Riddles for 11-Year-Olds: 30 Riddles with Answers on Riddlepedia
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Riddles for 11-Year-Olds: 30 Riddles with Answers

30 riddles · tap Hint or Answer to reveal

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Eleven is a great age for riddles. You’re too old for “knock knock” and ready for puzzles that make you think: words that hide other words, number patterns, and logic problems where every clue matters. The best riddles for 11-year-olds feel impossible for about ten seconds, and then obvious.

This list has 30 riddles in three rounds. The easy round is quick what-am-I riddles to warm up, the medium round brings in word puzzles, number patterns and a bit of science, and the tricky round is logic and math that might need a pencil. Every riddle has a hint, and the answers show the working.

Easy Riddles for 11-Year-Olds

I have a spine but no bones, and lots of pages but no website. Open me up, and I’ll tell you a story. What am I?

Hint
You might borrow me from the library.
Answer
A book

I have teeth, but I never bite. I help your hair look right. What am I?

Hint
You run me through your hair in the morning.
Answer
A comb

I’m a word that gets shorter when you add two letters to me. What word am I?

Hint
Take the riddle literally.
Answer
Short. Add “er” and it becomes “shorter.”

I’m a glass rectangle that lights up when you touch me. I fit in a pocket, and I buzz when a message arrives. What am I?

Hint
Grown-ups check me way too often.
Answer
A phone

I’m made of 64 squares in two colors. Two players march kings, queens and knights across me. What am I?

Hint
The game ends with “checkmate.”
Answer
A chessboard

I have twelve numbers in a circle and two hands that point, and I tick all day but never talk. What am I?

Hint
I hang on the classroom wall.
Answer
A clock

I’m a body part with 26 bones. I hold you up all day, and I’m usually hidden inside a sock. What am I?

Hint
You have two of me, and each one has five toes.
Answer
A foot. Each human foot has 26 bones.

I’m the second-biggest planet in our solar system, and I’m famous for my wide, bright rings. What am I?

Hint
I’m the sixth planet from the Sun.
Answer
Saturn

I’m the biggest and deepest ocean on Earth. What am I?

Hint
My name means “peaceful.”
Answer
The Pacific Ocean

Your class has 28 students, and three-quarters of them like pizza best. How many students like pizza best?

Hint
Find one-quarter first.
Answer
  1. One quarter of 28 is 7, so three quarters is 7 × 3 = 21.

Medium Riddles for 11-Year-Olds

What starts with T, ends with T, and is full of T?

Hint
Think about a drink, not a letter.
Answer
A teapot. It’s full of tea.

I’m a two-digit number. My tens digit is twice my ones digit, and my two digits add up to 12. What number am I?

Hint
If the ones digit is a “part,” the tens digit is two parts, so 12 is split into three parts.
Answer
  1. The ones digit is 12 ÷ 3 = 4, and the tens digit is 8. Check: 8 + 4 = 12.

What number comes next: 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, …?

Hint
Try multiplying each position number by itself.
Answer
  1. These are square numbers: 1 × 1, 2 × 2, 3 × 3, 4 × 4, 5 × 5, so next is 6 × 6.

What letter comes next: J, F, M, A, M, J, J, …?

Hint
You’ll find all of these on a calendar.
Answer
A. They’re the first letters of the months: January to July, so next is August.

Ava is taller than Ben. Ben is taller than Cal. Cal is taller than Dee. Who is the second shortest?

Hint
Line them up from tallest to shortest.
Answer
Cal. The order is Ava, Ben, Cal, Dee, and Dee is the shortest.

Rearrange all the letters of LISTEN to make a word that means “making no sound.”

Hint
Shh! Use every letter once.
Answer
SILENT

I’m a gas that makes up about one-fifth of the air. You can’t see me, but you need me every time you breathe in. What am I?

Hint
My chemical symbol is a single letter, O.
Answer
Oxygen. Air is about 21% oxygen and about 78% nitrogen.

I’m a flat shape with six straight sides. Bees build their honeycomb in my shape. What am I?

Hint
“Hex” means six.
Answer
A hexagon

What’s the next prime number after 23?

Hint
A prime number can only be divided evenly by 1 and itself. Check 24, 25, 26, 27 and 28 first.
Answer
  1. 24, 26 and 28 are even, 25 = 5 × 5 and 27 = 3 × 9, but 29 has no factors except 1 and 29.

If A = 1, B = 2, C = 3 and so on, which three-letter pet’s letters add up to 26?

Hint
This pet barks.
Answer
DOG. D = 4, O = 15 and G = 7, and 4 + 15 + 7 = 26.

Tricky Riddles for 11-Year-Olds

Mia is 11 years old, but she has had only two real birthdays. How is that possible?

Hint
Think about a date that isn’t on the calendar every year.
Answer
She was born on February 29. Leap day only comes every four years, so in 11 years she has had just two.

The Lopez family has three sisters, and each sister has two brothers. How many children are in the family?

Hint
Do the sisters each have different brothers?
Answer
  1. The three sisters share the same two brothers.

It’s exactly 3:00. What angle do the hour hand and the minute hand make?

Hint
A full turn of the clock is 360 degrees, split into 12 hours.
Answer
90 degrees. Each hour is 360 ÷ 12 = 30 degrees, and 3 hours apart is 3 × 30 = 90, a right angle.

What’s the smallest number that can be divided evenly by 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6?

Hint
If a number works for 4 and 3, it already works for 2 and 6.
Answer
  1. It needs to be a multiple of 4, 3 and 5, and 4 × 3 × 5 = 60.

Three boxes are labeled APPLES, ORANGES and MIXED, but every label is wrong. You may take out one fruit from one box without looking inside. Which box should you pick from to fix all three labels?

Hint
Which box can’t possibly be mixed?
Answer
The box labeled MIXED. Its label is wrong, so it holds only one kind of fruit. Whatever you pull out tells you what’s inside, and then the other two labels can only go one way.

I’m thinking of a number. If I double it and then add 6, I get 20. What’s my number?

Hint
Work backward: undo the adding first.
Answer
  1. 20 − 6 = 14, and 14 ÷ 2 = 7.

I’m a time of day, and I read the same forward and backward. What am I?

Hint
The sun is at its highest point.
Answer
Noon

Two days before yesterday was Thursday. What day is tomorrow?

Hint
Count forward from Thursday, one day at a time.
Answer
Monday. If two days before yesterday was Thursday, yesterday was Saturday, today is Sunday and tomorrow is Monday.

I’m an odd number. Take away one letter, and I become even. What number am I?

Hint
Think about how the number is spelled, not its value.
Answer
Seven. Take away the S and you get EVEN.

A snail is at the bottom of a well that’s 10 meters deep. Every day it climbs up 3 meters, and every night it slides back down 2 meters. How many days does it take to get out?

Hint
Watch out for the last day. Does the snail slide back once it’s out?
Answer
8 days. After 7 days and nights, it’s 7 meters up. On day 8 it climbs 3 more meters and reaches the top before it can slide back.

How to Use These Riddles

  • Classroom bell-ringer: put one medium or tricky riddle on the board at the start of class. Students write their answer and one sentence explaining how they got it. The explanation counts more than the answer.
  • Riddle duel: pair kids up. Each one reads a riddle to the other, and you score 2 points for a correct answer without the hint and 1 point with it.
  • Make your own: after the “seven and even” riddle, challenge kids to find another word that turns into a new word when you take away one letter, then write a riddle around it.
  • Sleepover stumpers: save the tricky round for after lights out. Read one at a time by flashlight, and nobody sleeps until it’s solved.

Want riddles for other ages? Try our riddles for 10-year-olds, these riddles for 12-year-olds or our logic riddles.