Riddles with answers · ages 3 to 8
From easy to tricky, with every answer one tap away.
Every riddle here is a description in rhyme. An animal, or a thing in your house, talks about itself for two lines, and your child works out who or what it is. You'll find the trick questions and the puns over with the jokes.
We sorted 33 of them by age, easiest first. Tap for the answer, and under each animal there's one true thing about it.
Before you pick
The riddle stays the same. What changes with age is how much of it you read out.
Ages 3 and 4
A riddle with a sound in it
Read both clues. The second one ends on a MOO or a QUACK, and that's the clue a 3 year old solves. Show the shadow as well. A wrong guess still counts as playing.
Ages 5 and 6
One surprising clue
Read the first clue and stop there. It holds the odd fact, like a shark that keeps growing new teeth, and your child has to reason from it. Researchers who followed children from 4 to 6 found that the ones who were good at this kind of working-out understood stories better later on.
Ages 7 and 8
No second clue, and no animal
Give them the tricky animals with the first clue only. Then try the things from around the house, where a clock has a face and two hands but no nose. After that, ask them to write one for you.
Ages 3 and 4 · preschool
Nine animals a small child already knows. Each second clue ends on the animal's sound, so read that one in your best cow voice. The shadow is there to point at.
I chew my lunch, then I chew it once more.My tummy has rooms. How many? Four!
My coat has patches like a puzzle, you see,and when you hear MOO, you know it is me!
Cow!
The true bit: A cow has one big stomach with four parts, and she brings her grass back up to chew it again. (Mississippi State University Extension)
I hardly sweat, so what do I do?I roll in the mud to cool down. Wouldn't you?
My nose is flat and my tail is a curl.Oink oink! I say to every boy and girl.
Pig!
The true bit: Pigs can barely sweat, so a mud bath is how they keep cool, and it works as sunscreen too. (RSPCA)
Rain on my feathers just rolls away.I stay dry on the wettest day!
My feet are like flippers, orange and wide.Quack quack! I say, with my ducklings beside.
Duck!
The true bit: Ducks spread oil from a gland near their tail over their feathers, which makes them waterproof. (Missouri Department of Conservation)
My nose is so clever, it's never wrong.I sniff your socks and I sniff all day long.
I wag my tail when you walk through the door.WOOF! Throw the ball, and I'll fetch it once more!
Dog!
The true bit: Every dog's nose print is different, just like your fingerprint. (VCA Animal Hospitals)
I nap in the sun for most of the day,then chase a red dot that runs away.
Nine lives, people say, and whiskers too.Purr purr, meow! I'm the boss of you!
Cat!
The true bit: A slow blink is a cat's smile. Slow-blink at a cat, and it will often blink back. (University of Sussex)
I dance a little wiggle to show friends the wayto the very best flowers. Let's go, hooray!
Buzz buzz! In my stripes of yellow and black,I make your honey, and I always fly back.
Bee!
The true bit: Honeybees do a “waggle dance” to tell the hive where the flowers are. (University of Sussex)
I groom my friends and pick out their bugs.That's how we say thank you, instead of hugs.
Ooh ooh, aah aah! I swing tree to tree,and fruit, leaves and bugs are dinner for me.
Monkey!
The true bit: Grooming keeps monkeys clean, and it's how they make and keep friends. (San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance)
I turn my head almost all the way round,and I fly through the night without a sound.
Who, who, who? That's the question I ask.Staying up all night is my favorite task.
Owl!
The true bit: Owls cannot move their eyes, so they turn their heads instead, up to three quarters of the way around. (National Audubon Society)
My nose is a hose, a hand and a straw,the longest nose you ever saw!
I flap my big ears to cool down in the heat,and the ground goes boom boom under my feet.
Elephant!
The true bit: Baby elephants suck their trunks for comfort, the way children suck their thumbs. (National Geographic Kids)
All 30 easy riddles are on the animal riddles page
Switch that page to “Little ones” and it shows only the easy ones.
Ages 5 and 6
These are animals they know, with a first clue they probably don't. The sheep's riddle is word for word from our book Farm Animals, which is why it has a single clue.
From our book Farm Animals
Like a cloud, I'm fluffy and white.I come to you at night.
Sheep!
My teeth are as long as a banana, you see,but my arms are so short, I can't scratch my knee.
I'm the king of the dinosaurs, everyone knows.Now run, run, run, before I nibble your toes!
Tyrannosaurus rex!
The true bit: T. rex had about 60 teeth, and the biggest were up to 20 cm (8 inches) long, about the size of a banana. (Natural History Museum, London)
I lose my teeth, but I never feel sad.New ones grow back, so it isn't so bad!
A fin on my back cuts through the sea.Dun dun, dun dun... Can you guess? It's me!
Shark!
The true bit: Some sharks go through thousands of teeth in a lifetime. (Natural History Museum, London)
I'm a bird, but I don't fly in the sky.I fly underwater instead. Oh my!
I wear a tuxedo everywhere I go.I waddle, then slide on my tummy in the snow.
My tongue is blue-black and as long as your arm,and I hum in the night, very quiet and calm.
I'm the tallest animal, with a neck up so high,I say good morning to the birds in the sky.
Giraffe!
The true bit: A giraffe's tongue is up to 50 cm (20 inches) long, and scientists have recorded giraffes humming at night. (Smithsonian Magazine)
No two of us have the very same stripes,like your fingerprints. We are all different types!
Am I white with black stripes, or black with white?I look like a horse in pajamas at night!
Zebra!
The true bit: Every zebra's stripes are different, like a fingerprint. (San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance)
I nap most of the day, sixteen hours or more,but five miles away, you can still hear my roar!
My golden mane looks just like a crown.My family is called a pride. Please bow down!
Lion!
The true bit: Lions are the only cats that live in families, called prides, on the African savanna (not in the jungle!). A lion's roar carries about 8 km (5 miles). (National Geographic Kids; San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance)
I'm not an insect, I have eight legs, not six,and I make my own string for my building tricks.
I spin a web with the silk from inside,then wait for a fly to come for a ride.
Spider!
The true bit: Spiders have eight legs, so they are arachnids, not insects. (San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance)
I have just one foot and I'm slow as can be.When it's too dry outside, I nap for weeks, you see!
I carry my house on my back when I roam,and leave a shiny trail on my way back home.
Snail!
The true bit: In dry weather, snails seal themselves inside their shells and sleep until it rains. (UC Statewide IPM Program)
Ages 7 and 8
This group has a daddy who carries the babies and a beetle with a lamp inside. Read clue 1 only, and don't give in too soon.
I have three hearts and my blood is blue.I can change my color like magic. It's true!
Eight long arms, and I'm great at hide and seek.I squirt dark ink if you try to peek!
Octopus!
The true bit: Octopuses really have three hearts and blue blood. (Natural History Museum, London)
I'm a daddy who carries the babies inside,in a pouch on my tummy, cozy and wide.
My head looks like a horse's, but I never neigh.I hold on to seagrass with my tail all day.
Seahorse!
The true bit: In seahorse families, the dad carries the eggs until the babies hatch. (National Geographic Kids)
I'm so slow that green plants grow in my hair.I hang upside down without a care.
I climb down from my tree just once a week,to go to the toilet! Please, don't peek!
Sloth!
The true bit: Green algae grow in a sloth's fur and help it hide. It climbs down only about once a week, to poo. And it isn't lazy: leaves just give it very little energy. (Smithsonian's National Zoo)
Knock knock! Who's there? It's me on the tree.I'm not at your door, so you don't need a key.
My tongue is so long, it wraps round my head,and I drum on the trees until it's time for bed.
Woodpecker!
The true bit: When it's tucked away, a woodpecker's tongue wraps all the way around the back of its skull. (American Bird Conservancy)
I'm a beetle with a little lamp inside.When the summer night comes, I don't need to hide.
Blink blink! My tail lights up in the dark.Don't keep me in a jar. Let me fly in the park!
Firefly!
The true bit: Fireflies are beetles, and they flash their lights to find each other. (US National Park Service)
I bury my snacks in a hundred spots,and I forget where I put quite a lot.
Some nuts I forget grow into trees,so thank me for the forest, please!
Squirrel!
The true bit: Squirrels forget many of the nuts they bury, and those nuts grow into new trees. (Smithsonian Science Education Center)
When I'm scared, I don't run away.I roll into a ball, and there I stay.
I have lots of spines, but I'm not a cactus, no!I snuffle for snails wherever I go.
Hedgehog!
The true bit: A hedgehog has thousands of spines. When it smells something new, it licks foam onto them, and scientists still don't know why! (Hedgehog Street)
My head is tiny, like a walnut, it's true,but don't be fooled, I know what to do!
Big plates on my back and spikes on my tail.I swing it at danger, and I never fail!
Stegosaurus!
The true bit: The tail spikes even have a nickname: the thagomizer. (Smithsonian Magazine)
I sleep with one eye open, half of me awake,so I never forget to breathe, for goodness' sake!
I click and I whistle, I leap through the spray.I'm a mammal, not a fish, and I love to play!
Dolphin!
The true bit: Dolphins rest one half of their brain at a time, so they can keep swimming up for air. (Georgia Aquarium)
Dinosaur riddles, the hardest groupMake your own animal riddle
Things, not animals
These six come from our scavenger hunt clues, where the fridge, the mirror and the clock do the talking. Each one is a riddle by itself. In a hunt, its answer is where the next card is hiding.
What am I? 1
I hum all day, and my belly is cold.I keep the milk fresh, so it never grows old.
What am I? 2
I've got a face and two hands, but no nose.I tick and I tock, and I never doze.
What am I? 3
The wetter I get, the more I can dry.Now there's a puzzle! Can you tell me why?
What am I? 4
Whatever you do, I will do just the same.I copy your faces. It's my favorite game!
What am I? 5
I have a tongue, but I never talk.I've laces and soles, and I take you to walk.
What am I? 6
I wear a hat, but I don't have a head.I glow in the evening when it's nearly bed.
All 63 animal riddles
The full set sits on one page, in seven groups. Each card says how many of its riddles are easy.
Other kinds
Scavenger hunt cluesEach answer is a hiding place, and the next clue is waiting there.Jokes for kidsA riddle with a silly answer is a joke. Those are sorted by age too.Riddle cards to printFold-over cards, six to a page, with the animal hidden inside the fold.For a hunt on a special day, there are clues from the Easter Bunny on the Easter scavenger hunt page and clues from an elf on the Christmas scavenger hunt page.
Questions
Our own book
A picture book for ages 3 to 6 · Made Of You
Our riddle book is for the youngest guessers. Cover the picture with your hand, read the two lines and let them guess the animal, the way you've been doing on this page. Then a phone or tablet brings the answer into the room in 3D. Three of its riddles are on this site word for word, and the sheep is one of them.
