Math is a subject that many kids run away from. But no matter how much they fear this subject, they would find number riddles fun.
You can give a kid a number riddle to solve, and they will think and try to come up with an answer, no matter how disinterested they are in math.
The charm of riddles is both Kids and adults like solving them.
If you are planning a party or a get-together, and you want to keep the kids busy so that you can enjoy yourself, one of the best things you can do is give them riddles to solve.
For adults, riddles can be a great conversation starter or icebreaker. It can be your savior if you want to strike up a conversation but don’t know how to.
So, although I am not a number person, I have come up with some of the most interesting number riddles you can ask both kids and adults.
The Best Number Riddles of All Times
Compared to riddles on other topics, number riddles are quite difficult. It requires you to think a lot.
You may need to use your math skills and even serious computation knowledge depending on the difficulty level.
Here I have compiled a list of riddles that can be great for kids and adults and perfect for playing on your family game night. While playing this game, you can see how good your family members are with numbers.
Also, if you are looking for specific riddles, I have made separate sections to make it easier for you to find them.
Easy Number Riddles for Kids
Is this the first time you are introducing riddles to your little one?
In that case, the riddles should be easy so the kids can find it interesting and guess the answers correctly. Because if you give them difficult riddles to solve in the beginning, the chances are that they will lose interest in the game.
And you don’t want that, right?
The following is a list of easy number riddles for your little kiddo. It’s time to see how quickly they get the hang of this game!
I am an even number. I am greater than 5 and less than 7. What number am I?
6.
I am the number of months in a year. What number am I?
12.
I am a number that comes after 9. What number am I?
10.
I am the number of sides a square has. What number am I?
4.
I am the number of fingers on one hand. What number am I?
5.
I am an odd number. I am less than 3. What number am I?
1.
I am the number of legs a dog has. What number am I?
4.
I am a number that comes before 100. What number am I?
99.
I am the number of wheels on a bicycle. What number am I?
2.
I am an odd number. I am greater than 2 and less than 4. What number am I?
3.
I am the number of days in a week. What number am I?
7.
I am a number that comes after 20. What number am I?
21.
I am the number of sides a triangle has. What number am I?
3.
I am the number of colors in a rainbow. What number am I?
7.
I am the number of eyes a person has. What number am I?
2.
I am a number that comes after 50. What number am I?
51.
I am the number of seasons in a year. What number am I?
4.
I am the number of sides a hexagon has. What number am I?
6.
I am an odd number. I am greater than 8 and less than 10. What number am I?
9.
I am the number of continents on Earth. What number am I?
7.
I am a number that comes before 30. What number am I?
29.
I am the number of wings on a butterfly. What number am I?
4.
I am the number of hours in a day. What number am I?
24.
I am the number of legs on a spider. What number am I?
8.
I am a number that comes after 40. What number am I?
41.
I am the number of sides a pentagon has. What number am I?
5.
I am the number of planets in our solar system. What number am I?
8.
Tricky Number Riddles for Kids
Are you a parent to an older kid? Are they already aware of how riddles work? Or are they quite good at solving them?
How about testing their riddle-solving skill with number riddles?
It will give you an idea of where they stand when it comes to numbers.
The following number riddles are for those kids who are great at solving riddles and are exceptionally good with numbers.
Share these with your kid in your next family game night and see how much they score!
What number can you add half to, and the result will be eight?
Sixteen (half of sixteen is eight).
I am a three-digit number. My tens digit is five more than my ones digit, and my hundreds digit is eight less than my tens digit. What number am I?
194 (1 is eight less than 9, and 9 is five more than 4).
I am an even number. Take away one letter, and I become another even number. What number am I?
Four (take away the ‘u’ and it becomes “for”).
What three positive numbers give the same answer when multiplied and added together?
1, 2, and 3 (1 + 2 + 3 = 6, and 1 * 2 * 3 = 6).
I am a two-digit number. My tens digit is twice my ones digit, and the sum of my digits is nine. What number am I?
36 (3 is twice 6, and 3 + 6 = 9).
I am a fraction. If you add me to myself, the result is one. What fraction am I?
1/2 (1/2 + 1/2 = 1).
I am a prime number. If you double me and add 15, you get 31. What number am I?
8 (double 8 is 16, add 15 is 31).
I am a three-digit number. The sum of my digits is 15. If you reverse my digits, I become a number 18 less than my original value. What number am I?
159 (1 + 5 + 9 = 15, and 951 – 18 = 933).
What number, when multiplied by itself, gives the same result as when you add 20 to it?
5 (5 * 5 = 25, and 5 + 20 = 25).
I am an even number. Take away one letter, and I become another even number. Take away another letter, and I become a multiple of six. What number am I?
Eighty (take away the ‘y’ and it becomes “eight,” take away the ‘t’ and it becomes “six”).
I am a number. Add 12 to me, and the result is 20 less than three times my original value. What number am I?
8 (8 + 12 = 20 – (3 * 8)).
I am a fraction. If you multiply me by 4 and subtract 2, the result is the same as if you multiply me by 5 and subtract 3. What fraction am I?
2/7 (4 * (2/7) – 2 = 5 * (2/7) – 3).
I am a two-digit number. If you reverse my digits, I become four times smaller than my original value. What number am I?
91 (91 reversed is 19, and 19 is four times smaller than 91).
I am a three-digit number. My hundreds digit is three times my ones digit, and my tens digit is two more than my ones digit. What number am I?
162 (1 is two more than 2, 6 is three times 2).
I am a fraction. If you multiply me by 3 and add 4, the result is the same as if you multiply me by 6 and subtract 8. What fraction am I?
4/5 (3 * (4/5) + 4 = 6 * (4/5) – 8).
I am a two-digit number. My tens digit is twice my ones digit, and the sum of my digits is seven. What number am I?
42 (4 is twice 2, and 4 + 2 = 6).
I am an odd number. If you take away one letter, I become an even number. What number am I?
Five (take away the ‘e’ and it becomes “if”).
I am a prime number. If you multiply me by 5 and subtract 2, the result is 43. What number am I?
9 (5 * 9 – 2 = 43).
I am a three-digit number. My tens digit is half my ones digit, and my hundreds digit is one less than my tens digit. What number am I?
194 (1 is one less than 2, 9 is half of 4).
I am a fraction. If you add 3 to me, the result is 2 less than if you multiply me by 2. What fraction am I?
2/5 (2 * (2/5) – 2 = (2/5) + 3).
I am a two-digit number. The sum of my digits is 12, and I am five times smaller than the number formed by reversing my digits. What number am I?
39 (3 + 9 = 12, and 93 is five times smaller than 39).
I am an even number. If you take away one letter, I become another even number. Take away another letter, and I become a multiple of ten. What number am I?
Eighty (take away the ‘y’ and it becomes “eight,” take away the ‘t’ and it becomes “eighty”).
I am a number. If you divide me by 4 and subtract 6, the result is 8 less than half my original value. What number am I?
44 (44/4 – 6 = (1/2) * 44 – 8).
I am a two-digit number. If you reverse my digits, I become three times smaller than my original value. What number am I?
91 (91 reversed is 19, and 19 is three times smaller than 91).
I am a fraction. If you multiply me by 6 and add 3, the result is the same as if you multiply me by 8 and subtract 5. What fraction am I?
1/9 (6 * (1/9) + 3 = 8 * (1/9) – 5).
I am a two-digit number. My tens digit is one more than my ones digit, and the sum of my digits is ten. What number am I?
19 (1 is one more than 9, and 1 + 9 = 10).
Simple Number Riddles for Adults
Being an adult doesn’t mean you would be good at solving riddles. Many men and women have poor riddle-solving skills. And I am one of them, to be honest!
If you’re unhappy with your performance in solving riddles, this is the section for you.
Here I have added riddles about numbers for beginners. If you try a bit, the chances are that you will be able to solve them correctly. And this might boost your confidence and make you able to solve more difficult riddles. Who knows?
I am an odd number. Take away a letter, and I become even. What number am I?
Seven (S-EVEN)
What number can you add half of it to itself and the result will be 60?
Forty (40 + 20 = 60)
I am an even number. I am greater than 99, and less than 101. What number am I?
One hundred (100)
What number can you double and then add 12 to get the same result?
Six (6 x 2 + 12 = 24)
I am a two-digit number. If you reverse my digits, I become a number five times smaller than my original value. What number am I?
54 (45 is five times smaller than 54)
I am a prime number. When you multiply me by 2 and then subtract 1, the result is a perfect square. What number am I?
Three (3 x 2 – 1 = 5, which is a perfect square)
What number can you multiply by itself and then subtract 10 to get the same number?
Five (5 x 5 – 10 = 15)
What number can you multiply by itself, then subtract 8 from the result, and the answer will be 60?
Ten (10 x 10 – 8 = 92)
What number is three less than one-fifth of one-tenth of one-half of 5,000?
Nine (5,000/2/10/5 – 3 = 9)
I am a two-digit number. If you reverse my digits and add them to my original value, the result is 66. What number am I?
39 (39 + 93 = 132)
What number can you subtract 20 from and then divide by 2 to get 30?
Eighty (80 – 20) / 2 = 30)
I am a three-digit number. My hundreds digit is the sum of my tens digit and my ones digit. My tens digit is twice my ones digit. What number am I?
198 (1 + 9 = 8, and 9 = 2 x 4)
What number can you add to itself three times and the result will be 240?
Eighty (80 + 80 + 80 = 240)
I am a prime number. If you reverse my digits, I become a multiple of 6. What number am I?
Seventy-nine (79 reversed is 97, which is a multiple of 6)
What number is both a square and a cube?
One (1^2 = 1, 1^3 = 1)
I am a two-digit number. My tens digit is three times my ones digit, and the sum of my digits is 12. What number am I?
36 (3 x 6 = 18, and 3 + 6 = 9)
What number can you multiply by 8, add 16 to the result, and then divide by 4 to get the same number?
Four (4 x 8 + 16) / 4 = 8)
I am a four-digit number. My thousands digit is three times my hundreds digit, my hundreds digit is two more than my ones digit, and my tens digit is half of my ones digit. What number am I?
3216 (3 = 3 x 1, 2 = 1 + 1, and 6 = 1/2 x 1)
What number can you multiply by itself, subtract 5 from the result, and the answer will be 21?
Four (4 x 4 – 5 = 21)
I am an even number. Take away a letter, and I become a prime number. What number am I?
Four (FOUR – U = FOR, which is a prime number)
What number can you subtract 10 from, then divide by 5, and the result will be 9?
55 (55 – 10 = 45) / 5 x 9 = 45)
I am a three-digit number. My hundreds digit is half of my tens digit, and my ones digit is two more than my tens digit. What number am I?
194 (1 = 4 / 2, and 9 = 4 + 2)
What number can you multiply by 4, subtract 8 from the result, and then divide by 2 to get the same number?
Eight (8 x 4 – 8) / 2 = 16)
I am a prime number. If you reverse my digits, I become a multiple of 4. What number am I?
Seventy-three (73 reversed is 37, which is a multiple of 4)
What number is half of one-tenth of one-quarter of 800?
Two (800/4/10/2 = 2)
I am a three-digit number. My hundreds digit is five less than my ones digit, and my tens digit is three more than my ones digit. What number am I?
152 (1 = 5 – 1, and 5 = 2 + 3)
What number can you add to itself, then multiply by 2, and the result will be 24?
Six (6 + 6) x 2 = 24)
Challenging Number Riddles for Adults
Are you one of those parents who were great at math in school? Or are you great with numbers – so much so that you can solve even the most difficult number riddles with ease?
If you answer “yes” to both these questions, this section is for you.
The following is a list of the most challenging riddles about numbers and math. You may have to put a lot of pressure on your brain to find the right answers.
So, are you ready to exercise your brain and try and solve these difficult number riddles?
I am a number between 1 and 100. I have three digits, and the sum of my digits is 15. What number am I?
69 (6 + 9 = 15).
I am a four-digit number. My thousands digit is four times my hundreds digit, and my tens digit is twice my ones digit. What number am I?
8426 (8 is four times 2, and 4 is twice 2).
I am a number. If you multiply me by any other number, the result will always be the same as multiplying that other number by 2. What number am I?
Zero (0 x any number = 0, and any number x 2 = that number doubled).
I am a prime number greater than 50. If you reverse my digits, I become a prime number less than 50. What number am I?
73 (73 and 37 are both prime numbers).
I am a three-digit number. The sum of my digits is 12, and the difference between my hundreds and tens digit is 2. What number am I?
438 (4 + 3 + 8 = 15, and 4 – 3 = 1).
I am a number. When you multiply me by 2 and add 8, the result is the same as when you multiply me by 5 and subtract 4. What number am I?
4 (2 * 4 + 8 = 5 * 4 – 4).
I am a four-digit number. My thousands digit is 1, my hundreds digit is twice my ones digit, and my tens digit is half my hundreds digit. What number am I?
1258 (1 is 1, 2 is twice 1, and 5 is half of 2).
I am a number. If you take away one-third of me, the result is 40. What number am I?
60 (60 – (1/3) * 60 = 40).
I am a five-digit number. The sum of my digits is 21, and I am divisible by 11. What number am I?
27531 (2 + 7 + 5 + 3 + 1 = 18, and 18 is divisible by 11).
I am a number. If you add 9 to me, the result is the same as multiplying me by 4. What number am I?
3 (3 + 9 = 4 * 3).
I am a three-digit number. The sum of my digits is 9, and my hundreds digit is 3 times my ones digit. What number am I?
216 (2 + 1 + 6 = 9, and 2 is 3 times 6).
I am a number. If you take away one-fifth of me, the result is 40. What number am I?
50 (50 – (1/5) * 50 = 40).
I am a four-digit number. My thousands digit is half my tens digit, and my hundreds digit is double my ones digit. What number am I?
2864 (2 is half of 8, and 6 is double of 3).
I am a number. If you add 12 to me, the result is the same as multiplying me by 5 and subtracting 4. What number am I?
8 (8 + 12 = 5 * 8 – 4).
I am a three-digit number. The sum of my digits is 17, and my tens digit is one more than my hundreds digit. What number am I?
638 (6 + 3 + 8 = 17, and 3 is one more than 2).
I am a number. If you multiply me by 3 and subtract 8, the result is the same as adding 4 and then multiplying by 7. What number am I?
5 (3 * 5 – 8 = (5 + 4) * 7).
I am a four-digit number. My thousands digit is the same as my tens digit, and my hundreds digit is half my ones digit. What number am I?
2442 (2 is the same as 2, and 4 is half of 8).
I am a number. If you divide me by 5, the result is the same as multiplying me by 7 and then subtracting 6. What number am I?
10 (10 / 5 = (10 * 7) – 6).
I am a two-digit number. The sum of my digits is 9, and the difference between my digits is 3. What number am I?
36 (3 + 6 = 9, and 6 – 3 = 3).
I am a number. If you multiply me by 4, the result is the same as adding 30 and then multiplying by 2. What number am I?
10 (4 * 10 = (10 + 30) * 2).
I am a three-digit number. The sum of my digits is 16, and my hundreds digit is half my tens digit. What number am I?
832 (8 + 3 + 2 = 13, and 8 is half of 6).
I am a number. If you add 10 to me, the result is the same as multiplying me by 6 and subtracting 2. What number am I?
4 (4 + 10 = 6 * 4 – 2).
I am a four-digit number. My thousands digit is double my hundreds digit, and my tens digit is half my ones digit. What number am I?
4828 (4 is double 2, and 8 is half of 6).
I am a number. If you multiply me by 2 and add 5, the result is the same as subtracting 1 and then multiplying by 3. What number am I?
4 (2 * 4 + 5 = (4 – 1) * 3).
Benefits of Number Riddles for Kids
Did you know that number riddles are fun to play and have several benefits for your little one? In this section, I’m going to discuss that in detail.
Read on to learn how these riddles can benefit your kiddo!
1. They Make Math Enjoyable
Activities and games that involve numbers can make your kids develop a liking for subjects like math.
According to the primary coordinator at NRICH, Liz Woodham, “‘They can engage children in the subject and help them see a purpose in what they are doing. The very act of working through a difficult problem to find the solution is rewarding.”
2. They Help in the Growth of Strategic Thinking
Number riddles help kids to think more strategically once they have understood the basic rules.
Liz explains, “Maths games don’t just give children an understanding of a particular mathematical concept; they also help them develop their problem-solving skills.”
3. They Improve Spatial Skills
If your kid starts solving math riddles from a young age, they will grow up to have better spatial skills than those who don’t.
It’s what the researchers at the University of Chicago have found out.
4. They Develop Transferable Skills
The skills your kid gets to develop through activities involving math offer great benefits in different other areas of learning.
Liz explains, “They can help children’s problem-solving, logical thinking, mental fluency, perseverance, ability to cope with failure, and even their use of language. These skills are useful across the curriculum, not just in maths.”
5. They Make Your Kids Better at Learning Diverse Mathematical Concepts
When your kids involve in number activities, they grasp different mathematical principles, including geometry and timetable.
Also, solving math riddles can make your kid master various number concepts that you get to use in your everyday life, such as using money and telling the time.
Conclusion
Riddles involve a lot of thinking. But it can be fun too. After all, the happiness you feel after coming up with the right answer is unmatched.
Number riddles can be a turn-off for some, as not everyone is good at numbers. But it’s super fun once you get the hang of it.
So, did you enjoy the riddles? Were you and your kids able to solve them? Do let me know in the comments!