piano could read, "I have dozens of keys, but none of them open a door. What am I?"

Bed

• A clue leading to a bed could say, "What has four legs and a head, but doesn't walk?" Tuck a clue behind a stuffed animal or place it just under the covers, on top of the pillow.

Book

• Creative Youth Ideas offers a riddle for a book: "Stiff is my spine and my body is pale, but I'm always ready to tell a tale." The only trick would be helping kids to zero in on the right book, instead of searching through bookshelves for the clue. Placing a large book like a dictionary on a coffee table in the living room could give kids a hint.

A Sieve

• "What is round as a dishpan, deep as a tub, and still the oceans couldn't fill it up?" asks Thinks.com, referring to a sieve. You could place your next clue in this bottomless container, putting it in a spot where kids can find and reach it easily.

Towel

• "What gets wet when drying?" asks a riddle on Thinks.com. The answer is a towel, which you could tuck a treasure hunt clue into, folding it carefully around the towel rack.

Wheelbarrow

• "I am on three legs when I rest, and one when I work," says a riddle on TolkienTrail.com. Place a clue inside a wheelbarrow if you're orchestrating an outdoor treasure hunt, weighing it down with a small stone.

Clock

• TolkienTrail.com has another great treasure hunt riddle: "This thing runs but cannot walk, sometimes sings but never talks. Lacks arms, has hands; lacks a head but has a face." If you have a clock with a door that opens and shuts, like a grandfather clock, you could place the next clue inside. Or, place it beside the base.

Chess Board

• Creative Youth Ideas offers a very clever riddle for a chess board: "Throughout history, there have been thousands of well-documented cases of horses jumping over towers and landing on clergy and small men, forcing their removal. What am I?" This could be a tricky one for many kids, but some will enjoy the challenge. Offer them a hint if they need one.

Easier Riddles

• The riddles mentioned here are fairly challenging, but for younger children, you can find easier riddles at Scavenger-Hunt-Fun.com. Its "Around the Home Poem Clue Hunt" lists numerous rhymes that lead kids to various spots in the house.

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