We’ve put together 165 different mind trick questions for kids that are a lot of fun to ponder over.
To help kids reconnect with their power of focus and to tap deeper into the wealth of creativity, simply ask one of these tricky questions and give them time to contemplate.
Don’t worry about answering the questions incorrectly. There is a lot of fun to be had by hearing some of the questions be answered incorrectly.
Often times, trick questions are formulated in a way to solicit wrong answers. Make sure to create a safe, fun place to be wrong.
Try these little mind tricks out when you get a chance with the children in your life, but don’t be surprised if you find yourself scratching your head a little bit with some of the riddles, puzzles, and trick questions we have highlighted below, either!
Trick Questions with Answers
1. Mr. Jones noticed that his pants pockets were totally empty – but that there was still something in it. What was it?
Answer
2. What letters are easily found in every single day of the week?
Answer
3. Which jungle animal is hiding “inside” these letters – L P H N?
Answer
4. What’s left when you take an ant out of a plantain?
Answer
5. A mouse wants to get in better shape. She’s going to start by climbing stairs. Starting on the fourth floor, she climbs up five stories, down seven stories, up six stories, down three stories, and up for stories again. What floor is she on?
The Ninth Floor
6. Can you add one mathematical symbol in between 55555 to equal 500?
Answer
7. Adam turned left, right, spun around 360°, stood on his head, and then walked backwards before taking a picture of the sunset. What direction was he pointing?
Answer
8. The Jones family started driving south for their summer vacation, going through five different states along the way.
The Bradfords are driving in the opposite direction and only went through three states. What direction are they driving in?
Answer
9. Peter the polar bear had a birthday party, with each guest bringing five fish. A nasty little penguin stole two fish but there were still 198 fish left. How many people came to the party?
Answer
10. Ricky the Rabbit eats 1 carrots on Sunday, 2 carrots on Monday, 4 carrots on Tuesday, and so on. How many carrots does he eat every week?
Answer
11. If five alligators can eat five fish in three minutes, how long will 18 alligators need to eat 18 fish?
Answer
12. If tomorrow I said “the day before yesterday was Saturday”, which day is today?
Answer
13. Freddie the Frog had an accident and broke one of his legs. He went to the hospital on Monday, November 1 and left on November 30. What day of the week is it?
Answer
14. Mr. and Mrs. Banjo are eating ice cream. Mrs. Banjo says that if her husband gives her one scoop of his ice cream she’ll have twice as many scoops as him.
Mr. Banjo says that if she gives him one of her scoops available have the same amount. How many scoops do they each have?
Answer
15. Rosie orders six bowls of ice cream with three scoops in each. Tony wants as many scoops as her, but in just two dishes. How many scoops are in each of his dishes?
Answer
16. Laura says that she can throw a ball so that it flies away from her, will change direction suddenly, and then come right back to her all by itself. Is that even possible?
Answer
17. A bag of gummy bears has three red ones, three green ones, three yellow gluttons, and three white ones. How many gummy bears would you have to take out of the bag to get three of the same color?
Answer
18. A cookie jar has 10 chocolate chip cookies and 10 M;M cookies. How many cookies would you have to take out to get two of each kind?
Answer
19. Lisa is William’s niece, but she isn’t Emily’s niece – even though Emily is William’s sister and William isn’t married. How is that possible?
Answer
20. Can you name three things that are only sold in pairs?
Answer
21. Three clocks have different times. One a little fast, one a little slow, and one just) one clock says 10: 05, another 9: 56, and another 10: 11. Which is right?
Answer
22. Was the smallest amount of coins you can use to get exactly $0.65
Answer
23. Maggie lives on a street with 10 houses. The houses are numbered 1 to 10.
If Maggie adds up all the house numbers that are lower than hers, the total is three times her actual house number. What number is Maggie’s house?
Answer
24. A new movie comes out with the first people showing up an hour before showtime.
The audience doubles every 10 minutes, and after 60 minutes the theater is full. When was the theater half full?
Answer
25. Which multiples of four are found between 10 and 19?
Answer
26. What uneven numbers are between 10 and 16?
Answer
27. What’s the biggest number you can make with the numbers three, five, and seven?
Answer
28. Every year on Mars is double the length of a year on earth, how old would you be if you lived on Mars?
Answer
29. Seven brothers were born two years apart. The youngest brother is seven. How old is the oldest brother?
Answer
30. Mr. Adams is exactly 5 times as old as his dog Spike. In five years, Mr. Adams will only be three times as old as Spike. How old will he be in five years?
Answer
31. If every month had exactly 30 days instead of some with 29, some with 30, and some with 31 would each year be longer or shorter?
Answer
32. Which two numbers come out the same whether you multiply or add them together?
Answer
33. Ricky and Billy find of lettuce with 20 individual leaves. Because Ricky found the lettuce first he gets an extra leaf than his friend. How many leaves does Ricky get?
Answer
34. If you counted up all of the ears in the country and then divided that number by two, what would you know for sure?
Answer
35. A teacher says that there are fewer than 30 students but more than 20 in a classroom.
The children can be divided into groups of two, three, four, six, and eight with no leftovers. How many students are there?
Answer
36. Carla leaves New York at eight in the morning, driving 35 mph. Harriet starts driving to New York at a speed of 50 mph.
When they meet a which one will be furthest away from New York?
Answer
37. If days on Mars are as long as two weeks on Earth, how long is an hour?
Answer
38. Amy is 14 and her mother is 38. How many years ago was her mother exactly 3 times as old as Amy?
Answer
39. A baker carries a bag of flour that weighs 15 pounds. He takes half of the flour out, but finds the bag weighs 9 pounds. How heavy is the empty bag?
Answer
40. What does this secret message say? Tha twasn treall ys oh ardaf terall
Answer
41. Mrs. Adams tells her neighbor that her son turns 16 today and that next birthday he’ll be 20. How can that be?
Answer
42. What object doesn’t belong in this list – trumpet, flute, violin, harmonica, tuba?
Answer
43. If you rolled a single die just once, would you be least likely to roll an odd number, number larger than three, or a number smaller than three?
Answer
44. 16 players enter into a basketball shootout tournament. How many games have to happen before a winner is announced?
Answer
45. A farmer has both geese and goats. He counted the legs on all of his animals and found that there are exactly 36. How many geese and how many goats does he have?
Answer
46. If only these letters were written down – J FM AM J JAS OND – what would they mean?
Answer
47. Four friends are racing. Lisa finishes four hours ahead of Tony, with Pete finishing eight hours ahead of Max.
Max needed six more hours to finish than Lisa. What order do they cross the finish line in?
Answer
48. Mother’s Day is always the second Sunday in the month of May. When is the earliest day it could be?
Answer
49. If you were born in odd numbered year will you celebrate your 50th birthday in an odd or even year?
Answer
50. Billy tells his sister Sarah that he is twice as old and twice as smart as her right now.
Sarah says that in five years should be twice as old as she is now and that Billy won’t be. How old will they be in five years?
Answer
51. Put together, Tom and his father away 280 pounds. Tom’s dad weighs three times as much as he does. How much does Tom weigh?
Answer
52. What two numbers make a one digit number when you multiply them but a two digit number when you add them together?
Answer
53. A city bus sets out for the morning with no passengers on board. At the first stop, two people get on, at the next stop five more.
One after that, seven people get on and three people get off. At the following stop, five people get on and six people get off.
The last stop has three people getting on and one people getting off. How many stops were made?
Answer
54. How many double-digit numbers are there?
Answer
55. Just how far can a deer run into the woods?
Answer
56. I am an odd number, but if you take away just a single letter I become even. Can you guess my number?
Answer
57. What has hands but does not point, does not waive, and will never clap?
Answer
58. If you have a red home made out of red bricks and a yellow home made out of yellow bricks, what is a greenhouse be made out of?
Answer
59. What aren’t you able to use until you break it?
Answer
60. What’s something that goes up and up and up but will never, ever go down?
Answer
61. Can you guess a five letter word that becomes shorter when you add two letters to it?
Answer
62. Can you think of a word that starts with T, ends with T, and has T in it?
Answer
63. I’m tallest when brand-new but much, much shorter when I’m worn out. What am I?
Answer
64. Do you know the one word spelled wrong in every single dictionary ever made?
Answer
65. Draw a line on a piece of paper. Without touching that line, how can you make it longer?
Answer
66. Can you think of something so delicate that just saying its name will break it immediately?
Answer
67. What word begins with E but only has one letter in it?
Answer
68. Can you think of something really easy to get into but really hard to get out of?
Answer
69. The entire Brown family wouldn’t stand under an umbrella but still didn’t get wet. How’s that possible?
Answer
70. David’s mom and dad had three sons. Their names were Snap, Crackle, and…what?
Answer
71. A woman named Margaret has four different daughters, and each of those daughters has a brother. How many children total does Margaret have?
Answer
72. There was a horrific plane crash and every single person died. Who survived?
Answer
73. Can you think of something with four eyes but is completely blind?
Answer
74. Can you think of something that travels all over the planet but always stays in the exact same spot?
Answer
75. How many letters are there in the English alphabet?
Answer
76. There’s a word with six letters that leaves 12 behind when you take away one of them. What word is it?
Answer
77. Can you think of something that is completely full of holes but still hold onto a lot of water?
Answer
78. There’s a question that you can never answer yes to. Do you know what it is?
Answer
79. If everything goes wrong, completely sideways, what is something you can always count on?
Answer
80. Can you think of something that is always right in front of you but can never be seen or held?
Answer
81. Do you know where you can find cities and countries, towns and shops, roads and lakes, but absolutely no people whatsoever?
Answer
82. Do you know why ghosts and spirits make such terrible liars?
Answer
83. Imagine this for a second. You’re in a room and the walls are closing in, the floor is opening up beneath you, and water is pouring in from the ceiling.
There are no windows and no doors to escape. How do you get out?
Answer
84. Can you name the two things you can NEVER have for breakfast?
Answer
85. If you through a blue stone or a green stone into the Red Sea, what will they become?
Answer
86. What is something people bite to eat but then never actually eat in the first place?
Answer
87. Can you think of something you can serve but shouldn’t ever eat?
Answer
88. Can you think of something you can always catch but won’t ever be able to throw?
Answer
89. Do you know what goes up and down every minute of every day but never actually moves?
Answer
90. Can you think of something that starts with P and ends with E but has thousands of letters in it?
Answer
91. If Mr. Orange lives in a blue house, Mr. Yellow lives in a green house, and Mr. Red lives in a purple house who lives in the White House?
Answer
92. In a one-story house that was colored blue there lived a pink person, a green dog, a yellow fish, a purple computer, a silver chair, a gold table, and an invisible telephone. What color were the stairs?
Answer
93. Can you think of something that gets wetter and wetter the more it dries?
Answer
94. Can you think of something that goes all around the woods but never actually goes into the wood at all?
Answer
95. If you see an electric train headed east at 70 an hour but there is a wind blowing in from the west at 80 miles an hour, which way is the smoke from the train going to blow?
Answer
96. I am filled with keys but have no locks. I have space but there are no extra rooms. Sure, you can enter but there is absolutely no exit. What am I?
Answer
97. Can you think of something that’s as light as a feather but even the world’s strongest human couldn’t hold it for any longer than a minute?
Answer
98. Can you think of something that runs but never walks, has a mouth but never talks, has a head but will never weep, and has a bed but will never sleep?
Answer
99. Do you know the name of the invention that lets you look instantly right through any wall you want?
Answer
100. Megan’s mother has five different daughters. One’s name is Peggy, one’s name is Donna, one’s name is Betty, another is named Joan. What’s the name of the fifth daughter?
Answer
101. If a plane crashed on the border of England and Scotland, where would they bury the survivors?
Answer
102. Twelve pears hanging high, twelve men passing by, each took a pear and left eleven hanging there. How can this be? How can eleven pears be left?
Answer
103. If there’s a frog, dead in the center of a lily pad which is right in the middle of the pond, which side would it jump to?
Answer
104. You’re a bus driver. At the first stop 4 people get on. At the second stop 8 people get on, at the third stop 2 people get off and, at the forth stop everyone got off.
The question is what color are the bus driver’s eyes?
Answer
105. What never gets any wetter, no matter how much it rains?
Answer
106. A man went outside in the pouring rain with no protection, but not a hair on his head got wet…how come?
Answer
107. David’s father has three sons: Snap, Crackle and _____?
Answer
108. What has a mouth but doesn’t eat? A bank with no money? A bed but doesn’t sleep – and waves but has no hands?
Answer
109. A cowboy rode to an inn on Friday. He stayed two nights and left on Friday. How could that be?
Answer
110. If the red house is on the right side and if the blue house is on the left side where’s the white house?
Answer
111. What two words, when combined hold the most letters?
Answer
112. What word when written in capital letters is the same backwards, frontwards & upside down?
Answer
113. What the exact middle of America?
Answer
114. What gets wetter & wetter the more it dries?
Answer
115. How far can a dog run into the woods?
Answer
116. In baseball, how may outs are there in an inning?
Answer
117. Ten copycats were sitting in a boat. One jumped out. How many were left?
Answer
118. What’s the longest word in the English language?
Answer
119. If there are three apples & you took away two, how many do you have?
Answer
120. There was a red bungalow. Everything in it was red – the walls, the carpets, the furniture.What color were the stairs?
Answer
121. What is Rupert the Bear’s middle name?
Answer
122. What has a head and a tail but no body?
Answer
123. If the red house is on the right side and if the blue house is on the left side where’s the white house?
Answer
124. How can you make the letters in NEW DOOR, make one word?
Answer
125. What happened in 1961 and will not happen again until 6009?
Answer
126. Before Mount Everest was discovered, what was the highest mountain in the world?
Answer
127. What came first, the chicken or the egg?
Answer
128. How could the 22nd and 24th U.S. Presidents have the same parents, but weren’t brothers?
Answer
129. Name the most recent year in which New Year’s preceded Christmas.
Answer
130. If you had only one match, and entered a dark room containing an oil lamp, some newspaper, and some kindling wood, which would you light first?
Answer
131. If Mr Smith’s peacock lays an egg in Mr Jones’ yard, who owns the egg?
Answer
132. Why are 1968 pennies worth more than 1967 pennies?
Answer
133. Start with three coins: a penny, a nickel and a quarter. Say, “Tommy’s mother has three children.
The first child’s name is Penny.” (Hold up the penny while saying this.) “The second child’s name is Nick.” (Hold up the nickel.) What is the third child’s name? (Hold up the quarter.)
Answer
134. How long did the Hundred Years War last?
Answer
135. Which country makes Panama hats?
Answer
136. From which animal do we get catgut?
Answer
137. What color is the black box on a commercial airplane?
Answer
138. In which month do Russians celebrate the October Revolution?
Answer
139. What is a camel’s hair brush made of?
Answer
140. The Canary Islands in the Pacific are named after what animal?
Answer
141. What was King George VI’s first name?
Answer
142. What color is a purple finch?
Answer
143. Where are Chinese gooseberries from?
Answer
144. I am full of keys, but I cannot open any door. What am I?
Answer
145. I am full of holes, but I can still hold a lot of water. What am I?
Answer
146. The more you take away from me, the larger I become. What am I?
Answer
147. I have hands, but I cannot clap. What am I?
Answer
148. You can catch me, but you can’t throw me. What am I?
Answer
149. I come down, but I never go up. What am I?
Answer
150. I am a ball that can be rolled but never bounced or thrown. What am I?
Answer
151. Fill me up with hot or cold. Put anything in me and I will make sure I’ll hold. What am I?
Answer
152. If it takes 8 men 4 hours to build a wall. How much time will it take 4 men?
Answer
153. You can easily see me in the past, and actively create me in the present. But the future is a mystery to me too. What am I?
Answer
154. How can you go 30 days straight without sleep?
Answer
155. How do you make the number one disappear?
Answer
156. If you sit a cup on a table facing south, and you are sitting at the north side. at which side of the cup is the handle?
Answer
157. What always sleeps with his shoes on?
Answer
158. I have many teeth but I can’t eat anything. What am I?
Answer
159. What bird can lift the most weight in the world?
Answer
160. What tree you can actually carry in your hand?
Answer
161. You throw me out when you need me the most, but take me back in when you’re done using me. What am I?
Answer
162. He has married many women but never been married. Who is he?
Answer
163. People make me, save me, give me away, what am I?
Answer
164. What goes through cities, fields but never moves?
Answer
165. The day before yesterday I was 21. Next year I will turn 24. When is my birthday?
Answer
Closing Thoughts
We hope that you had as much fun with these trick questions, what am I riddles, and mind puzzles for kids as we have had.
There’s no better way to stretch the minds of young people than by challenging them with fun puzzles, quizzes, and trick questions. Help them think a little harder and tap deeper and deeper into their creativity.
Try a couple of these out on the young ones in your life and see just how much fun they have trying to figure them out!
