One of my favourite things to do with my campers is to drive them crazy with riddles (this works on your fellow counsellors too!) – at my camp we call them ‘Never Tell‘ games because, well, you are never allowed to tell anyone the answer. So obviously this post might drive some of you a bit mad too, because I’m sticking to the rules and I’m not going to tell you the answers – if you think you’ve figured them out, leave me comment below giving another example, but please DO NOT give away the answers!
I’m just going to give you three of my favourites to start with…

1. Green Glass Door
This is by far my favourite one and it’s usually the best one to start with.
There’s a green glass door. Some things can go through the green glass door but other things can’t:
For example…
A puppy can go through the green glass door, but a dog can’t.
A kitten can go through, but a cat can’t.
A spoon can go through, but a fork can’t.
A pool can go through, but a lake can’t.
What else can go through the green glass door?
2. Elephants
This is a great one to play while you’re in your cabin/tent and just chilling out, or when you’re giving your campers a tour around camp. The aim is to work out the answer to the final question. I’ll give you the first few and then leave you with a final question to work out yourselves.
There are 5 elephants on your head, 9 elephants in your shoe and 7 elephants up that tree over there, how many elephants are inside your cabin?
The answer is 7.
I’ll give you another one…
There are 22 elephants in the hood of your coat, 2 elephants on the roof and 8 elephants up your nose, how many elephants are hiding under your bed?
The answer is 8.
Last one…
There are 12 elephants in my pocket, 19 elephants in your coffee mug and 4 elephants under your pillow, how many elephants are splashing around in the swimming pool?
The answer is… ?
3. Magic Number
Oooh, another one of my favs. I’m going to start with a random number and then work my way to 4, which is the magic number. The idea is that you have to figure out how you get from one number to the next and all the way back to 4 each time.
10 is 3, 3 is 5, 5 is 4, 4 is the magic number.
Another one?
12 is 6, 6 is 3, 3 is 5, 5 is 4, 4 is the magic number.
And again? I’ll do it slightly differently this time.
Eighteen is 8, eight is 5, five is 4, four is the magic number.
Why the heck is 4 the magic number? You tell me…

Do you have any other favourite riddles you could tell to your campers? I’d love to hear them.
And don’t forget to comment below when you think you’ve worked them out! Feel free to message me on twitter if they’re really driving you crazy… I might just be able to give you a few little clues.
Love doing these with the campers! The Elephant one is new to me, so i’ll have to try that one this year
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Yes definitely try it! The elephant one drives people crazy!
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Ggd: a bottle can go through the green glass door but a cup can’t.
Elephants: 4
Magic number: 11 is 6, 6 is 3, 3 is 5, 5 is 4, 4 is the magic number?
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You got it!
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Silly Sally~
One person says “silly Sally likes kittens, but not cats”, “likes the moon but not the sun”, “she likes pools but not water” the secret is that siLLy saLLy only likes words with double letters!
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A tree can go through the green glass door but a plant can’t?
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YES!
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So 44 is 9, 9 is 4, 4 is the magic number.
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Correct!
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Six elephants are on a boat, seven on a train and eight on a plane. How many elephants are in the car? Eight?
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Not quite!
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