We’ve looked up to our dads since we were young. We think about them as capable heroes, smart teachers, and the coolest guys in the world even when they tell the occasional dad joke! Daddies have the intellect that many kids admire for their whole lives, but if you truly want to test your dad and his IQ in a fun way, why don’t you introduce your dad to a few dad riddles?
A dad riddle is a good way for dads and children to bond regardless of age. It will test not only the intellect with those tricky brain teasers, but also the sense of humor. From complex math riddles to easy riddles that are just for fun, boost creativity and imagination while you try to think up the correct answers to the dad riddles together.
1. A single dad named Mark was left to raise 3 kids: Billy, Harry, and Mark. Billy left for college in 2019. Harry left in 2020. Mark left in 2023. Who left first?
Answer: Mother. In order for Mark to be a single dad, the mother had to leave him and the kids first.
2. What can you put in a barrel that makes the barrel lighter?
Answer: A hole
3. Almost everyone needs it, asks for it, and gives it. But almost nobody takes it. What is it?
Answer: Advice
4. When my father was 31, I was 8. Now, he is twice as old as me. How old am I?
Answer: I must be 23 if my father is twice as old as me.
5. A doctor and a boy were fishing. The boy was the doctor’s son, but the doctor was not the boy’s father. Who was the doctor?
Answer: His mother
6. Why are fathers like parking spaces?
Answer: The good ones are already taken
7. A father has 4 daughters. Each of his daughters has a brother. How many children does he have?
Answer: The answer is 5 because each girl has the same brother.
8. What belongs to you, but others use it more than you do?
Answer: Your name
9. A man was driving a black truck. His lights were not on. The moon was not out. A lady was crossing the street. How did the man see her?
Answer: It was a bright and sunny day
10. Two fathers and two sons go fishing together in the same boat. They all catch one fish each but the total catch for the day is three fish. How is this possible?
Answer: There are only three men: A grandfather, a father (the grandfather’s son), and the father’s son
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Top Gifts for Dads (more dad riddles below!)
11. How many animals did Moses take on the ark?
Answer: Zero. Moses didn’t take anything on the ark. Noah did.
12. What did the pirate dad say on his 80th birthday?
Answer: “Aye Matey.” (sounds like “I’m eighty if you say it in a pirate voice”)
13. What does your dad answer when you ask him what the movie he’s watching is about?
Answer: “It’s about 2 hours.”
14. After you’ve awakened in the car, which your father has been driving for a long distance, what does he say when you ask him where you are?
Answer: “In the car.”
15. Someone’s father has 4 sons. The first, second and third sons are named North, West, and South. What is the name of the fourth son?
Answer: Someone. It’s a trick to make you think that Someone isn’t an actual name. You’re supposed to be misled into thinking the name is East. But the answer is actually Someone.
16. What did the daddy chimney say to the baby chimney?
Answer: You’re too little to smoke!
17. John has 5 children. The 1st kid is named January. The 2nd kid is February. His 3rd is called March, and the 4th is April. What is the name of the 5th.
Answer: What. The name of John’s 5th child is What. (the last sentence isn’t a question)
18. What’s mom and dad’s favorite ride at the fair?
Answer: A married-go-round! (Merry-go-around)
19. What jumps higher than a building?
Answer: Everything. Buildings do not jump at all.
20. If six children were under an umbrella and their two dogs were not under the umbrella, how come the dogs did not get wet?
Answer: Because it wasn’t raining.
21. What do you call an ape who is just like his father?
Answer: A chimp off the old block
22. What is something you can put in your pocket that keeps it empty?
Answer: A big hole, large enough for the contents to fall out
23. What is the difference between a poorly dressed man on a tricycle and a well-dressed man on a bicycle?
Answer: Attire (pun for a tire)
24. Malcolm is the number of weeks of his father’s age treated as days and his grandfather’s age in months. All three of their ages add up to 120 years. How old is Malcolm, his father, and his grandfather?
Answer: Malcolm is 6. Malcolm’s father is 42. His grandfather is 72. If Malcolm’s father is 42, then 42 days is equal to 6 weeks, which would make Malcolm 6 years old. If his grandfather is 72, then 72 months is equivalent to 6 years, which is also Malcolm’s age. Add 72 + 42 + 6 and you get a sum of 120.
25. What do you call a ghost’s mom and dad?
Answer: Transparents
26. Two fathers and two sons walk into an ice cream shop. They each order an ice cream cone, and the ice cream man brings them 3 cones. Why did he only bring 3?
Answer: There were 3 men – a son, his father and the father’s father. Two of them are fathers and two of them are sons.
27. What kind of coat is always wet when you put it on?
Answer: A coat of paint
28. A man walks into an art museum and stares at a painting. When a guard walks up and ask him why he is so interested in the painting, he responds with, “Brothers and sisters I have none. But that man’s father is my father’s son.” Who is the man in the painting?
Answer: The man in the painting is his son. Since he does not have any brothers or sisters, the statement “my father’s son” is himself. A shortened version would be this man’s father is myself. So, he is the father of the man in the painting.
29. A man started to town with a fox, a goose, and a sack of corn. He came to a stream, which he had to cross in a tiny boat. He could only take one across at a time. He could not leave the fox alone with the goose, or the goose alone with the corn. How did he get them all safely over the stream?
Answer: The man took the goose across the stream first, and he came back. Then, he took the fox across and brought the goose back. Next, he took the corn across while leaving the goose behind. He came back alone and took the goose across the stream again.
30. What does your father call an obese psychic?
Answer: A four-chin teller (pun for fortune teller)
31. Why are parents so boring?
Answer: Because they are “groan” ups (pun for grown-ups)
32. What is as lighter than a feather, but even the strongest man can’t hold it for very long?
Answer: Breath
33. What has 13 hearts, but no other organs?
Answer: A deck of playing cards
34. What relation would your mother’s sister’s only brother-in-law be to you?
Answer: Your dad
35. I sometimes run, but I cannot walk. You always follow me around. What am I?
Answer: Your nose
36. What do you call your dad if he’s ice skating and he falls through the ice?
Answer: A pop-sicle
37. What’s more useful after you break it?
Answer: An egg
38. How many bananas can you eat if your stomach is empty?
Answer: Just one – after that, it’s not empty anymore.
39. What are southern fathers called?
Answer: Southpaws
40. When your dad is the first one into the swimming pool, and you ask, “How’s the water?”, what will he say?
Answer: Wet
41. You can’t keep until you have given it?
Answer: A promise
42. The 22nd and 24th presidents of the United States of America had the same parents but were not brothers. How can this be possible?
Answer: They were the same man. The 22nd and 24th President of the United States of America was Grover Cleveland.
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Dad riddles and dad jokes are just the tip of the iceberg! Challenge you dad while keeping him entertained with some more family fun.