Family Riddles

Liven up any family gathering or long road trip with a fun competition to see who can solve more of these family riddles! With a perfectly balanced difficulty level, these enigmas will put everyone’s brain to work, regardless of their age. Adults and kids alike will have to do their best and think hard to find the solution, while fully knowing that it will be so simple as to surprise them all! Get ready for some frustrated groans and triumphant shouts of "I got it!" as you test your family's wits with these brain teasers.

40 Family Riddles With Answers

I have a trunk, but I’m not a tree. I have doors, but I’m not a house. What am I?

Answer: Car

On Christmas Eve, Santa leaves his workshop in the North Pole to deliver presents to all the good children. What direction does he travel?

Answer: South. The only direction you can travel from the North Pole is South.

What goes through the door without pinching itself? What sits on the stove without burning itself? What sits on the table and is not ashamed?

Answer: Sun

A time when they're green. A time when they're brown. But both of these times, cause me to frown. But just in between, for a very short while. They're perfect and yellow. And cause me to smile.

Answer: Bananas

What is full of holes but still holds water?

Answer: Sponge

There are 20 people in an empty, square room. Each person has full sight of the entire room and everyone in it. If you are not allowed to move in any way (other than your eyes), where can you place an apple so that all but one person can see it?

Answer: Place the apple on one person's head.

What can you hold in your left hand but never in your right hand?

Answer: Your right hand

I swing, I slide, I pivot, I fold. In every house, my tale is told. What am I?

Answer: Door

Always old, sometimes new. Never sad, sometimes blue. Never empty, sometimes full. Never pushes, always pulls.

Answer: Moon

I warm you on cold nights, I’m made of wood or stone, but I’m not a home. What am I?

Answer: Shelter

Big as a biscuit, deep as a cup, even a river can't fill it up. What is it?

Answer: A kitchen strainer

I am chased with fervor, through hoops I fly, a tiny sphere, a magical prize. With wings unseen, I soar and dive, ending games with a sudden drive.

Answer: Golden Snitch

A red drum that sounds without being touched, and grows silent, when it is touched.

Answer: Heart

As beautiful as the setting sun, as delicate as the morning dew. An angel's dusting from the stars. That can turn the Earth into a frosted moon.

Answer: Snow

Halo of water, tongue of wood. Skin of stone, long I've stood. My fingers short reach to the sky. Inside my heart men live and die.

Answer: Castle

My second is performed by my first, and it is thought a thief by the marks of my whole might be caught.

Answer: Footstep

Today, I celebrated my 32nd birthday, but I was born in 1971. How is this possible?

Answer: I was born in a hospital, in room 1971.

When I am filled, I can point the way. When I am empty, nothing moves me. I have two skins. One without and one within.

Answer: Gloves

I start with the letter B, and your feet go inside of me. What am I?

Answer: Boots

Hands she has but does not hold, teeth she has but does not bite, feet she has but they are cold, eyes she has but without sight. Who is she?

Answer: A Doll

We are all around, yet to us you are half blind. Sunlight makes us invisible, and difficult to find.

Answer: Stars

It's been around for millions of years, but it's no more than a month old. What is it?

Answer: The moon

A black dog stands in the middle of an intersection in a town painted black. None of the street lights are working due to a power failure caused by a storm. A car with two broken headlights drives towards the dog but turns in time to avoid hitting him. How could the driver have seen the dog in time?

Answer: It was daytime.

Alive without breath; As cold as death; Clad in mail never clinking; Never thirsty, ever drinking.

Answer: Fish

As round as an apple. As deep as a cup. All the king's horses can't pull it up.

Answer: Well

A pet shop owner had a parrot with a sign on its cage that said “Parrot repeats everything it hears.” A young man bought the parrot and spoke to it for two weeks, but the parrot didn't say a word. He returned the parrot but the shopkeeper said he never lied about the parrot. How can this be?

Answer: The parrot was deaf!

An iron horse with a flaxen tail. The faster the horse runs, the shorter his tail becomes.

Answer: Needle

A house with two occupants, sometimes one, rarely three. Break the walls, eat the boarders, then throw away me.

Answer: Peanut

A house of wood in a hidden place. Built without nails or glue. High above the earthen ground. It holds pale gems of blue.

Answer: Nest

I look green but what you eat is red, and what you spit out is black. What am I?

Answer: Watermelon

If someone turned 25 three days ago, but will be 27 next year, when is their birthday?

Answer: Jan. 1.

Tool of thief, toy of queen. Always used to be unseen. Sign of joy, sign of sorrow. Giving all likeness borrowed.

Answer: Mask

It's black when you get it, red when you burn it, gray when you’re done with it. What is it?

Answer: Charcoal

It describes an era in history during which lights was hard to come by.

Answer: Dark ages.

I’m zipped up high, or buttoned down low, I keep you warm in winter, and let you cool in the glow. What am I?

Answer: Jacket

My job often leaves me frozen; I am a man that all should know, but I only come out during times of sleet or ice or snow. Who am I?

Answer: A snowman.

At night I come without being fetched. By day I am lost without being stolen.

Answer: Stars

I can help you when you’re lost and clueless. I am not human, but I often lead you. What am I?

Answer: Map

Guardian of secrets, keeper of rooms, I can be closed to cast out glooms. What am I?

Answer: Door

Sometimes I am loved, usually by the young. Other times I am dreaded, mostly by the old. I am hard to remember, also hard to forget. And yet, if you do, you’ll make someone upset. Even if you don’t want it to happen, embrace me. What am I?

Answer: Birthday

Riddles are classic challenges that can keep anyone entertained for hours on end, but they do have different difficulty levels. Depending on the person, easy riddles can be boring, while hard riddles can be frustrating. These family riddles with answers aim to please everyone. Rather than being easy or difficult, they are simply tricky. Since they must be suitable for children, the family knows the answer will be simple and even obvious when revealed. Everyone is on equal footing, which is why it is so much fun to have parents and kids scratching their heads at the same time, trying to come up with the answer first!

Gather your clan, put on your thinking caps, and have fun discovering all the family-friendly riddles in this collection.

Last Updated: Tuesday, February 18, 2025