Detective Riddles For Kids

Detective Riddles for your smart little investigator

Solving mysteries is fun, isn’t it? Kids love to solve mysteries, all they need is an intriguing story.

Their innate curiosity gets to work trying to find the answers to those mysteries. Solving riddles and mysteries is a great way to improve your child’s reasoning skills, memory retention and cognitive capabilities. They also help you think out of the box and boost your problem skills.

Detective Riddles For Kids

Here is a list of detective riddles for kids that’ll hone their detective skills. 

Let’s put our thinking caps on and try to solve these detective riddles for kids

Have you ever dreamed of being a detective, who goes around solving mysteries? Here is a chance to make that dream come true. These 10 detective riddles with answers are the perfect way to live your dreams of being a detective. You’ll find the answers to the riddles at the bottom of each question.

Riddle 1: Mysterious man in the yard

One winter morning, Mr Wilson found a man standing in the middle of the front yard. The man stayed in the yard for several weeks, but Mr Wilson didn’t mind. Eventually, the man disappeared. Who was he?

Answer: A snowman.

Riddle 2: Suicide or murder?

A woman was found dead at the bottom of a 5-story building. There is a suicide note which says she committed suicide by jumping from a window on one of the floors of the building. When the detective arrived, he went to the first floor, opened the window and tossed a coin towards the floor. He repeats this on all the floors of the building. 

He comes down and tells the police that the woman was murdered. How does the detective know?

Answer: The windows were all closed. He opened the windows to toss the coin.

Riddle 3: The one place you can’t see the Eiffel Tower 

A famous killer told the police that he plans to kill someone in the one place you can’t see the Eiffel Tower from in Paris. How did the police catch the killer?

Answer: The police caught him inside the Eiffel Tower.

Riddle 4: The stolen ring

Bianca called the police to report that her vintage ring was stolen. When the police reached the crime scene, they found that the window was broken. It was a total mess inside the house and there were dirty footprints on the carpet. But there were no other signs of a break-in. The police arrested Bianca for fraud, why?

Answer: The police found the shattered glass from the broken window outside Bianca’s house. This meant that the glass was broken from the inside, so Bianca had most likely staged the break-in.

Riddle 5: Telling time

A detective told his wife he’d be home at 8:30 and came home at 8:30. Then why was the detective’s wife angry with him?

Answer: He said he’d be home at 8:30 P.M and came home at 8:30 A.M!

Riddle 6: The border crosser

A man crossed the border every day on a motorbike with two bags of sand. The police suspected that he was smuggling illegal goods into the country. However, the detective couldn’t find anything when he checked the bags. Yet, the man was arrested. Why?

Answer: The man was smuggling stolen motorbikes every day.

Riddle 7: Not my cup of tea

John went to a cafe and asked for a cup of tea. He was served the tea but sent it back because there was a fly in the cup. He was served a new cup of tea, but he realized it was the same cup of tea and not a fresh one. He got angry and shouted at the waiter. How did John realize that it wasn’t a fresh cup of tea?

Answer: He had added sugar to the first cup. When he tasted the second cup of tea, it tasted sweet. If it was a fresh cup of tea, it would’ve tasted bitter. The waiter had served John the same cup of tea thinking he wouldn’t realize it.

Riddle 8: Jammed into a corner

Jane’s family lived in a large circular mansion. One morning, Jane found jam stains on the carpet in the living room. She called her employees and questioned them.

  1. The gardener said he was out watering the plants.
  2. The maid said she was dusting in the corner.
  3. The cook said she was busy getting lunch ready.

Which one of them is lying?

Answer: The maid is lying. Jane lives in a circular mansion, so there are no corners.

Riddle 9: Find Melanie’s killers

Melanie lived with her siblings in a small town. One afternoon, Melanie was found dead in the living room. When the police questioned her siblings, they both were in the pool from the morning and hadn’t killed her. But the police arrested Melanie’s siblings for her murder. Why?

Answer: The police checked their hands and found that their hands weren’t wrinkled. If they had been in the pool for a long time their hands would have been wrinkled. 

Riddle 10: Murder on Orient Street

A woman was murdered on Orient Street. It was said that the woman was walking on the pathway when she was suddenly shot in the face. A man named Dean Miller claimed to have witnessed the murder. According to the police, the killer had black hair, brown eyes and wore a baggy suit. The detective asked Dean to tell him what he saw on that day. 

Dean said, “ I was walking in the park when the killer suddenly appeared behind the woman and shot her.” The detective then asked Dean to describe the killer. Dean said, “He had blonde hair, blue eyes and wore a baggy suit.” The detective knew Dean was lying. How?

Answer: The killer couldn’t have shot the woman in the face if he came up from behind her.

Riddle 11: Desert mystery

A policeman found a dead man in the desert. He could only trace the tracks on the sand. Whom should the police look for? 

Answer:  A man in a wheelchair. 

Riddle 12: Swimming Mystery

There were three men swimming in the ocean. When an ocean guard called them to stay away from water due to high tides. He noticed that only two men’s hair was wet. What about the third man? 

Answer: The third man was bald. 

Put your skills to the test with the 12 detective riddles above.

How To Play Detective Riddles With Your Child? 

Few tips to play detective riddle games with kids are mentioned below: 

  • Hide detective riddles at home so that kids find and solve the riddle logically. 
  • Keep simple and understandable riddles for kids. 
  • Give clues to solve riddles in case kids find it difficult to crack the case. 
  • Provide clues in the form of images, riddles or written messages.
  • Provide short and easy detective riddles for kids. 
  • Use props to set up scenarios at home. Make use of household materials that can be reused. 
  • Play music to entertain kids while cracking detective riddles. 
  • Use indoor and outdoor areas to play games. 
  • Assist kids in solving mystery detective riddles in case they need help. 
  • Set preparation time for kids. 
  • Set a time frame for solving detective riddles for kids. 
  • Communicate the scenarios or situations properly so that kids understand the whole case. 

Benefits Of Detective Riddles For Kids 

Some of the benefits of detective riddles and answers are mentioned below:

  • It will help kids to nurture their passion and creativity. 
  • It will foster strength and confidence among the kids. 
  • They will learn to become independent thinkers and have their own perspectives on understanding things.
  • They will develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills. 
  • Kids will analyze the situation and come up with logical solutions. 
  • They will develop listening and reasoning skills. 
  • They will learn to interpret information correctly. 
  • There will be broader perspectives of understanding things among kids. 
  • They will try to analyze and pay attention to the smallest details. 
  • It will help in stimulating their mind. 
  • It promotes out-of-the-box thinking among children. 
  • It not only provides entertainment but also inculcates creative thinking among them. 

Frequently Asked Questions on Detective Riddles For Kids

What are some of the Detective Riddles For Kids?

Some of the Detective Riddles For Kids are Find Melanie’s killers, Jammed into a corner, The border crosser, The stolen ring, Mysterious man in the yard, Swimming Mystery, etc.

What are the advantages of Detective Riddles For Kids?

The advantages of Detective Riddles For Kids are that it supports them to foster their creativity by stimulating their imagination, explain in the right way, and developing creative thinking and decision making skills.

How to conduct Detective Riddles For Kids?

You can conduct Detective Riddles For Kids in the following ways such as giving hints to the puzzles in the written form, hiding the hints in the corners of the houses and encouraging kids to think out of the box.