Boxes come in all shapes and sizes. They can be made of different materials like wood, cardboard, metal, etc. Boxes have been used by humans for centuries to store, transport, and organize items. Boxes spark our imagination and creativity. That’s why they make for great riddles!
Riddles about boxes challenge us to think outside the box (no pun intended). They play with the various properties and uses of boxes. Solving box riddles requires visualizing and reasoning about how boxes can be manipulated and used in clever ways.
Below are 91 entertaining and perplexing riddles about boxes with their answers revealed. The riddles vary in difficulty and cover different types of boxes. Think carefully and don’t be afraid to think outside the box with these! See how many you can solve.
General box riddles
Let’s start with some general riddles about the properties and uses of boxes:
1. What gets wetter as it dries?
Answer: A towel
2. I have cities, but no houses. I have mountains, but no trees. I have water, but no fish. What am I?
Answer: A map
3. What has a thumb and four fingers but is not alive?
Answer: A glove
4. What has a face but no body?
Answer: A clock
5. What belongs to you but other people use it more than you?
Answer: Your name
6. I am weightless but you can see me. Put me in a bucket and I’ll make it lighter. What am I?
Answer: A hole
7. What goes up and down but doesn’t move?
Answer: Stairs
8. What comes once in a minute, twice in a moment, but never in a thousand years?
Answer: The letter M
9. What is full of holes but can still hold water?
Answer: A sponge
10. I have keys but no locks. I have space but no rooms. You can enter but can’t go outside. What am I?
Answer: A keyboard
Cardboard box riddles
Now let’s look at some riddles focused on cardboard boxes:
11. What can travel around the whole way around the world while staying in a corner?
Answer: A stamp
12. What has hands but can’t clap?
Answer: A clock
13. What gets wetter the more it dries?
Answer: A towel
14. When can you add two to eleven and get one as the correct answer?
Answer: When you add two hours to eleven o’clock, you get one o’clock
15. What belongs to you but is used more by others?
Answer: Your name
16. I have cities but no houses, forests but no trees, water but no fish. What am I?
Answer: A map
17. What goes up but never comes down?
Answer: Your age
18. What comes once in a minute, twice in a moment, but never in a thousand years?
Answer: The letter M
19. David’s father has three sons. Two are named Mind and Mend. What is the third son’s name?
Answer: David
20. What can you break without ever touching it?
Answer: A promise
Wooden box riddles
Now for some brainteasers about wooden boxes:
21. What gets wetter the more it dries?
Answer: A towel
22. What can you catch but not throw?
Answer: A cold
23. I have cities but no houses, forests but no trees, and water but no fish. What am I?
Answer: A map
24. What goes all around a backyard yet never moves?
Answer: A fence
25. What can fill up a room but takes up no space?
Answer: Light
26. What has many keys but can’t open any door?
Answer: A piano
27. What has a thumb and four fingers but is not alive?
Answer: A glove
28. What has a head and a tail but no body?
Answer: A coin
29. What goes up but never comes down?
Answer: Your age
30. What comes once in a minute, twice in a moment, but never in a thousand years?
Answer: The letter M
Metal box riddles
Moving on to some tricky riddles about metal boxes:
31. What has hands but can’t clap?
Answer: A clock
32. What has a neck but no head?
Answer: A bottle
33. What goes up and down the stairs without moving?
Answer: The railing
34. What has four fingers and a thumb, but is not living?
Answer: A glove
35. What has words but never speaks?
Answer: A book
36. What belongs to you but is used more often by others?
Answer: Your name
37. I have cities but no houses, forests but no trees, and water but no fish. What am I?
Answer: A map
38. What goes up but never comes down?
Answer: Your age
39. What is always coming but never arrives?
Answer: Tomorrow
40. David’s father has three sons. Two are named Mind and Mend. What is the third son’s name?
Answer: David
Box riddles for kids
Here are some fun and easy box riddles for kids to enjoy:
41. What is full of holes but can still hold water?
Answer: A sponge
42. What has one eye but can’t see?
Answer: A needle
43. What has hands but can’t clap?
Answer: A clock
44. What is always behind you but can’t be seen?
Answer: Your shadow
45. What goes up and down but doesn’t move?
Answer: Stairs
46. What can you catch but not throw?
Answer: A cold
47. What gets wetter the more it dries?
Answer: A towel
48. What has many keys but can’t open a single door?
Answer: A piano
49. What has a head and a tail but no body?
Answer: A coin
50. What comes once in a minute, twice in a moment, but never in a thousand years?
Answer: The letter M
Math box riddles
Stretch your math skills with these number-based box riddles:
51. Two fathers and two sons went fishing. They caught three fish total. Each person had one fish. How is this possible?
Answer: There was one grandfather, one father, and one son.
52. What is three fifths of 25?
Answer: 15
53. Divide 30 by half and add ten. What is the answer?
Answer: 70
54. What is half of two plus two?
Answer: 3
55. What is the next number in this sequence: 3, 6, 12, 24, ?
Answer: 48
56. What is one third of 27?
Answer: 9
57. I am a three digit number. My tens digit is four more than my ones digit. My hundreds digit is eight less than my tens digit. What number am I?
Answer: 192
58. Which of the following fractions is the largest: 1/2, 3/5, 5/6?
Answer: 5/6
59. How many sides does a rectangle have?
Answer: 4
60. What does 10 plus 9 equal?
Answer: 19
Rhyming box riddles
Try to solve these tricky rhyming box riddles:
61. What gets wetter as it dries?
Answer: A towel
62. When things go wrong, what hits the fan?
Answer: The poop
63. What building has the most stories?
Answer: The library
64. What has hands but can’t clap?
Answer: A clock
65. What has a head and a tail but no body?
Answer: A coin
66. What belongs to you but others use it more?
Answer: Your name
67. What month of the year has 28 days?
Answer: All of them
68. What gets broken without being held?
Answer: A promise
69. What goes up when rain comes down?
Answer: An umbrella
70. What goes up and down but doesn’t move?
Answer: Stairs
“Think outside the box” riddles
These riddles encourage you to think outside the box:
71. A man builds an ordinary house with four sides except that each side is facing south. A bear walks by. What color is the bear?
Answer: White – the house must be at the North Pole so the only bear there is a polar bear.
72. What can go up a chimney down but not down a chimney up?
Answer: An umbrella
73. If you drop me I’m sure to crack, but give me a smile and I’ll always smile back. What am I?
Answer: A mirror
74. People make me, save me, change me, raise me. What am I?
Answer: Money
75. What gets broken without being held?
Answer: A promise
76. What has four fingers and a thumb, but is not living?
Answer: A glove
77. What has words, but never speaks?
Answer: A book
78. What has a head, a tail, is brown, and has no legs?
Answer: A penny
79. What can fill a room but takes up no space?
Answer: Light
80. If you have me, you want to share me. If you share me, you don’t have me. What am I?
Answer: A secret
“What am I?” box riddles
Puzzle out the answers to these “What am I?” box riddles:
81. What am I? I have cities, but no houses. I have mountains, but no trees. I have water, but no fish. What am I?
Answer: A map
82. What am I? I have keys but no locks. I have space but no rooms. You can enter but can’t go outside. What am I?
Answer: A keyboard
83. What am I? I have one eye but can’t see. I’m faster than any man alive, but have no limbs. What am I?
Answer: A hurricane
84. What am I? I have a head and a tail, but no body. You can flip me, but I have no wings. What am I?
Answer: A coin
85. What am I? I run all around a backyard, yet never move. What am I?
Answer: A fence
86. What am I? I have four strong legs but no feet. People cut parts of me to make items for their home. What am I?
Answer: A tree
87. What am I? I am full of holes but I can hold water. People use me to get clean. What am I?
Answer: A sponge
88. What am I? I have hands but no arms. You can find me in your home, but you can’t take me outside. What am I?
Answer: A clock
89. What am I? I have pages full of words, but I cannot speak. You open me to go on adventures. What am I?
Answer: A book
90. What am I? I have no voice, but I teach you lessons. I have spines, but I am not an animal. What am I?
Answer: A book
91. What am I? People cut parts of me to build their homes. I am very tall and made of wood. What am I?
Answer: A tree
Conclusion
How did you enjoy those riddles about boxes? Boxes may seem simple, but these riddles show how thinking creatively about boxes can make for challenging and fun brainteasers. Solving riddles requires logical thinking and making imaginative leaps. I hope working through these box riddles was an engaging mental exercise!
