Thanksgiving is all about family, food and gratitude, and a few riddles between the turkey and the pumpkin pie keep everyone at the table smiling. In 2026 Thanksgiving falls on Thursday, 26 November. Here are 40 Thanksgiving riddles with answers for kids and adults.
Contents
- Easy Thanksgiving Riddles for Kids
- Funny Thanksgiving Riddles
- Harder Thanksgiving Riddles for Adults
- More Holiday Riddles
- Frequently Asked Questions
Easy Thanksgiving Riddles for Kids
1. I have feathers and a wobbly red wattle. I say “gobble gobble” and I’m the star of the November table. What am I?
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Answer: A turkey.
2. I’m orange, round and baked into a pie. What am I?
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Answer: A pumpkin.
3. I’m red, a little sour, and served as a sauce with turkey. What am I?
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Answer: A cranberry.
4. I’m a giant parade in New York every Thanksgiving morning. What am I?
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Answer: The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
5. I’m a bone you pull with a friend to make a wish. What am I?
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Answer: The wishbone.
6. I’m mashed, white and fluffy, and I love gravy. What am I?
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Mashed potatoes.
7. I’m yellow, grow on a cob and pop when heated. What am I?
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Corn.
8. I’m a horn full of fruit and vegetables, a symbol of plenty. What am I?
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Answer: A cornucopia.
9. I fall from trees in autumn in red, orange and brown. What am I?
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Leaves.
10. What sport is played on TV every Thanksgiving afternoon in the US?
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American football.
Funny Thanksgiving Riddles
11. Why did the turkey cross the road?
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Answer: It was the chicken’s day off.
12. What do you call a running turkey?
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Fast food.
13. Why did the turkey join the band?
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Answer: Because it had the drumsticks.
14. What did the turkey say to the computer?
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Answer: “Google, google, google!”
15. Why was the turkey so full?
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Answer: Because it was stuffed.
16. What key has legs and can’t open doors?
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Answer: A tur-key.
17. What do you get when you cross a turkey with an octopus?
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Answer: Enough drumsticks for everyone.
18. Why did the cranberries turn red?
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Answer: Because they saw the turkey dressing.
19. What’s a pumpkin’s favourite sport?
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Squash.
20. Can a turkey jump higher than the Empire State Building?
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Answer: Yes – buildings can’t jump.
21. What do turkeys like to eat on Thanksgiving?
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Nothing – they’re already stuffed.
22. Why did the police arrest the turkey?
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Answer: They suspected fowl play.
23. What did the mother turkey say to her naughty kids?
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Answer: “If your father could see you now, he’d turn over in his gravy!”
24. Which side of the turkey has the most feathers?
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Answer: The outside.
25. What does a turkey use to play the drums?
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Answer: His drumsticks, of course – the best beat in the barn.
Harder Thanksgiving Riddles for Adults
26. What has a bed but never sleeps, and runs past the farm where the turkeys roam?
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Answer: A river.
27. The more you have of it, the less you see. It arrives early on November evenings. What is it?
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Darkness.
28. What can you serve but never eat?
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Answer: A tennis ball (or a volleyball).
29. I’m full of holes but still hold water, and after dinner I’m the busiest thing in the kitchen. What am I?
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Answer: A sponge.
30. Forward I’m heavy, backward I’m not. What am I?
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Answer: A ton (backwards: “not”).
31. Two mothers and two daughters share three slices of pie, and each gets one whole slice. How?
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Answer: They are a grandmother, mother and daughter.
32. What gets wetter the more it dries, especially after a big dinner?
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Answer: A dish towel.
33. What breaks yet never falls, and what falls yet never breaks?
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Day breaks and night falls.
34. What has an eye but cannot see, and helps sew the Thanksgiving tablecloth?
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Answer: A needle.
35. What has many ears but cannot hear?
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Answer: A corn field (ears of corn).
36. What begins with T, ends with T and has T in it?
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Answer: A teapot.
37. What word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it?
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Short (shorter).
38. What runs around the whole farm but never moves?
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Answer: The fence.
39. I have a head and a tail but no body. What am I?
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Answer: A coin.
40. What can you hold without ever touching it, especially at a big family dinner?
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Answer: A conversation.
More Holiday Riddles
- 60+ Halloween Riddles
- Christmas Riddles with Answers – the next holiday
- New Year Riddles 2027
- 1000+ Easy Riddles
Frequently Asked Questions
When is Thanksgiving 2026?
In the United States, Thanksgiving 2026 is on Thursday, 26 November. Canadian Thanksgiving was on Monday, 12 October 2026.
What is a good Thanksgiving riddle for kids?
“What key has legs and can’t open doors?” – a tur-key! Short turkey jokes like this work great for young children.
How do you play a Thanksgiving riddle game?
Put a riddle under each plate. Before dessert, everyone reads theirs aloud and the table has to guess the answer.