Riddles About School With Answers
Updated · Best Riddles With Answers editorial team
Quick answer: This page offers 42 riddles about school with answers for teachers, parents and pupils. The easy riddles describe pencils, desks and the school bus, the middle sets cover stationery, timetables and school life, and the hard set mixes maths, logic and word puzzles that are fun to solve in class. Every riddle is clean and suitable for the classroom.
Easy Riddles About School
I have a lead that is not really lead, and I need sharpening when I get blunt. What am I?
A pencil
I get smaller each time I fix a mistake. What am I?
An eraser (rubber)
I am straight and marked with numbers, and I help you draw a line or measure a short length. What am I?
A ruler
You sit at me all day, and I have a lid, a chair, and a place to keep your books. What am I?
A desk
I stand at the front of the class, I mark your work, and I tell you when it is time for a break. Who am I?
A teacher
I have two straps, and I sit on your back, full of books and a lunchbox. What am I?
A backpack (school bag)
I am the work you take home at the end of the day. What am I?
Homework
I turn a blunt point into a sharp one and leave curly shavings behind. What am I?
A pencil sharpener
I am a twist-up tube, and I stick paper to paper without making a mess. What am I?
A glue stick
I am white and dusty, and the teacher writes on the blackboard with me. What am I?
Chalk
I am made of coloured wax, and you draw pictures with me. What am I?
A crayon
I am big and yellow, I stop outside your house, and I take you to school. What am I?
The school bus
Trickier Riddles About School
I have lots of buttons, I do sums faster than you can, and I run on a little solar panel. What am I?
A calculator
I am the matching shirt, tie or jumper that all the pupils at a school wear. What am I?
A school uniform
I come home at the end of term, and I tell your parents how well you have done. What am I?
A report card
I am the time between lessons when everyone runs outside to play. What am I?
Break time (recess)
I am a paper full of questions, and everyone is quiet while they answer me. What am I?
A test
I bite paper together with a tiny metal staple. What am I?
A stapler
I am a clear half-circle with numbers around the edge, and I measure angles. What am I?
A protractor
I have one sharp leg and one with a pencil, and I draw perfect circles. What am I?
A pair of compasses
I am a bright yellow pen that colours over the words I want you to remember. What am I?
A highlighter
I am a bent piece of wire that holds your pages together, and I live in a little box. What am I?
A paper clip
I am a chart on the wall that shows which lesson comes next. What am I?
A timetable
The whole school gathers in the hall for me, and we sing, listen to news and clap for awards. What am I?
Assembly
Hard Riddles About School
A class has 28 pupils. Three sevenths of them are girls. How many boys are there?
16, because 28 / 7 = 4, girls = 3 x 4 = 12, and 28 - 12 = 16
A teacher marks 30 exercise books and takes 4 minutes for each. How long does she need in all?
2 hours, because 30 x 4 = 120 minutes
School runs from 8:45 to 3:15. Lunch takes an hour, and there are two breaks of 15 minutes. How long is spent in lessons?
5 hours, because the day is 6 hours 30 minutes, and 6:30 - 1:00 - 0:30 = 5:00
A pencil costs 25 pence and a notebook costs 1.20. How much do 6 pencils and 3 notebooks cost together?
5.10, because 6 x 0.25 = 1.50 and 3 x 1.20 = 3.60
Maya gets 14 out of 20 in a test. What is her score as a percentage?
70 percent, because 14 / 20 = 0.7
Four test scores are 70, 80, 90 and 60. What is the average?
75, because 70 + 80 + 90 + 60 = 300 and 300 / 4 = 75
I get sharper the more you use me, I weigh about one and a half kilograms, and I live inside your head. What am I?
Your brain
I am a five letter word, and I become shorter when you add two letters to me. What am I?
Short (it becomes 'shorter')
Three friends sit in a row. Ana is not at either end, and Ben sits somewhere to the left of Cal. In which order do they sit from left to right?
Ben, Ana, Cal. Ana must be in the middle, so Ben is at the left end and Cal at the right
The first bell rings at 9:00, and then there is a bell every 40 minutes. At what time does the fourth bell ring?
11:00, because the bells ring at 9:00, 9:40, 10:20 and 11:00
Quick-Fire Riddles About School
A forty minute class on one subject. What am I?
A lesson
A child who goes to school. What am I?
A pupil
A big test at the end of the year. What am I?
An exam
A mark that shows how well you did. What am I?
A grade
The head of the whole school. Who am I?
The principal (headteacher)
A book of maps. What am I?
An atlas
A book that tells you what words mean. What am I?
A dictionary
A big book about one subject that you study from. What am I?
A textbook
How to Use These Riddles About School
Teachers can use these as a starter at the beginning of a lesson. Write one riddle on the board, give pupils a minute to think, and ask for answers and reasons. The easy and quick-fire sets suit early years, while the maths and word puzzles fit upper primary and beyond.
Parents can use them on the way to school or at the homework table. Ask your child to explain how they found the answer to a hard riddle, since the reasoning is what builds their confidence.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a good riddle about school for kids?
Try 'I get smaller each time I fix a mistake.' The answer is an eraser. Riddles about pencils, desks and the school bus are easy for younger pupils and fun to share in class.
Can I use these riddles in the classroom?
Yes. They are clean and sorted by difficulty, so you can use the easy set as a starter, the maths riddles for practice and the word riddles in a language lesson. No equipment is needed.
What is the answer to the five letter word that gets shorter?
The answer is 'short'. When you add the two letters 'er' it becomes 'shorter', so the word really does get longer in letters while meaning less length. It works well in spelling and language lessons.
How do I make my own school riddles?
Pick an object from the classroom, list three things it does or looks like, and hide the name. Start with 'I am' and end with 'What am I?'. Test the riddle on a friend to check it has one answer.
