Finding the right riddles for preteens can sometimes feel like a real puzzle, right? You want something clever enough to make them think, but not so tricky that it turns into frustration.
If you’re a parent, teacher, or just someone trying to entertain a curious 10–13-year-old, you’ve come to the perfect place.
These riddles are made especially for preteens—fun, smart, and just the right amount of challenging! Get ready to watch their faces light up as they solve, laugh, and maybe even stump you back with their own answers.
Let’s make riddle time exciting and brain-boosting together!
Let’s dive in!
Logic & Thinking Riddles for Preteens
- 🔢 I’m an odd number. Remove one letter and I become even. What number am I?
→ Answer: Seven - 📚 Which word in the dictionary is spelled incorrectly?
→ Answer: Incorrectly - 📏 What has three feet but cannot walk?
→ Answer: A yardstick - 🪨 If you throw me into the Red Sea, I become wet. What am I?
→ Answer: A stone - 🎹 What has many keys but can’t open any locks?
→ Answer: Piano - 🧤 What has a thumb and four fingers but isn’t alive?
→ Answer: Glove - 🌊 I have a mouth but never eat; I run but never walk. What am I?
→ Answer: River - 🚪 When is a door not a door?
→ Answer: When it’s ajar - 📅 What goes up but never comes down?
→ Answer: Your age - 💬 What comes once in a minute, twice in a moment, never in a thousand years?
→ Answer: The letter M
Wordplay & Pun Riddles for Preteens
- 📰 What is black and white and red all over?
→ Answer: Newspaper - 🍵 What begins with T, ends with T, and has T in it?
→ Answer: Teapot - ✂ What five-letter word becomes shorter when you add two letters?
→ Answer: Short → Shorter - 📏 What word becomes longer when you add two letters?
→ Answer: Long → Longer - 🤒 What can you catch but not throw?
→ Answer: A cold - 🪙 What has a head and a tail but no body?
→ Answer: Coin - ⏲ What has hands and a face but can’t hold anything?
→ Answer: Clock - 🌽 What has ears but cannot hear?
→ Answer: Corn - ⌨ What has lots of keys but can’t open anything?
→ Answer: Keyboard - 📞 What has a ring but no finger?
→ Answer: Telephone
Challenging Riddles to Stretch the Mind
- 🕯 You measure my life in hours, I serve by shortening. What am I?
→ Answer: Candle - 🗺 I have cities but no houses, mountains but no trees, water but no fish. What am I?
→ Answer: Map - 🔤 What is seen in the middle of March and April but never at the beginning or end?
→ Answer: The letter R - 🍼 What has lips but never speaks?
→ Answer: Bottle - 🧼 I’m lighter than what I’m made of, more dangerous when full. What am I?
→ Answer: Bubble - 🕵 I hide under your bed yet cast no shadow. What am I?
→ Answer: Dust - 🌪 I travel faster than any man but have no limbs. What am I?
→ Answer: Tornado - 🗣 What can’t talk but always answers when spoken to?
→ Answer: Echo - 🧱 Who builds houses but lives elsewhere?
→ Answer: Architect - 🧩 What’s next after the letter Z in the alphabet?
→ Answer: A
Funny & Silly Riddles for Preteens
- 🍌 Why did the banana go to the doctor?
→ Answer: Because it wasn’t peeling well - 🍞 What do you call bread that never stops?
→ Answer: Loafing around - 🐄 Why did the cow cross the road?
→ Answer: To get to the udder side - 🧅 What vegetable is never alone?
→ Answer: Onion (because it has layers) - 🥚 What has to be broken before you use it?
→ Answer: Egg - 💻 Why did the computer sneeze?
→ Answer: It had a virus - 👟 What kind of shoe does a lazy person wear?
→ Answer: Loafer - 📞 Why did the telephone go to the party?
→ Answer: It wanted to ring in - 🐢 What do you call a turtle who is never late?
→ Answer: Prompturtle - 🌳 Why don’t trees like riddles?
→ Answer: Because they get stumped
Group & Icebreaker Riddles for Preteens
- 📖 What has many words but never speaks?
→ Answer: Book - ✏ I help you write but cannot talk. What am I?
→ Answer: Pencil - 🍄 What kind of room has no doors or windows?
→ Answer: Mushroom - 🎒 I carry knowledge but get lighter when empty. What am I?
→ Answer: Backpack - 🎨 What coat can only be put on when wet?
→ Answer: Paint - 🛣 What goes through towns and over hills but never moves?
→ Answer: Road - 🔐 What has a key but opens nothing?
→ Answer: Map - 🏛 Which building has the most stories?
→ Answer: Library - 👖 What has a bottom up top?
→ Answer: Legs - 📮 What can travel the world but stay in one corner?
→ Answer: Stamp
Math & Number Riddles for Preteens
- 🔢 Which number is spelled the same forwards and backwards?
→ Answer: One - 🧮 What 3-digit number equals the sum of its digits cubed?
→ Answer: 153 - 🔢 I am two digits. My tens digit is double my ones. If reversed, I increase by 54. What am I?
→ Answer: 27 - ➖ If 2 + 2 = 4 and 2 × 2 = 4, what is 4 ÷ 2 + 4?
→ Answer: 6 - 🔄 I am odd. Remove one letter and I become even. Which number?
→ Answer: Seven - ➗ What is half of two plus two?
→ Answer: Three - ✖ What number multiplied by any other gives the same number?
→ Answer: Zero - 📆 Which month has 28 days?
→ Answer: All of them - 🐔 3/7 chicken + 2/3 cat + 2/4 goat = ?
→ Answer: Chicago - 🥚 If you drop me, I crack. What am I?
→ Answer: Egg
Riddles Preteens Really Enjoy for Preteens
- 👃 What do you call a nose that’s 12 inches long?
→ Answer: A foot - 🎯 What is at the end of everything?
→ Answer: G - 📮 What goes all around the world but stays in a corner?
→ Answer: Stamp - 👅 What tastes better than it smells?
→ Answer: Your tongue - 🚢 What kind of ship has two mates but no captain?
→ Answer: Relationship - 🐻 What do you call a bear with no teeth?
→ Answer: Gummy bear - 👰 Who has married many people but has never been married?
→ Answer: A priest - 🌴 What kind of tree can you carry in your hand?
→ Answer: Palm - 🕳 What can you put in a bucket to make it lighter?
→ Answer: A hole - 👖 What has a bottom at the top?
→ Answer: Legs
Conclusion
Now you’ve got a rich collection of riddles for preteens across different styles—wordplay, logic, funny, math, and favorites.
If you’re a parent, teacher, or caregiver, these riddles are easy to read, fun to share, and perfect for inspiring laughter and thinking.
Your search ends here—just pick your favorite group and let the riddles begin!
The author behind RiddleBurst.com loves creating fun, clever, and unique riddles for all ages. Their goal is to challenge minds, bring smiles, and make learning through riddles both engaging and enjoyable.
