Nature riddles provide an entertaining way to learn about the natural world around us. They encourage us to think critically and make connections between different aspects of the environment. Riddles can spark curiosity, improve observation skills, and reveal fascinating facts about plants, animals, weather, geology, and more.
Let’s explore 81 thought-provoking riddles about nature. Read the riddles carefully and see if you can figure out the answers before peeking below.
Riddles about Animals
Animals captivate us with their diverse appearances, behaviors, and adaptations. These riddles explore some of nature’s most incredible creatures.
1. What has a head, a tail, is brown, and has no legs?
A penny!
2. This creature is gray, lives in herds, and has giant ears. What is it?
An elephant.
3. It slithers on its belly, sheds its skin, and some are venomous. What is it?
A snake.
4. With webbed feet and white feathers, it floats gracefully across ponds. What is it?
A swan.
5. I’m an insect that lives in a hive, makes honey, and sting. What am I?
A bee.
6. With black and white stripes, this big cat is the fastest land mammal. What is it?
A cheetah.
7. With a bill instead of teeth, this egg-laying mammal carries its babies in a pouch. What is it?
A platypus.
8. I have eight legs, three body parts, and spin webs to catch my prey. What am I?
A spider.
9. With powerful jaws, sharp teeth, and excellent night vision, I am the largest of the big cats. What am I?
A lion.
10. I’m a slow-moving reptile with a protective shell on my back. What am I?
A turtle.
11. With a spectacular shimmering tail, this fish is prized for its aquatic acrobatics. What is it?
A betta fish.
12. Which nocturnal bird has a face shaped like a heart?
An owl.
13. I’m a colorful tropical bird with a large, hooked beak. What am I?
A parrot.
14. Known for their speed and endurance, I’m a long-distance racing breed of dog. What am I?
A greyhound.
15. I’m a marine mammal that breathes air, is very intelligent, and uses echolocation. What am I?
A dolphin.
16. With a loud, thunderous roar, I’m the king of the jungle. What am I?
A lion.
17. I’m an arachnid with eight eyes and a round abdomen. What am I?
A spider.
18. Covered in white wool with hooves and horns, I’m a farm animal that says “baa.” What am I?
A sheep.
19. With large ears, buck teeth, a fluffy tail, I love munching on carrots. What am I?
A rabbit.
20. I have a mane, live in Africa, and am the largest living cat species. What am I?
A lion.
Riddles about Plants
From tiny mosses to towering trees, the plant kingdom contains incredible diversity. See if you can identify these leafy life forms.
21. I’m a fruit with thin green skin and black seeds inside. What am I?
A watermelon.
22. I’m a tropical plant that produces large, sweet-tasting yellow fruit. What am I?
A banana tree.
23. My sap was used to make maple syrup by Native Americans. What type of tree am I?
A maple tree.
24. I’m a prickly desert plant with paddle-shaped branches. What am I?
A cactus.
25. I’m a vine that produces juicy red berries used to make jam and juice. What am I?
A strawberry plant.
26. With sword-shaped leaves and dense heads of purple flowers, I’m a common garden perennial. What am I?
An iris.
27. My seeds are edible and used to make oil, milk, and tofu. What plant am I?
A soybean plant.
28. I’m a citrus fruit with thick greenish-yellow rind and sour juice inside. What am I?
A lemon.
29. I have lobed leaves that turn brilliant shades of red in autumn. What deciduous tree am I?
A maple tree.
30. With star-shaped purple flowers, I’m a fragrant herb used in cooking. What am I?
Lavender.
Riddles about Weather and Climate
From sunny days to snowstorms, weather and climate patterns shape the environments around us. Can you decipher what these riddles describe?
31. When warm air rises into the sky and moisture condenses, this falls down to the ground. What is it?
Rain.
32. I’m water droplets that form when warm air meets cold air in the atmosphere. What am I?
Clouds.
33. Formed high in the sky, I’m made of ice crystals that float down to Earth. What am I?
Snow.
34. I’m the movement of air caused by the uneven heating of the Earth’s surface. What am I?
Wind.
35. I flash bright and roar loud during thunderstorms. What am I?
Lightning.
36. When water freezes in the sky and falls as precipitation, it comes down as me. What am I?
Sleet.
37. Formed by the collision of cold and warm fronts, I swirl fast with strong winds. What am I?
A tornado.
38. I form over the ocean and can dump tremendous amounts of rain when I make landfall. What am I?
A hurricane.
39. I’m a large mass of wind that rotates counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere. What am I?
A cyclone.
40. During very cold winters, I form over the Great Lakes when water freezes rapidly. What am I?
Lake effect snow.
Riddles about Oceans and Water
Earth’s waterways and oceans offer seemingly endless discoveries. Dive into this section to identify these aquatic riddles.
41. I’m the salty body of water that covers most of the Earth’s surface. What am I?
The ocean.
42. I’m the deepest part of the ocean, reaching almost seven miles down. What am I?
The Mariana Trench.
43. When waves come into shore at an angle and move sediment down the beach, I occur. What am I?
Longshore drift.
44. During high tide, I rise higher on shore before receding back during low tide. What am I?
The waterline.
45. I’m a fast-moving ocean current that brings warm water from the equator up the west coast of continents. What am I?
An ocean gyre.
46. I’m the gradual rise in sea level caused by global warming melting land ice. What am I?
Sea level rise.
47. Formed by erosion, I’m a circular depression filled with water and no outlets. What am I?
A lake.
48. Moving downstream, I’m a body of fresh water flowing through a channel across land. What am I?
A river.
49. I’m the process in which sediment and dissolved minerals are removed from water as it percolates through soil. What am I?
Filtration.
50. I’m the meeting place of a river and ocean, mixing fresh and saltwater. What am I?
An estuary.
Riddles about Landforms and Geology
The surface of our planet contains diverse geological features and landforms. Can you identify what these riddles are describing?
51. Stretching up to the sky, I’m a towering mountain over 5.5 miles high. What am I?
Mount Everest.
52. Carved by a glacier, I’m a U-shaped valley with very steep sides. What am I?
A fjord.
53. I’m a giant mass of ice that flows very slowly across land. What am I?
A glacier.
54. Formed by years of water erosion, I’m a deep circular depression with very steep cliffs. What am I?
A canyon.
55. I’m a vent in the Earth’s crust that spews hot molten rock, ash, and gases. What am I?
A volcano.
56. I’m comprised of layers of sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rock. What am I?
The Earth’s crust.
57. Caused by shifts in tectonic plates, I’m a violent shaking of the ground. What am I?
An earthquake.
58. I’m a large cave formation made of calcium carbonate deposited from water. What am I?
A stalactite.
59. Carved by wind and water erosion, I’m a towering rock structure with a flat top. What am I?
A mesa.
60. I’m comprised of decaying plant matter that forms a wet, spongy ground. What am I?
A bog.
Riddles about Space and the Sky
Gazing up at the cosmos fills us with wonder and curiosity. See if you can identify these astronomical riddles.
61. I’m comprised of burning gases and my nearest star is the sun. What am I?
A planet.
62. I’m a streak of light that flashes quickly across the night sky. What am I?
A shooting star.
63. We orbit around one star and have at least eight planets. What are we?
The Solar System.
64. I’m comprised of millions of stars and rotate in a spiral shape. What am I?
A galaxy.
65. I’m comprised of rock, dust, gases, and have a long luminous tail. What am I?
A comet.
66. I’m a band of stars and dust that stretches across the night sky. What am I?
The Milky Way.
67. I’m an explosion that occurs when a dying star collapses on itself. What am I?
A supernova.
68. I’m a large ball of burning gas that Earth and other planets orbit around. What am I?
The Sun.
69. We rise in the east and set in the west each day from Earth’s perspective. What are we?
The Sun and Moon.
70. I’m comprised of rocky debris that enters Earth’s atmosphere and burns up, creating a streak of light. What am I?
A meteor.
Riddles about Ecology and Habitats
Ecosystems and habitats contain complex interactions between living and nonliving components. See if you can decipher what these riddles describe.
71. I’m comprised of all the living organisms in an area together with the physical environment. What am I?
An ecosystem.
72. I’m the sequence in which energy is transferred between organisms within an ecosystem. What am I?
A food chain.
73. We form structures like coral reefs and kelp forests and cover about 70% of Earth. What are we?
Aquatic ecosystems.
74. I’m the natural environment where an organism lives, including the climate and geography. What am I?
A habitat.
75. We’re evergreen forests found in northern latitudes with coniferous trees adapted to the cold. What are we?
Taiga or boreal forests.
76. I’m the diversity of plant and animal life in a particular habitat. What am I?
Biodiversity.
77. Caused by photosynthetic organisms like plants and algae, I’m the production of oxygen. What am I?
Oxygenic photosynthesis.
78. I’m the process that converts nitrogen gas in the air into compounds in the soil that plants need. What am I?
Nitrogen fixation.
79. Caused by human activities like burning fossil fuels, I’m the warming of Earth’s climate over time. What am I?
Global warming.
80. I’m the seasonal journey wildlife takes between ecosystems and habitats. What am I?
Migration.
Conclusion
81. I’m all around you, made up of a wondrous web of animals, plants, land, water, weather, and space. What am I?
Nature.
Nature riddles encourage us to think critically and spark our curiosity about the natural world. They reveal fascinating facts in an engaging format and improve our powers of observation and connection. I hope you enjoyed testing your knowledge with these 81 riddles about nature. Looking closely at the world around you each day provides endless opportunities for awe and discovery.
