50 Clever "What Am I?" Riddles For Inquisitive Kids

Kids are so inquisitive. As mamas, it probably feels like we’re asked several million questions a week. The truth? One study found that the average four-year-old actually asks between 200 to 300 questions a day. We’re tired just thinking about it. Of course, we recognize the benefit of those questions. With each question and each answer, our mini-me learns something new. They’re curious about the world around them and we’re the people they feel safest with as they explore. No matter how tired we get, we still want kids that are smart and inquisitive.

Still. It’s fun to turn the tables sometimes, too. “What am I?” or “Who am I?” riddles are a great way to do just that. It gives you the chance to be the asker. It also gives your kid a chance to think critically to find the answers. In some cases, their seemingly silly answers might be surprisingly right (or close to it), even if it’s not the traditional solution. Enjoy quizzing your kiddos with these great riddles.

What Am I? Riddles Pt. 1

1. I am not alive, but I grow; I don’t have lungs, but I need air; I don’t have a mouth, but water kills me. What am I?

Fire

2. I help you from your head to your toe. The more I work, the smaller I grow. What am I?

A bar of soap

3. I’m (usually) white, and used for cutting and grinding. When I’m damaged, humans usually remove me or fill me. For most animals, I am a useful tool. What am I?

A tooth

4. I can never be thrown but I can be caught. Ways to lose me are always being sought. What am I?

A cold

5. I am the beginning of the end, and the end of time and space. I am essential to creation, and I surround every place. What am I?

The letter e. End, timE, spacE, Every placE

6. I make two people out of one. What am I?

A mirror

7. Look in my face, I am somebody; Look in my back, I am nobody. What am I?

Also a mirror

8. A seed with three letters in my name. Take away two and I still sound the same. What am I?

A pea

9. I have many teeth but I cannot bite. I’m often used early but rarely at night. What am I?

A comb

10. I am mother and father, but never birth or nurse. I’m rarely still, but I never wander. What am I?

A tree

11. Each and every one that you take, you leave yet another in your wake. What am I?

Footsteps

12. What can be heard and caught but never seen?

A remark

What Am I? Riddles Pt. 2

13. My life can be measured in hours, I serve by being devoured. Thin, I am quick. Fat, I am slow. Wind is my foe. What am I?

A candle

14. I have eyes but I can’t see. I live in the dark until you need me. What am I?

A potato

15. I know a word of letters three. Add two, and fewer there will be! What Word Am I?

Few

16. I have a little house in which I live all alone. It has no doors or windows, and if I want to go out I must break through the wall. What am I?

A baby chick in an egg

17. I sound like one letter but I’m written with three. I show you things when you look through me. What am I?

Eye

18. Tomorrow I am surely here, yesterday I am found as well. Today I am gone. Who am I?

The letter R

19. Black I am and much admired, men seek me until they’re tired. When they find me, they break my head, and take from me my resting bed. What am I?

Coal

20. I am white when I am dirty, and black when I am clean. What am I?

A chalkboard

21. I’m tall when I’m young and I’m short when I’m old. What am I?

A pencil

22. When I’m used, I’m useless, once offered, soon rejected. In desperation oft-expressed, the intended not protected. What am I?

An excuse

23. I am served at a table, In gatherings of two or four. Served small, white, and round. You’ll love some, And that’s part of the fun. What am I?

A ping-pong ball

24. What is as light as a feather, yet no man can hold it for long. What am I?

Your breath

What Am I? Riddles Pt. 3

25. I have a bed but I never sleep. I have a mouth but I never speak. What am I?

River

26. A little house full of meat, no door to go in and eat. What am I?

A nut

27. I can come in a can, I can come as a punch, I can come as a win, You can eat me for lunch. What am I?

A beat/beet

28. Tall when I’m young and short when I’m old, I’ll help you to see when the darkness unfolds. What am I?

A candle

29. I can be cracked, I can be made. I can be told, I can be played. What am I?

A joke

30. The more you take away, the more I become. What am I?

A hole

31. Always in you, Sometimes on you; If I surround you, I can kill you. What am I?

Water (or blood)

32. Forwards I am heavy, I sure weigh a lot. But when I’m backward, I am not. What am I?

“Ton”

33. I have two hands, but I can not scratch myself. What am I?

A clock

34. I have no feet, no hands, no wings, but I almost always climb to the sky. What am I?

Smoke

35. I’m a god, a planet, and a measurer of heat. Who am I?

Mercury

36. I have a head and a tail that will never meet. Having too many of me is always a treat. What am I?

A coin

37. I’m an instrument through which sounds are made, and yet, not something that can be played. What am I?

Your voice

38. A bee, a beer, and a barber. What am I?

Things that buzz

39. Those that make me, don’t want me. Those that buy me, don’t use me. Those that use me don’t know it. What am I?

A casket

40. Round as a button, deep as a well, if you want me to talk, you must first pull my tail. What am I?

A bell

41. Plucked from a fruit, bitter like a root, burning and bold, or even cold when sold. What am I?

A coffee bean

What Am I? Riddles Pt. 4

42. I’m hot and I live in the sky. I’m bright, don’t look directly at me. I will disappear at night. What am I?

The sun

43. I come in many different colors and I get bigger when I’m full. I will float away if you don’t tie me down, and I will make a loud sound if I break. What am I?

A balloon

44. I am filled with hotness. I don’t mind how hot water is. What am I?

A hot water bottle

45. A red cap on my head, a stone in my throat, you tell me the answer, I’ll give you a Groat. What am I?

A cherry

46. I know a word of letters three. Add two, and fewer there will be! What am I?

The word “few”

47. You’ll find me all around you; I can be clear but not seen through. If I get cut, you can glue me shut, but I can do it too. What am I?

Skin

48. I am something people love or hate. I change people’s appearances and thoughts. If a person takes care of them self I will go up even higher. To some people, I will fool them. To others, I am a mystery. Some people might want to try and hide me but I will show. No matter how hard people try I will Never go down. What am I?

Age

49. I am taken from a mine, and shut up in a wooden case, from which I am never released, and yet I am used by almost everybody. What am I?

Pencil lead

50. I have no voice and yet I speak to you, I tell of all things in the world that people do. I have leaves, but I am not a tree, I have pages, but I am not a bride or royalty. I have a spine and hinges, but I am not a man or a door, I have told you all, I cannot tell you more. What am I?

A book