A brain teaser is a puzzle you solve by thinking rather than by knowing a fact. The answer is hidden in plain sight: in the exact words of a riddle, in the clues of a logic grid, or in a pattern you have not noticed yet. Working one out builds the habits good problem solvers share: read carefully, test an idea, notice when it fails and try another.
Choose a level to match the child. Easy teasers suit ages 4 to 7 and can be read aloud; medium ones need a few steps of reasoning; hard ones take patience and, often, a pencil. The riddles come with two hints, so a stuck child can get a nudge instead of the answer.
Riddles to puzzle over
Read the riddle and think it through. When you are ready, open its page for two hints, the answer and an explanation of why it works.
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Medium
Two fathers and two sons share three sandwiches, one sandwich each. How can there be only three people?
Hints and answer
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Medium
In a race, you pass the runner who is in second place. What place are you in now?
Hints and answer
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Medium
Five apples are on the table. You take two. How many apples did you take?
Hints and answer
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Medium
A ball is in one of three boxes: red, blue, or green. It is not in red or green. Where is it?
Hints and answer
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Medium
In a pretend game, every red block is a cube, and no cube can roll. Can any red block roll in that game?
Hints and answer
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Medium
Ali is ahead of Bo in a three-person line. Bo is ahead of Cam. Who is in the middle?
Hints and answer
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Medium
Each number after the first two is the sum of the two before it: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8. What comes next?
Hints and answer
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Medium
Today is Monday. What day will it be three days from today?
Hints and answer
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Medium
I am a whole number greater than 20 and less than 30. I divide exactly by both 3 and 4. What am I?
Hints and answer
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Medium
I am a solid shape with exactly six faces, all squares. What am I?
Hints and answer
More: Logic riddles · Math riddles · Hard riddles · All riddles for kids
Puzzle games to play
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Logic & Puzzles
Check every guest into the right room using clues like "right above" and "between".
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Logic & Puzzles
Crack the vault code: find what changes along each row and column, then pick the missing tile.
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Logic & Puzzles
Flip switches to light the lamps in the target pattern — in as few presses as you can.
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Logic & Puzzles
Turn, flip and fit the seven tangram pieces to fill each shadow.
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Logic & Puzzles
Slide tiles and blocks into place — then try to match the fewest moves.
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Logic & Puzzles
Bend a beam of light with mirrors to light up every crystal — in the right order.
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Coding
Snap together arrow, repeat and dance blocks to guide Bolt the robot home.
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Coding
A robot program almost works. Run it, spot the buggy block, and fix it.
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English
Flip glowing lanterns to find pairs that belong together.
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Mathematics
Feed the machine, crack its rule and predict what comes out.
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Mathematics
Stack cubes under three lamps until every shadow matches the outline.
More: Logic puzzle games · All logic games
