Using riddles in school

Riddles in the Classroom

Here at Cloud Kingdom we often hear from educators who use our riddles in their classrooms. Getting the kids to think "outside the box" is one of the most common reasons, while using the riddles as a kind of jumpstart - something to help get their thoughts in gear - is another.

Choosing the right riddle to use will depend on your students, of course. Many of our riddles are written with allusions or metaphors that may not make any sense to a sixth grader, but which are fine for a high school senior.

What you'll find in our riddles is a mix of:

Word games. Puns, double meanings and clever uses of homonyms to mislead the reader.
Metaphors. We often describe something obliquely so that the description is accurate, yet unexpected.
Multiple definitions. We'll often take a single word and write a poem where each line or pair of lines is keyed to a different definition of the word.

All of these work well for stretching students' vocabulary, problem solving and lateral thinking.

We've started collecting some of these ideas to help you, the educator, use riddles in the classroom.