Easy Riddles for Young Children with Answers

32 riddles

Easy does not mean short. It means the answer is something the child already owns — the sun, their shoes, a spoon, their own shadow. A four-year-old cannot reason their way to an answer they have never thought about, but they can recognise one they see every day, and recognising it feels exactly as good as solving it.

These 32 are ours and are the ones to start with. Ask them where the answer is: the shadow riddle outdoors, the spoon riddle at the table, the moon riddle at the window.

I follow you everywhere in sunshine and vanish when the clouds come.
Show the answer
Your shadow
I am round and yellow, I get up before you and go to bed after you.
Show the answer
The sun
I come out at night and change my shape every week.
Show the answer
The moon
I have four legs and a flat back, and you eat your dinner on me.
Show the answer
A table
You put me on your feet and we always come in pairs.
Show the answer
Shoes
I carry soup to your mouth and I have a handle and a little bowl.
Show the answer
A spoon
I am white and cold, I fall in winter and disappear in your hand.
Show the answer
Snow
I fall from a cloud and make everything wet.
Show the answer
Rain
I have a tail and four paws, I say meow and I sleep most of the day.
Show the answer
A cat
I live in water, I have no legs and I never close my eyes.
Show the answer
A fish
I am yellow and curved, and you have to undress me before you eat me.
Show the answer
A banana
I am round and red, I grow on a tree and I crunch.
Show the answer
An apple
I have pages and a cover, and I am full of words that do not move.
Show the answer
A book
I open and close all day and I let you into the house.
Show the answer
A door
I am made of glass and I let the light in without letting the rain in.
Show the answer
A window
I go up when you climb me and I stay exactly where I am.
Show the answer
The stairs
I am soft, I am on your bed, and you put your head on me.
Show the answer
A pillow
I tick all day, I have two hands and I never go anywhere.
Show the answer
A clock
I am small and shiny, I open the front door and I live in a pocket.
Show the answer
A key
I am wet and slippery and I make your hands clean while I get smaller.
Show the answer
Soap
I am tall and green, I have leaves and branches, and birds live in me.
Show the answer
A tree
I grow in the garden, I smell sweet and I have petals.
Show the answer
A flower
I have two wheels and I only work if somebody pedals.
Show the answer
A bicycle
I am full of air and I am afraid of pins.
Show the answer
A balloon
I am round, I bounce, and nobody minds being kicked if they are me.
Show the answer
A ball
I come out after rain and I have all the colours at once.
Show the answer
A rainbow
I am white, I come in a glass, and I come from a cow.
Show the answer
Milk
I have a handle and a lid, and I whistle when the water is ready.
Show the answer
A kettle
I live in a shell, I carry my house and I am never in a hurry.
Show the answer
A snail
I have wings and feathers, I build a nest and I sing in the morning.
Show the answer
A bird
I have a trunk and I am not a tree.
Show the answer
An elephant
I am orange and pointed, I grow underground and rabbits love me.
Show the answer
A carrot

How to ask them

With a four-year-old the rule that changes everything is this: ask the riddle where its answer is. A riddle about a shadow asked indoors at night is impossible; asked in the garden at four in the afternoon it is delightful, because the child looks around, sees the thing, and the answer arrives as a discovery rather than as a test. The second rule is to let wrong answers stand for a moment. «The sun?» — «Not the sun. Why did you think the sun?» is a better conversation than the riddle itself, and at this age the conversation is what you are actually after. And if a child wants the same riddle four days running, give it to them four days running: at four, knowing the answer is not a spoiler, it is the pleasure.

More riddles

After the riddles, a story: illustrated bedtime stories on Marytale →

All 32 riddles on this page are written by Marytale for children aged 4 to 6. None is copied from another collection, and every answer is something a child of that age can see. Written by Marytale.