50+ Thanksgiving Riddles for Kids With Answers

Print a few, read them out loud at the table, or hand your kid the list and let them stump their cousins. Either way, you get a built-in activity that needs zero setup.

Why Thanksgiving Riddles Are Worth the 10 Minutes

A good thanksgiving riddle makes a kid think for a second before they laugh. It's a quick puzzle with a funny payoff instead of a lecture. Riddles for thanksgiving work especially well because the setup is familiar. Your kid already knows what a turkey, a pumpkin, and a dinner table look like. That makes the wordplay land faster than it would with a riddle about something they've never seen.

They're also one of the easiest thanksgiving day riddles you can pull out anywhere. Use them in the car on the way to grandma's, at the kids' table while the adults talk, or as a five-minute activity before the food's ready. This list is the only thing you need.

The riddles below are grouped by type and difficulty, so you can match them to the ages actually sitting at your table. Start with the funny ones for younger kids, then work up to the harder riddles once they've warmed up.

Funny Thanksgiving Riddles for Kids

These are the easy, punny ones. Great for ages 4 and up, and perfect for a quick laugh between courses.

1. What's a turkey's favorite dessert? 
   Pumpkin gobbler pie.
2. Why did the turkey join the band? 
   Because it had the drumsticks.
3. What do you call a turkey on the day after Thanksgiving? 
   Lucky.
4. What smells the best at Thanksgiving dinner? 
   Your nose.
5. Why did the police officer arrest the turkey? 
   They suspected it of fowl play.
6. What did the little corn say to the mama corn? 
   Where's popcorn?
7. What do you call a dancing turkey? 
   A turkey trot.
8. What always comes at the end of Thanksgiving? 
   The letter G.
9. Why can't you take a turkey to church? 
   They use fowl language.
10. What key has legs but can't open a door? 
    A turkey.
11. What do you call a turkey that tells bad jokes? 
    A corny bird.
12. Why did the pie refuse to share? 
    It wanted to stay whole.
13. What did the mashed potatoes say to the gravy? 
    You complete me.
14. What's a turkey's favorite instrument? 
    The drumstick.
15. Why did the napkin get invited to dinner? 
    Because things were about to get messy.

Turkey Riddles with Answers

Turkey riddles with answers get their own section here because turkeys are the one thing every kid at the table recognizes instantly. 

1. I'm red, I gobble, and I have feathers. What am I? 
   A turkey.
2. What do you get when you cross a turkey with an octopus? 
   Enough drumsticks for everyone.
3. Why do turkeys always nap after Thanksgiving dinner? 
   Because they're stuffed.
4. What did the turkey say before it got cooked? 
   Boy, I'm stuffed.
5. If a turkey could talk, what two words would it never say? 
   "Come here."
6. Why wasn't the turkey hungry on Thanksgiving? 
   It was already stuffed.
7. What do turkeys wear to a fancy dinner? 
   A gobble gown.
8. Why did the turkey cross the road twice? 
   To prove it wasn't chicken, both times.
9. What do you call a turkey in a tuxedo? 
   A very fancy bird.
10. Why does a turkey never get lost on the farm? 
    It always follows the flock.
11. What's a turkey's least favorite month? 
    November.
12. Why do turkeys hate Black Friday? 
    They're already gone by then.
13. What do you call a turkey that won't stop talking? 
    A real gobbler.

Hard Thanksgiving Riddles with Answers (for Older Kids)

Hard thanksgiving riddles with answers work better for kids around 8 and up, since a few of these need a second of real thinking instead of a quick guess.

1. The more you take, the more you leave behind. What am I? 
   Footsteps.
2. What has a neck but no head, and wears a collar but is never seen on a dog? 
   A bottle of cranberry sauce.
3. I have hands but no arms, and a face but no eyes. What am I? 
   A clock, like the one everyone's watching before dinner.
4. What belongs to you but other people use it more than you do? 
   Your name.
5. What comes once in Thanksgiving, twice in a week, but never in a day? 
   The letter S.
6. I'm tall when I'm young and short when I'm old. What am I? 
   A candle.
7. If the Pilgrims, the Wampanoag, and the Puritans all have one thing in common, what is it? 
   The letter I.
8. What has a bottom at the top? 
   Your leg.
9. The more you remove from me, the bigger I get. What am I? 
   A hole.
10. What goes up but never comes back down? 
    Your age.
11. What has lots of keys but can't open a single lock? 
    A piano.
12. I'm full of holes, but I still soak up gravy without leaking a drop. What am I? 
    A sponge.

Thanksgiving Math Riddles

Thanksgiving math riddles turn the holiday into a quick mental math warm-up, which is handy if you're trying to keep school skills from going rusty over the long weekend. Keep paper nearby for the trickier ones.

1. What weighs more, a pound of turkey or a pound of cranberries?
   Neither. A pound is a pound, no matter what it's made of.
2. Grandma bakes a dozen rolls, and all but 4 get eaten before dinner even starts. How many rolls are left?
   4.
3. You have 7 pumpkin pies, and I take 3 of them from you. How many pies do I have?
   3, since they're in my hands now, not yours.
4. Two mothers and two daughters sit down for dinner, but only 3 plates get set out. How is everyone covered?
   It's a grandmother, a mother, and a daughter, just 3 people in all.
5. If today is Thanksgiving Thursday, what day of the week was it exactly one week ago?
   Also Thursday.
6. If 2 kids can eat 2 slices of pie in 2 minutes, how long does it take 6 kids to eat 6 slices?
   Still 2 minutes, since every kid is eating their own slice at the same time.
7. How many months of the year have fewer than 28 days?
   None. Every month has at least 28 days.
8. Three turkeys and one dinner table share a kitchen. Count every leg in the room. What's the total?
   10. Six turkey legs plus four table legs.
9. I have two coins in my pocket that add up to 30 cents, and one of them isn't a nickel. What are the two coins?
   A quarter and a nickel. The quarter is the one that isn't a nickel.
10. A turkey costs $16 more than a pie, and together they cost $20. How much does the pie cost?
    $2. The turkey costs $18, and $18 plus $2 makes $20.
11. A pumpkin pie is cut into 8 equal slices, and 5 get eaten before dessert is even announced. What fraction of the pie is left?
    Three-eighths of the pie.

For more practice like this once the holiday's over, our math games for kids cover the same kind of quick number problems, built for ages 2 to 6+.

How to Use These Riddles at Your Table

You don't need a plan for this. Pick a few fun thanksgiving riddles that match your kid's age, then use them however fits the moment.

• Print the list and cut it into strips, then let each person at the kids' table pull one and read it out loud.
• Hide a riddle under each place setting so guests solve one before they sit down, the same way you'd run an ice breaker game at the start of a party.
• Go around the table in a circle, and see who can answer the most without peeking.
• Save the hard riddles for older cousins and the funny ones for the little kids, so nobody feels left out or bored.

More Thanksgiving Fun to Print

Once the riddles run out, you've still got a few hours before dessert. Keiki World has free printable Thanksgiving coloring pages, turkeys, pumpkins, and autumn scenes sized for kids ages 2 to 6+. They're a quiet, screen-free way to keep kids busy at the table without needing you to referee anything.

Print a few ahead of time and set them out with crayons before guests arrive. It's one less thing to manage once the kitchen gets busy, and it gives younger kids something to do while the older ones work through the trickier riddles.