Ages 10-12

82 Jokes for 10 Year Olds (Clever and Clean)

Jokes for 10, 11, and 12 year olds that are clever enough to survive a tween audience - real wordplay, no baby jokes, and still completely clean.

82 jokes, answers includedPrint these jokes

What a tween will actually laugh at

Ten is the age where a child starts refusing jokes on principle. They have heard the classics, they can spot a joke aimed at a six-year-old from across the room, and being seen enjoying one is a social risk. The bar goes up sharply.

What still works is misdirection - a setup that steers you toward one answer and then delivers another - and puns that take a second to resolve. "What five-letter word sounds the same after you take away four letters?" is a fair fight for a ten-year-old in a way that "what do you call a sleeping dinosaur" is not.

This page holds only the harder end of the collection: the medium-difficulty jokes and the riddles that need a moment. It deliberately does not repeat the material from the pages for younger children.

How to tell them

Lead with a riddle rather than a joke. A challenge gets a tween in where a punchline will not.
Do not oversell it. "This one is quite good" beats "this one is hilarious".
Let them be the one who tells it to a younger sibling. That is where the appeal is at this age.
Wordplay that needs a second to resolve is the sweet spot. Instant punchlines feel babyish now.
Long car journeys and family dinners are still the best venue, even if nobody admits it.

Riddles and brain teasers for 10 year olds

The ones worth pausing on. Guess before you open the answer.

riddles

What can travel around the world while staying in a corner?

Reveal the answer!

Answer: A stamp!

Ages 7-12

What a tween will actually laugh at

How to tell them

Riddles and brain teasers for 10 year olds

What can travel around the world while staying in a corner?

What breaks but never falls, and falls but never breaks?

What can you hold without touching it?

What has cities but no houses, forests but no trees, and water but no fish?

What can go through a door without opening it?

What word is always spelled wrong in the dictionary?

What starts with E, ends with E, but has only one letter?

What five-letter word becomes shorter when you add two letters?

What comes once in a minute, twice in a moment, but never in a thousand years?

I am not alive, but I grow. I have no lungs, but I need air. What am I?

What gets sharper the more you use it?

What can be cracked, made, told, and played?

What is always in front of you but can never be seen?

What can you keep even after you give it to someone?

Where does Friday come before Thursday?

What can go up a chimney down, but cannot go down a chimney up?

Which is heavier, a pound of feathers or a pound of bricks?

What five-letter word sounds the same after you take away four letters?

What is so delicate that saying its name breaks it?

What do you throw out when you want to use it and take in when you don't?

What has a heart that never beats?

What five-letter word has only one left when you take two letters away?

What has four eyes but cannot see a thing?

Puns and wordplay for tweens

Time flies like an arrow...

I used to hate math...

I'm reading a book about anti-gravity...

I'm talking to my calendar...

What's great about elevator jokes?

The past, present, and future walked into a room...

How do you make an egg laugh?

Why was the battery feeling down?

Why don't scientists trust atoms?

Why are bakers so good at maths?

Why was the calendar feeling down?

Why did the tree go to the dentist?

Why did the computer catch a cold?

Why was the electrician always shocked?

Why did the astronaut break up with his girlfriend?

Why did the window do a bad job?

More clever jokes for ages 10-12

Knock knock! Who's there? Wooden shoe.

Knock knock! Who's there? A little old lady.

Knock knock! Who's there? Doctor.

Knock knock! Who's there? Dozen.

What dinosaur had the best vocabulary?

Why are spiders so good at the internet?

What do you call an alligator in a vest?

Why are giraffes slow to apologize?

What do you call a deer with no eyes?

Why did the lion eat the tightrope walker?

What vegetable do you not want on a ship?

Why did the coffee call the police?

Why did the bread break up with butter?

Why did the apple go out with a prune?

What did the sushi say to the bee?

Why did the yogurt go to the museum?

Why did the pear go on a date?

Why did the watermelon have such a big wedding?

Why did the milk go to school?

What did the gym equipment say to the students?

Why did the computer go to school?

Why did the student study on an airplane?

Why did the dictionary go to the doctor?

What did the geometry teacher say to the misbehaving student?

Why did the student bring a mirror to the test?

Why was the calculator such a good classmate?

Why did the picture go to jail?

Why don't ghosts like rain?

What do you call a factory that makes good products?

Why did the rope go to the party?

Why did the coffee file a police report?

Why is a comet a bad party guest?

What did Earth say to the other planets?

Why did the tennis player never get married?

What do you call a singing computer?

Why did the phone wear glasses?