Emoji Riddles

The host shows a short string of emoji that stands for a movie, song, phrase or place, and players race to crack it. Lion plus crown? The Lion King. Kids pick it up instantly and love inventing their own.

🎂 Ages 7+👥 2-20 players⏱️ 10 minutes🧰 A phone or screen, or printed cards

🃏 Printable cards

What you need

Equipment: A phone or screen, or printed cards. Prepare 12 to 15 emoji riddles on a phone or on cards. Each one is two to four emoji standing for a song, movie, phrase or place.

How to play Emoji Riddles

The host announces the category: song, movie, phrase or place.
Show the emoji string on a screen or card, or read it aloud: "Lion, crown."
Players have 30 seconds to think.
Whoever knows shouts "Buga!" and gets the first guess.
Right guess: points. Wrong guess: that player is out for this riddle.
If nobody gets it, the host adds one extra emoji as a hint.
Move on to the next riddle.

Scoring and wrapping up

Scoring: Correct without a hint: 2 points. With a hint: 1 point. In the last round, a player-made riddle the group solves: 1 point to its creator.

To finish: After 10 to 12 riddles, crown the Emoji Champion. Finish with a round where every player invents a riddle for the group.

By age

Ages 7-8: Stick to movies and animals they know, with two emoji each.
Ages 10+: Add phrases and idioms, like "It's raining cats and dogs."

Variations

Big group: Play in teams with a whiteboard each. All teams reveal answers at once.
Buga twist: Players get the answer and must draw the emoji string for their team to guess.

Tips for the adult in charge

Start easy and build up. Kids should get the first two in seconds.
Let kids make their own riddles. It is often their favorite part.

🖨️ Printable emoji riddle cards

Show the emoji, then check the answer after the line.

🦁👑 | The Lion King
⛄❄️👸 | Frozen
🐠🔍 | Finding Nemo
🕷️👨 | Spider-Man
🧸📖 | Toy Story
🎈🏠 | Up
🐼🥋 | Kung Fu Panda
🧜‍♀️🌊 | The Little Mermaid
👸🐸 | The Princess and the Frog
🍎👸💤 | Snow White
🦖🏞️ | Jurassic Park
🧞‍♂️🪔 | Aladdin
🌧️🐱🐶 | Raining cats and dogs
🍰🚶 | A piece of cake
🐦🐦🪨 | Two birds, one stone
❄️🧊💔 | Break the ice
🗽🍎 | New York (the Big Apple)
🗼🥐 | Paris
🐨🦘 | Australia
⭐✨🎵 | Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
🚌🛞 | The Wheels on the Bus
🕷️💧 | Itsy Bitsy Spider

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Frequently asked questions

What are some easy emoji riddles for kids?

🦁👑 is The Lion King, ⛄❄️👸 is Frozen, 🐠🔍 is Finding Nemo, and 🕷️👨 is Spider-Man.

Do I need a screen?

No. You can print the cards, draw the emoji on a board, or simply read the emoji names aloud.

😀 Emoji Riddles