40 Riddles for Students

1. I look like half a circle, but my numbered edge helps you measure corners in geometry. What am I?

2. I stand on a point while my pencil partner walks around me, leaving a perfect ring on the page. What am I?

3. My page is covered in tiny squares before you draw even one line. Coordinates feel right at home here. What am I?

4. Open my metal rings and loose pages can join the class; close them and everyone stays in order. What am I?

5. I wait between two pages so you can leave a story without losing your place. What am I?

6. Feed me a sheet and press down: I return it with little circles missing, ready for a binder. What am I?

7. Twist my base and my sticky tip rises to help paper pieces stay together. My cap keeps me ready for art class. What am I?

8. I am a small zipped pouch made to carry pencils, pens and erasers inside your school bag. What am I?

9. Change only the middle letter of CAT to O. What three-letter word have you made?

10. Rearrange all five letters of NOTES into something you could skip across a pond. What word fits?

11. I am in both DESK and KITE, but I am not in SEAT. Which letter am I?

12. I appear at both ends of READER, like matching bookends. Which letter am I?

13. Remove SUN from the start of SUNFLOWER. Which complete word is left?

14. In this puzzle, a word is worth its number of letters. What is BOOK plus BAG worth?

15. Read DRAW from right to left. What four-letter word appears?

16. Take the same letter off both ends of LEVEL and EVE remains. Which letter did you remove?

17. Mina puts a blue token inside a red box, then puts that box inside a green bag. Which container holds the token with no other container between them?

18. A class photo shows four students. Each student holds one drawing of two cats. How many real cats must be in the photo?

19. A book is open to pages 26 and 27. You place a bookmark between them and close it. Between which pages does it stay?

20. Bea swaps seats with Ali, then they swap back without anyone else moving. Who has Ali's original seat now?

21. Only Nia, Omar and Pia are in line. Nia is behind Omar but ahead of Pia. Who is in the middle?

22. Three folders are stacked. Science is above Art, and Art is above Music. Which folder can be lifted first without moving another?

23. A class pet is in exactly one of three pens: red, blue or yellow. The red pen is empty, and the pet is not in the blue pen. Where is it?

24. A card has a star on one side and a dot on the other. You flip it over three times from star-up. Which side is showing?

25. A club starts with 18 badges. Half go into envelopes, and two of those envelopes are opened again. How many badges were never put in envelopes?

26. A class timer chimes at the start, then once every three minutes. Its fifth chime sounds how many minutes after the start?

27. Two identical square tiles share one whole edge. Each tile has sides one unit long. What is the outside perimeter of the joined shape?

28. A row of 15 seats has one seat exactly in the middle. Counting from either end, what number is that seat?

29. A jar holds 24 counters. Jo takes one third, then returns half of what she took. How many counters does Jo keep?

30. A robot draws a triangle, square, circle, then repeats that exact order. What shape does it draw in position 14?

31. Four students each shake hands once with every other student in the group. How many handshakes happen?

32. A secret number doubles, then loses six, and becomes 20. What number did it start as?

33. Four clubs meet in order. Art is immediately before Chess. Drama is last. Music is not first. Which club meets first?

34. A two-digit code has digits totaling 9. Reversing its digits makes a number 27 larger. What is the original code?

35. A red bag has only circles, a blue bag only squares, and a green bag both. All labels are wrong. A token from the bag labeled 'Both' is square. What is that bag's color?

36. A box contains only red and blue counters, with plenty of each. Without looking, what is the fewest counters you must take to guarantee at least three of one color?

37. I am a positive whole number between 10 and 20. Dividing me by 4 leaves 1, and dividing me by 3 leaves 2. What number am I?

38. A path uses exactly three one-square moves: two moves right and one move up. How many different orders of these moves are possible?

39. Kai, Lou and Mei each choose a different activity: art, chess or dance. Mei chooses art. Kai does not choose dance. What does Lou choose?

40. Three sealed boxes each say what is inside: 'Pencils,' 'Pens' or 'Empty.' Exactly one label is true. The Pencils box has pens; the Pens box is empty. What is in the Empty box?