Riddles for Grandparents: 30 Riddles to Solve with the Grandkids

I go back and forth all afternoon, but I never leave the porch. What am I?

We’re two long sticks that work as a team. Add a ball of yarn and a lot of click-click-clicking, and soon there’s a scarf. What are we?

I sit on the kitchen counter with a lid that clinks when you lift it. Reach inside and you’ll find something sweet and crumbly. What am I?

I’m taller than a grown-up, I stand in the hallway, and I chime every hour. I share my name with someone in your family. What am I?

Seeds go into me in spring, and by summer there are tomatoes, beans and zucchini to pick. What am I?

I’m made of many squares of fabric sewn together, sometimes from old shirts and dresses. I keep you warm in bed, and every patch has a story. What am I?

I let you see Grandma’s face and wave hello, even when she lives a thousand miles away. All you need is a screen and the internet. What am I?

I travel by mail with a stamp in my corner. On one side there’s a picture of a faraway place, and on the other there’s just enough room for “Wish you were here!” What am I?

Grandpa and I sit by the lake for hours. I have a long line, a hook and a reel that goes zzzz when something bites. What am I?

I’m the child of your child. Who am I?

Finish Grandma’s favorite old saying: “Don’t count your chickens before they…”

I had a round dial with ten finger holes. To call a friend, you spun me once for every number and waited for the dial to click back. I hung on the wall with a long, curly cord. What am I?

Put a big black disc on my spinning platter, gently lower my needle into the groove, and music comes out. What am I?

I have keys like a computer but no screen. Every letter hits the paper with a clack, and near the end of each line a little bell dings. What am I?

I’m a small plastic case with two little wheels of tape inside. When my tape got tangled, people wound it back with a pencil. What am I?

I took pictures but had no screen. You couldn’t see your photos until a shop developed my roll, sometimes days later. What am I?

Before search engines, families looked things up in a set of us: heavy books that filled a whole shelf, sorted from A to Z. What are we?

Before GPS, I lived in the glove box. Unfolded, I’m bigger than the steering wheel, and folding me back the right way is almost impossible. What am I?

In many towns, I came by early in the morning and left glass bottles of milk on your doorstep, then took the empty bottles away. Who am I?

We’re two metal rods sticking up from the top of an old TV. Wiggle us, and the fuzzy picture might clear up. Our nickname comes from an animal with long ears. What are we?

I’m a thin plastic square that stored computer files. Most people have never used me, but they click a picture of me every day, because I’m the “Save” button in many programs. What am I?

Drop a coin in me at a diner, press a letter and a number, and I play the record you picked for the whole room to hear. What am I?

On a rotary phone, which digit takes the longest to dial?

A 45 record spins 45 times a minute. How many times does it turn during a 4-minute song?

Grandma was 25 when her daughter was born. Her daughter was 30 when her own son was born. How old will Grandma be on her grandson’s 10th birthday?

Grandpa was born on February 29, 1952. Counting only the years that actually had a February 29, how many real birthdays had he had by the end of 2024?

Grandpa is as many years old as his grandson is in months. Together their ages add up to 65 years. How old are they?

Grandma’s clock strikes once at 1 o’clock, twice at 2 o’clock, and so on up to 12 strikes at noon. How many times does it strike from 1 o’clock through noon?

Grandma starts a penny jar with her grandson. On day 1 they put in 1 cent, on day 2 they put in 2 cents, and every day they put in twice as much as the day before. How much do they put in on day 10?

What word gets shorter when you add two letters to it?