Places & History

Mayflower Riddles: 30 History Riddles with Answers for Kids

30 riddles Β· tap Hint or Answer to reveal

In September 1620, a wooden cargo ship called the Mayflower left Plymouth, England, with about 102 passengers squeezed below its decks. About 66 days later, after a stormy crossing of the Atlantic, they reached Cape Cod in what is now Massachusetts. The land they arrived in was not empty: it was the homeland of the Wampanoag people, who had lived there for thousands of years and still live there today.

These 30 Mayflower riddles tell that story from both sides of the shore. The easy round covers the ship and the people, the medium round explains the Mayflower Compact and the Wampanoag leaders who met the newcomers, and the tricky round has the surprising details, from a baby born at sea to a passenger who fell overboard and lived. Where historians aren’t sure of an exact number, the answer says β€œabout.”

Easy Mayflower Riddles

I’m a wooden sailing ship. In 1620, I carried about 102 passengers across the ocean from England to America. What’s my name?

Hint
My name is a spring month plus something that blooms.
Answer
The Mayflower

The Mayflower crossed this huge ocean, between Europe and North America, to reach its new home. Which ocean is it?

Hint
It’s on the east coast of the United States.
Answer
The Atlantic Ocean

In what year did the Mayflower make its famous voyage?

Hint
It was exactly 400 years before 2020.
Answer
1620

If April showers bring May flowers, what do Mayflowers bring?

Hint
Think about the ship, not the flowers.
Answer
Pilgrims!

The Mayflower had no engine at all. What caught the wind to push it across the ocean?

Hint
They’re made of strong cloth and hang from the masts.
Answer
Sails

These people had lived on the land around Cape Cod and Plymouth for thousands of years before the Mayflower arrived, and they still live in Massachusetts today. Who are they?

Hint
Their name is often translated as β€œPeople of the First Light.”
Answer
The Wampanoag people

The Wampanoag grew this tall crop with golden ears. They showed the colonists how to plant it in little hills of soil, with a small fish buried in each hill to feed the soil. What crop is it?

Hint
It’s also called maize, and you can pop some kinds of it.
Answer
Corn

In the fall of 1621, after their first harvest, the colonists and about 90 Wampanoag men shared a big meal that lasted three days. Which modern holiday do many people link it to?

Hint
Today it’s celebrated in November, often with turkey.
Answer
Thanksgiving

Every ship needs one person in charge. On the Mayflower, it was a man named Christopher Jones. What was his job?

Hint
He gave the orders on board.
Answer
The captain (the ship’s master)

Not every Mayflower passenger was a person. Two of us came along: a big mastiff and a small spaniel. What were we?

Hint
We bark.
Answer
Dogs

Medium Mayflower Riddles

How long did the Mayflower’s crossing take: about 6 days, about 66 days or about 166 days?

Hint
It was a little over two months.
Answer
About 66 days

The Mayflower was supposed to sail with a second, smaller ship. That ship leaked so badly that it turned back twice, and some of its passengers squeezed onto the Mayflower. Its name sounds like a wish for a fast trip. What was it?

Hint
It starts with β€œSpeed.”
Answer
The Speedwell

Before going ashore, 41 men on the ship signed an agreement to make fair laws and work together for the good of the colony. What is it called?

Hint
It’s named after the ship, and its second word also means β€œsmall and neat.”
Answer
The Mayflower Compact

The first land the Mayflower reached was a long, curling arm of sand that sticks out from Massachusetts into the ocean. It’s named after a fish. What is it?

Hint
The fish is often served as fish and chips.
Answer
Cape Cod

The colonists built their town on a harbor across the bay from where they first landed. It had the same name as the English port they sailed from. What was it called?

Hint
It’s famous for a rock.
Answer
Plymouth

I was the great leader, or sachem, of the Wampanoag. In March 1621, I made a peace agreement with the colonists that lasted for about 50 years. People know me by my title. Who am I?

Hint
My own name was Ousamequin, and my title starts with β€œMassa.”
Answer
Massasoit

I was a Wampanoag man from Patuxet, the village where Plymouth was built. Years earlier, an English sea captain captured me and took me to Europe, where I learned English. Back home, I translated for the colonists and helped them plant crops. Who am I?

Hint
The colonists shortened my name, and it starts with β€œTis.”
Answer
Tisquantum, often called Squanto

In March 1621, a visitor walked into Plymouth and surprised everyone by saying β€œWelcome, Englishmen!” in English. He was an Abenaki leader from Maine who had learned some English from fishermen. Who was he?

Hint
His name starts with S, but he wasn’t Squanto.
Answer
Samoset

Wampanoag families lived in dome-shaped homes built from bent young trees and covered with tree bark or woven mats. What is this kind of home called?

Hint
It’s a four-letter word that starts with W.
Answer
A wetu

Wampanoag farmers planted three crops together: corn to grow tall like a pole, beans to climb up the corn, and squash with big leaves to shade the ground. What is this trio called?

Hint
They grow together like a close family.
Answer
The Three Sisters

Tricky Mayflower Riddles

One baby was born on the Mayflower during the voyage, far out at sea. His parents gave him a name that fit perfectly. What was it?

Hint
Think about all the water around the ship.
Answer
Oceanus (Oceanus Hopkins)

Plymouth Rock is famous as the place where the Pilgrims first stepped ashore. But none of the colonists’ own writings mention it. About how long after 1620 was the rock first pointed out?

Hint
An old man, whose father had known the Pilgrims, pointed it out.
Answer
About 120 years later, in 1741

Halfway across the ocean, a big beam that held up the ship’s deck cracked in a storm. The passengers fixed it with a heavy tool they’d brought from Holland. What was it?

Hint
A smaller version of it lifts a car to change a tire.
Answer
A great iron screw (a kind of jack)

During a storm, a young passenger named John Howland was thrown overboard into the sea. How did he survive?

Hint
Something was trailing from the ship into the water.
Answer
He grabbed a rope hanging over the side, and the sailors pulled him back aboard.

In 1957, a ship built to look just like the Mayflower sailed from England across the Atlantic to Plymouth, Massachusetts, where you can still visit it. What is it called?

Hint
Think of it like a sequel to a movie.
Answer
Mayflower II

The Mayflower’s crossing took about 66 days. How many full weeks is that, and how many extra days?

Hint
A week has 7 days, and 7 times 9 is 63.
Answer
9 weeks and 3 days

A colonist named Edward Winslow wrote that during the 1621 harvest celebration, Massasoit’s men went out and brought back five of these animals for the feast. What were they?

Hint
Some of them have antlers.
Answer
Deer

Many of the Mayflower passengers had broken away from the Church of England to start their own church. What were they called then?

Hint
It comes from the word β€œseparate.”
Answer
Separatists

I was elected governor of Plymouth over and over for about 30 years, and I wrote β€œOf Plymouth Plantation,” the best record we have of the voyage. Who am I?

Hint
My first name is William, and my last name ends in β€œford.”
Answer
William Bradford

Today, the Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe has its homelands on an island just south of Cape Cod. Its name includes a woman’s name and a place where grapes grow. What is the island?

Hint
Grapes grow in a vineyard.
Answer
Martha’s Vineyard

Mayflower Riddles in the Classroom

  • Two-sided timeline: draw a long line on the board from 1620 to 1621. As students solve each riddle, they add the answer to the timeline, with colonists’ events above the line and Wampanoag events below it.
  • Crossing the Atlantic: make a paper Mayflower and a map with 66 small steps from England to Cape Cod. Every riddle solved moves the ship forward. Will the class reach land before the bell rings?
  • Compact challenge: after the medium round, ask small groups to write their own five-rule β€œclass compact” for working together, then sign it like the Mayflower passengers did.
  • Who said it? For the tricky round, read the riddle without the last line and ask students to guess first whether it’s about the ship, the colonists or the Wampanoag.

For more history riddles, try our US history riddles, these riddles for Thanksgiving or our boat riddles.