Riddles (B1 Listening & Speaking)


Riddle Game

Szabó Nikolett and Horváth Szana Dorina


Part 1: The Game

Level & Learning Outcomes

Through participating in this game students will practice discourse and listening skills. 

They are challenged to find out different riddles that they receive in pairs, then by inventing their own riddles they make other pairs listen and then by discussing the answers they also practice discourse. 


Level: intermediate


Materials needed 

  • boardmarker 

  • Worksheet with riddles (Appendix A)

  • Answer Key (Appendix B)


Object of Game

To get the most points by correctly guessing and creating riddles.


Rules of Play

  1. Divide group into pairs.

  2. Each pair receives a worksheet with riddles on it. 

  3. The pairs have to guess the solutions for the riddles. 

  4. Based on the examples of the first round, students have to create their own riddles that they will ask from the other pairs. 

  5. Each pair presents their riddles and the other pairs make guesses. 


Scorekeeping

Every correctly guessed solution means 1 point. 

Every invented riddle means 1 point. 

Part 2: Reflection

It seemed that in solving the riddles on the worksheet students enjoyed the guessing part; they were engaged in the activity and had fun. Maybe to make this first part more interesting we could have projected the riddles on the board one by one and given a time limit for guessing, but in my opinion, allowing the students to see all the riddles on the worksheet provided a safer environment and it contributed more to their sense of success. 

It was more difficult for students to invent their own riddles.  There was a group that couldn’t come up with any ideas, but the positive part of it was that they could still guess the solution for the other pairs’ riddles. Maybe in this part the teacher can provide students with some clues, like giving each pair different pictures, or words that could set students’ imagination into motion. 

This activity fostered creativity, feedback, autonomy, competition, cooperation, failure, unpredictability, and curiosity. Students had to be creative in order to guess and invent their own riddles. They received constant feedback with points. They had autonomy in the invention of riddles and also in the guessing. The members of the pairs collaborated and competed with the other pairs. When one of the pairs failed in inventing any riddles, it didn’t mean any disadvantage for them. I believe that the game was also unpredictable with the new and new riddles that always made students curious. SN


This game encouraged students to think in English, because some of the riddles were based on the language (see: Appendix B – 3. C = sea). It required active listening, since they had to listen to the details of the riddles carefully. What is more, students had to use their creative minds and think outside the box to find the solutions for the riddles.

It seemed that solving the riddles was a joyful experience for students, they were engaged in the activity and they seemed to have a lot of fun. Looking back, this part of the game could have been more exciting if the riddles had been presented on the smart board individually, and a time limit had been added.  This version of the game would have been more suitable for advanced level students, who can take the extra pressure. The original setting provides a safer space for intermediate students, because they could manage their own time, and success was more achievable.

A common opinion of the group was that it was really challenging to come up with their own riddles; even remembering existing ones was difficult. One pair struggled to put down even one riddle, so they got visibly frustrated. On the other hand, they could still gain points for guessing the other pairs’ riddles. This way their sense of failure was compensated. Maybe in this part the teacher can provide clues or pictures to students, in order to guide their thinking. 

All in all, participants were driven by different sources of motivation. They had the chance to cooperate with their partners, while competing with the other pairs. They had to use their creativity both in the first part (guessing riddles) and the second part (creating riddles). They could invent their own riddles which other pairs had to figure out. This part of the game gave them a sense of autonomy. The riddles enhanced the participants’ curiosity. I think in general, humans are curious, and they like thinking and solving problems by their nature. Unpredictability was also a factor of this game, since every individual and every pair had different thinking patterns and a different cultural background, which contributed to the creation of their own riddles that the others couldn’t predict. They received constant feedback with points, and by the reactions of the other participants who expressed their opinions about the riddles. Everyone had their chance to shine. Some of them were better at quick problem solving, at the guessing part of the game, some were better at creating riddles. HS


Part 3 Appendices

Appendix A: List of the Riddles


1. How many letters are there in the alphabet? 

2. What occurs once in a minute, twice in a moment and never in one thousand years?

3. Which letter of the alphabet has the most water? 

4. What five-letter word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it?

5. What word begins and ends with an E but only has one letter?

6. I am full of holes; I can hold water. What am I? 

7. What gets wet when drying? 

8. What is it the more you take away the larger it becomes?

9. What can’t be used until it’s broken?

10. What can you catch, but not throw?


Appendix A: Solutions of the Riddles

1. 11

2. the letter M

3. C (sea)

4. short

5. envelope

6. sponge

7. towel

8. hole

9. egg

10. cold

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