Mirrors seem to flip the world, but they do not actually swap left and right, and that is just one of the surprises in this collection. These riddles cover mirrors at home, the science of reflection and some classic mirror brain teasers.
Each riddle has a different answer, from periscopes and one-way glass to the mirrors astronauts left on the Moon.
Easy Mirror Riddles for Kids
- When you look into me, you see yourself looking back. What am I? 👉 A mirror
- When you smile at me, I smile back, but I am not a person. What am I? 👉 Your reflection
- I am a small mirror on a car that shows what is behind you. What am I? 👉 A rear-view mirror
- I make you look tall, short or wobbly at the fair. What am I? 👉 A funhouse mirror
- I am a tiny mirror on a stick that dentists use to see your back teeth. What am I? 👉 A dental mirror
- I am a small, round mirror that folds shut and fits in a handbag. What am I? 👉 A compact
- I am a bathroom cupboard with a mirror on my door. What am I? 👉 A medicine cabinet
- I am calm, flat water that reflects the trees and sky. What am I? 👉 A still pond
- I am a long tube with two angled mirrors that lets submarine crews see above the water. What am I? 👉 A periscope
Mirror Science and Story Riddles
These riddles are based on real science, history and old stories. The note after each answer explains it.
- A mirror does not really swap left and right. What does it actually reverse? 👉 Front and back
- Behind the glass of a mirror is a very thin layer of me. What am I? 👉 Metal (usually silver or aluminum)
- An old superstition says breaking a mirror brings this many years of bad luck. How many? 👉 Seven
- In the fairy tale, she asks her magic mirror who is the fairest of them all. Who is she? 👉 Snow White’s stepmother
- In Greek myth, a young man fell in love with his own reflection in this. What was it? 👉 A pool of water (his name was Narcissus)
- This word is written backward on the front of a vehicle so drivers can read it in their mirrors. What is it? 👉 AMBULANCE
- I am a telescope that uses a curved mirror instead of a lens. What am I? 👉 A reflecting telescope (Isaac Newton built one of the first)
- Astronauts left special mirrors on the Moon so scientists could measure this with lasers. What is it? 👉 The distance to the Moon
- I look like a mirror on one side, but people can see through me from the other side. What am I? 👉 A one-way mirror
- Light bounces off a mirror at the same angle it arrives. What is this rule called? 👉 The law of reflection
- I am an animal that can recognize myself in a mirror. Name one great ape. 👉 A chimpanzee
- Long before glass mirrors, people polished this black volcanic glass to see their reflection. What is it? 👉 Obsidian
- I am a famous room with 357 mirrors in a French palace. What am I? 👉 The Hall of Mirrors at Versailles
- I am the reflector on bikes and road signs that shines light straight back at the driver. What am I? 👉 A retroreflector
Mirror Brain Teasers
- Two mirrors face each other. What do you see between them? 👉 An endless tunnel of reflections
- A clock shows 3:00. What time does it seem to show in a mirror? 👉 9:00
- A clock shows 2:30. What time does it seem to show in a mirror? 👉 9:30
- Which of these capital letters looks the same in a mirror: A, B or C? 👉 A
- You hold up a sign that says TOOT to a mirror. What does the reflection say? 👉 TOOT
- You are locked in a room with only a mirror and a table. How do you escape? 👉 Look in the mirror, see what you saw, use the saw to cut the table in half, put the two halves together to make a whole and climb out
- Why did the mirror get top marks? 👉 It always reflected on its work
Want more riddles? Browse our blog for more collections, and if you spot a mistake in any answer, let us know on our Contact page.