Six Benefits of Riddles for Children

By: Justin Zablocki (author, Zablocki Bros. LLC) on October 7th, 2013 12:00 AM.

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In a world where children's lives are becoming increasingly more invested in social networks, it is becoming very important to find ways to bond with children and help them learn outside of these networks. A very good way of doing this is sharing riddles with children and teaching them the logic behind them. Riddles are more beneficial and can improve children's mental state in more ways than you may expect.

1. Introduce them to intellectual humor: Laughter is important to happiness and health. In addition, laughter is a very good way to motivate people to continue working after a long monotonous day. It can relax the brain and body, helps us release stress, and makes us feel great. Boredom and keeping children's attention is one of the largest problems associated with education today, so riddles can be a great way to break up the day and relax the brain, while keeping the brain working.
2. Work their brains: Problem solving and critical thinking skills are two of the most important and sought after abilities in society today. This is demonstrated by the importance of standardized testing when getting into college and graduate school. Both the ACT and SAT are heavily based on critical thinking and problem solving skills. Riddles have been shown to improve children's comprehension and creativity, making them the perfect prep for children.
3. Reading comprehension: In the United States literacy rates are at 99 percent, but comprehension is very different and falls on a spectrum. Everybody can read to some extent, but this doesn't mean that they can read quickly enough or understand difficult content that will enable them to be useful in the workforce. Riddles can help out with this by expanding vocabulary and increasing the ability to understand context.
4. Expand their vocabulary: When children (and really everyone) encounter words that they don't understand they figure them out through context. Riddles give words a great deal of context which makes it easier for children to learn, remember and use these words. In another way, riddles force kids to ask more questions about words they don't understand.
5. Giving them the opportunity to teach: Teaching kids riddles allows them to know and understand something that most other people do not, giving them an opportunity to repeat them and teach them to others. When children learn riddles it's very different from most of what they learn, they can teach these riddles to their peers, parents, and teachers. This reinforces their understanding of the riddle and it also allows them to interact with people in a constructive social way.
6. To bond with children: Telling and teaching riddles to children is a great way to form relationships with them and break through any social issues the child may have, making it easier for them to form social relationships in the future.

This is why children should all be exposed to a good number of riddles.

If you want some great riddles for kids visit the Kids Riddles Section