Brain Teasers for Kids and Adults
Last updated: September 16, 2024 by Katie
Are you ready to test your brain? Riddle your noggin? Stump your noodle? Check out these 85 Brain Teasers with answers for kids, adults, or anyone who likes to tease their brain! Are you looking for a fun game to play during a party or something to entertain your students? We have you covered with these brain teasers!
We've broken these brain teasers down into categories so that you can choose the level or theme of brain teaser that you want. If you are looking for brain teasers with a little joke added in, we have funny brain teasers. For the word nerds out there, we have brain teasers that focus on words. Need something different for your math class? Check out the brain teasers that focus on math problems.
There are easy brain teasers and brain teasers just for kids. Or test out your brain power by going through the difficult brain teasers or brain teasers for adults. All of the brain teaser answers are provided so you don’t have to guess! Skip to the category most relevant to you or scroll through to see all of the brain teasers. If you like them, be sure to give them a thumbs up!
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Click below for a random brain teaser to keep you guessing in the moment!
Funny Teasers | Easy Brain Teasers | Word Brain Teasers | Math Brain Teasers | Kid Brain Teasers | Adult Brain Teasers | Difficult Brain Teasers
Funny Brain Teasers
These brain teasers are sure to make you laugh even as they test your brain power!
Q: Why did the fly never land on the computer?
A: He was afraid of the world wide web.
Q: Why do lemons never get invited to parties?
A: Because they are always in a sour mood.
Q: What fruit can you never cheer up?
A: A blueberry.
Q: What is burned by cars driven late at night?
A: Midnight oil
Q: Why did the cupcake go to the doctor's office?
A: It was feeling crumby.
Q: Why did the skeleton not go to the party?
A: Because he had no body to go with.
Q: 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: A chicken in an egg!
Q: What has lots of eyes, but can’t see?
A: A potato.
Q: What room do ghosts avoid?
A: The living room.
Q: When is a door no longer a door?
A: When it’s ajar.
Q: What rock group consists of four famous men, but none of them sing?
A: Mount Rushmore.
Q: What kind of murderer is full of fiber?
A: A cereal killer.
Easy Brain Teasers
Sometimes the easiest brain teasers are the most fun! How many of these brain teasers can you figure out?
Q: What is something that can be filled with water but never spills a drop?
A: A sponge
Q: What has keys but can’t open locks, and often has a door that’s always shut?
A: A Piano
Q: What can you hold without ever touching it?
A: Your breath
Q: What has a face and two hands but no arms or legs?
A: A clock
Q: What has a thumb and four fingers but is not alive?
A: A glove!
Q: What has one eye but can’t see?
A: A needle
Q: How many months have 28 days?
A: All 12.
Q: What has many teeth, but cannot bite?
A: A comb.
Q: What can you catch, but not throw?
A: A cold.
Q: I can be cracked or played; told or made.
What am I?
A: A joke!
Q: I'm red and small, and I have a heart of stone.
What am I?
A: A cherry.
Q: I'm like a doll, But I'm not for playing; I stand up straight, but if windy I may be laying; I'm well-known and famous for having no brain; I work outside both day and night in sunshine or in rain.
What am I?
A: Scarecrow
Word Brain Teasers
Are you a word nerd? Test out your brain power with these word brain teasers designed to make you think deeply about letters and words!
Q: Rearrange the letters of the word "LISTEN" to form a new word that means what you are when you listen.
A: The anagram is "SILENT."
Q: What word is always spelled incorrectly in every dictionary?
A: The word "incorrectly."
Q: What word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it?
A: Short
Q: What word starts with "e," ends with "e," but only contains one letter?
A: Envelope
Q: What comes once in a minute, twice in a moment, but never in a thousand years?
A: The letter M
Q: What is the end of everything?
A: The letter “G.”
Q: Cats have four, bugs have four, but school has six. What are they?
A: Letters.
Q: Spelled forwards I’m what you do every day, spelled backward I’m something you hate.
What am I?
A: Live.
Q: You see me once in June, twice in November, and not at all in May.
What am I?
A: The letter “E.”
Q: What word has three double letters in a row?
A: Bookkeeper
Q: What do an island and the letter “t” have in common?
A: They are both in the middle of water
Q: Pronounced as one letter,
And written with three,
Two letters there are,
And two only in me.
I’m double, I’m single, I’m black, blue, and grey,
I’m read from both ends,
And the same either way.
A: Eye
Math Brain Teasers
Maybe words aren’t your thing and you love numbers! These math brain teasers are sure to elevate your brain and get you thinking.
Q: A mother is 24 years older than her child. In 4 years, the mother will be twice as old as the child. How old are they now?
A: The child is 8 years old, and the mother is 32 years old.
Q: I am a two-digit number. My tens digit is three times my units digit. The sum of my digits is 12. What number am I?
A: 6. (Tens digit = 3, Units digit = 6; 3 + 6 = 9)
Q: A girl turned ten on her last birthday and will turn twelve on her next. What makes this possible?
A: Her eleventh birthday is today.
Q: If two’s company, and three’s a crowd, what are four and five?
A: Nine.
Q: A farmer has 24 cows. All but seven of them ran away. How many does he have left?
A: Seven
Q: Sara has four daughters, and each of her daughters has a brother. How many children does Sara have?
A: Five—each daughter has the same brother.
Q: Chet purchased a pair of pants and a shirt for $150. The pants were $100 more than the shirt. How did each item cost?
A: The pants cost $125 and the shirt cost $25.
Q: I am an odd number. Take away one letter, and I become even. What number am I?
A: Seven
Q: What can you put between 4 and 5 so that the result is more than 4, but less than 5?
A: A decimal.
Q: If you are running a race and pass the person in second place, what place are you in?
A: Second.
Q: You have two coins that total 30 cents. One of them is not a nickel. What are the two coins?
A: A quarter and a nickel. (Only one of the coins is not a nickel.)
Q: How can the number four be half of five?
A: IV, the Roman numeral for four, which is half of the letters in the word five.
Brain Teasers for Kids
Let the kids play too! These brain teasers for kids are sure to bring a laugh but also make your kids or students work their brain to come up with the answers.
Q: Why are As like flowers?
A: Because Bs come after them!
Q: Why did Tigger go to the bathroom?
A: He wanted to find his friend, Pooh!
Q: What is orange in color, green on top, and sounds like a parrot?
A: A carrot!
Q: A man is taking a walk when it starts to rain. He's not wearing a hat, and he doesn't have an umbrella, or anything else to cover his head. How does he manage to not get a single hair wet?
A: He's bald!
Q: If you drop me, I’m sure to crack, but give me a grin, and I’ll always grin back.
What am I?
A: a mirror.
Q: How do you catch a school of fish?
A: A bookworm.
Q: What is a tortilla chip's favorite dance?
A: Salsa
Q: What has a head and a tail but no body?
A: A coin.
Q: What kind of band doesn't play music?
A: A rubber band
Q: What creature is smarter than a talking parrot?
A: A spelling bee!
Q: What is a renewable energy source that is used every day at your school?
A: Brain power
Q: What has a head but no eyes, nose, or mouth?
A: Lettuce.
Brain Teasers for Adults
These adult brain teasers are a little harder. Think long and hard as you test your brain!
Q: What has cities but no houses; forests but no trees; and water but no fish?
A: A map.
Q: A red house is made from red bricks. A blue house is made from blue bricks. A yellow house is made from yellow bricks. What is a greenhouse made from?
A: Glass!
Q: I am strong enough to smash ships, but I fear the Sun.
What am I?
A: Ice
Q: If you put roast in a roaster, what do you put in toaster?
A: Bread
Q: First you eat me, then you get eaten.
What am I?
A: A fishhook
Q: I am free yet priceless; you can't own me, but you can use me; you can't keep me, but you can spend me. Once you've lost me, you can never have me back.
What am I?
A: Time
Q: When does today come before yesterday?
A: In the dictionary
Q: I am always in front of you but you can never see me.
What am I?
A: The Future.
Q: You see a boat filled with people. It has not sunk, but when you look again you don’t see a single person on the boat. Why?
A: All the people were married.
Q: A woman shoots her husband, then holds him underwater for five minutes. Next, she hangs him. Right after, they enjoy a lovely dinner. Explain.
A: She took a picture of him and developed it in her darkroom
Q: I have keys, but no locks and space, and no rooms. You can enter, but you can’t go outside.
What am I?
A: A keyboard
Q: This belongs to you, but everyone else uses it.
A: Your name
Difficult Brain Teasers
Ready for the really difficult brain teasers? Here are some hard brain teasers to really noodle over. Which ones have you stumped?
Q: 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?
A: Fire
Q: A man is in a room with two doors.
One door leads to certain death, while the other
leads to freedom.
There are two guards, one in front of each door.
One guard always tells the truth, and the other always lies.
The man can ask only one question to one guard to determine which door to choose.
What question should he ask?
Answer: He should ask either guard, “If I were to ask the other guard which door leads to freedom, which door would he point to?” Then choose the opposite door.
Q: 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 every person.
What am I?
A: A pencil (graphite)
Q: I have a lot of hearts but no other organs.
What am I?
A: A deck of cards.
Q: You measure my life in hours and I serve you by expiring. I’m quick when I’m thin and slow when I’m fat. The wind is my enemy.
A: A candle
Q: My life is often a volume of grief, your help is needed to turn a new leaf. Stiff is my spine and my body is pale, but I'm always ready to tell a tale.
What am I?
A: A book
Q: What is so fragile that saying its name breaks it?
A: Silence.
Q: No matter how little or how much you use me, you change me every month.
What am I?
A: A calendar.
Q: People make me, save me, change me, raise me.
What am I?
A: Money
Q: I have branches, but no fruit, trunk, or leaves.
What am I?
A: Bank.
Q: I weaken all men for hours each day.
I show you strange visions while you are away.
I take you by night, by day take you back,
None suffer to have me, but do from my lack.
What am I?
A: Sleep
Q: Forrest left home running. He ran a ways and then turned left, ran the same distance and turned left again, ran the same distance and turned left again. When he got home, there were two masked men. Who were they?
A: The catcher and the umpire
Q: A cloud was my mother, the wind is my father, my son is the cool stream, and my daughter is the fruit of the land. A rainbow is my bed, the earth my final resting place, and I'm the torment of man.
A: Rain
Keep the Fun Going!
If our Brain Teasers have left you wanting more, you're in for a treat. From holiday-themed laughs to mind-engaging games, there's something on our site for every mood:
- Riddles for Kids
- Riddles for Adults
- Would You Rather Questions for Kids
- Truth or Dare Questions
- Never Have I Ever Questions
- Trivia
- Printable Word Search Puzzles
- Coloring Pages
- Christmas Word Scrambles
- Dad Jokes
- Halloween Jokes
- Skeleton Puns
- Spider Puns
- Thanksgiving Jokes
- Winter Jokes
- Snow Puns
- Christmas Jokes
