Time is a fascinating concept, especially for curious young minds. Riddles that play with the ideas of past, present and future are a great way to get kids thinking about the nature of time. Here are 93 fun riddles about time for kids, with the answers provided. Test your child’s logic and give their temporal reasoning skills a workout!
Riddles about the past
The past is filled with events and memories. These riddles get kids thinking about things that have already happened.
1. What happened yesterday that will not happen again in a thousand years?
Yesterday.
2. What month of the year has 28 days?
All of them!
3. If yesterday was Saturday, what day is today?
Sunday.
4. I happened once and will never happen again. What am I?
The past.
5. What gets broken without being held?
A promise.
6. The more of them you take, the more you leave behind. What are they?
Footsteps.
7. What can you catch but never throw?
A cold.
8. What goes up and down but does not move?
The temperature.
9. What is always coming but never arrives?
Tomorrow.
10. What is often returned but never borrowed?
Thanks.
11. What belongs to you but is used more by others?
Your name.
12. I’m tall when I’m young and short when I’m old. What am I?
A candle.
13. What gets wetter the more it dries?
A towel.
14. What has a head and a tail but no body?
A coin.
15. What has hands but can’t clap?
A clock.
Riddles about the present
The present moment is all we ever really have. These riddles encourage focus on the here and now.
16. What is seen in the middle of March and April that can’t be seen at the beginning or end of either month?
The letter “R”.
17. What has a neck but no head?
A bottle.
18. What goes up and never comes down?
Your age.
19. What has words but never speaks?
A book.
20. What has teeth but cannot bite?
A comb.
21. What has hands but can’t clap?
A clock.
22. What has a bed but never sleeps, and a mouth but never eats?
A river.
23. What gets wetter as it dries?
A towel.
24. What has four fingers and a thumb but is not alive?
A glove.
25. What starts with “e” and ends with “e” but only has one letter?
An envelope.
26. What goes all around the yard but never moves?
A fence.
27. What has a head, a tail, but no body?
A coin.
28. What has hands but cannot clap?
A clock.
29. What is cut on a table but is never eaten?
A deck of cards.
30. What has a face but no body?
A clock.
Riddles about the future
The future is unknown and holds endless possibilities. These riddles encourage kids to imagine what’s to come.
31. What month of the year has 28 days?
All of them!
32. If yesterday was Saturday, what day is tomorrow?
Monday.
33. I’m tall when I’m young and short when I’m old. What am I?
A candle.
34. What is always coming but never arrives?
Tomorrow.
35. Mary’s father has 5 daughters – Nana, Nene, Nini, Nono. What is the fifth daughters name?
Mary.
36. What gets wetter the more it dries?
A towel.
37. David’s father has three sons – Snap, Crackle and what’s the name of the third son?
David.
38. A doctor gives you 3 pills telling you to take one every half hour. How long will the pills last?
1 hour.
39. What starts with “e” and ends with “e” but only has one letter?
An envelope.
40. If there are 3 apples and you take 2 away, how many do you have?
2.
41. How many months have 28 days?
All 12 months.
42. If you were running a race and passed the person in 2nd place, what place would you be in?
2nd place.
43. Two fathers and two sons went fishing. They caught 3 fish total. Each person caught one fish. How is this possible?
There were a grandfather, father and son.
44. If you have me, you’ll want to share me. If you share me, you’ll no longer have me. What am I?
A secret.
45. What begins with “t”, ends with “t” and has “t” in it?
A teapot.
Riddles about time passing
The passage of time is puzzling and hard to grasp. These riddles play with the perplexities of hours, days and years.
46. What has hands but can’t clap?
A clock.
47. What has a face but no body?
A clock.
48. What goes up but never comes down?
Your age.
49. What comes once in a minute, twice in a moment, but never in a thousand years?
The letter M.
50. Sixty seconds in a minute, sixty minutes in an hour, twenty-four hours in a day. How many seconds in a day?
86,400 seconds.
51. What is always coming but never arrives?
Tomorrow.
52. What is often returned but never borrowed?
Thanks.
53. I am an odd number. Take away one letter and I become even. What number am I?
Seven.
54. The more you take away, the more I become. What am I?
A hole.
55. What is broken every time it’s spoken?
Silence.
56. What is so fragile that saying its name breaks it?
Silence.
57. I’m tall when I’m young and short when I’m old. What am I?
A candle.
58. What goes up but doesn’t come down?
Your age.
59. What is once in a minute, twice in a moment and never in a thousand years?
The letter M.
60. What gets wetter the more it dries?
A towel.
Riddles about time measurements
From seconds to centuries, these riddles play with units of time measurement.
61. What has 60 seconds but seems to go so fast?
A minute.
62. What has 60 minutes but seems to go so slow?
An hour.
63. What has 24 hours that people wish would last longer?
A day.
64. What has 7 days that go by too quick?
A week.
65. What has 4 weeks that mark the passing seasons?
A month.
66. What has 12 months that cycle round again?
A year.
67. What has 10 years that somehow flew away?
A decade.
68. What has 10 decades which people may live to see?
A century.
69. What is 12 hours long but seems to last forever?
A school day.
70. What is 8 hours long and flies by in a flash?
A work day.
71. What is 16 hours long when you’re having fun?
A day at an amusement park.
72. What is 5 days long but feels like 15 minutes?
A vacation.
Riddles about time travel
These riddles imagine what it would be like to jump through time, defying the usual flow.
73. Yesterday is tomorrow and tomorrow is yesterday. How can this be?
By traveling back in time one day.
74. I am the beginning of eternity, the end of time and space, the start of the end and the end of every place. What am I?
The letter E.
75. What is always old and sometimes new, never sad, sometimes blue, always empty but sometimes full, never pushes and never pulls?
The moon.
76. I am not a week, not a day, but I am still a measurement of time. What am I?
An hour.
77. If yesterday was Monday, what day will tomorrow be?
Wednesday.
78. You see me once in June, twice in November and not at all in May. What am I?
The letter E.
79. What belongs to you but other people use it more than you?
Your name.
80. The more you take away, the more I become. What am I?
A hole.
81. What goes up and never comes down?
Your age.
Riddles about time and age
Age and time are intimately connected. These riddles tie together years lived and the march of time.
82. What gets wetter as it dries?
A towel.
83. I belong to you, but others use me more than you do. What am I?
Your name.
84. The more you take, the more you leave behind. What are they?
Footsteps.
85. I’m lighter than air but a million men can’t lift me up. What am I?
A bubble.
86. I make two people out of one. What am I?
A mirror.
87. I have cities but no houses. I have mountains but no trees. I have water but no fish. What am I?
A map.
88. What goes up but doesn’t come back down?
Your age.
89. What comes once in a minute, twice in a moment but never in a thousand years?
The letter M.
90. What belongs to you but is used mostly by others?
Your name.
Riddles about wasting time
Time feels fleeting and is not to be wasted. These riddles remind us to make the most of the time we have.
91. I am free, I can fly. I can float on the breeze. People pay big money to spend some time with me. What am I?
Time.
92. I’m something people never have enough of. For some there’s not enough in a day. What am I?
Time.
93. People want me, save me, spend me and waste me. What am I?
Time.
Conclusion
We all wish we had more time, but the truth is it’s one of the few things we can’t make more of. Riddles that explore the peculiarities of time provide a fun way for kids to grasp this challenging concept. With 93 time riddles covered here, you can keep youngsters guessing (and learning!) for hours on end.
