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Thrifty Mommy

Are you smarter than a preschooler?

by kellys on October 29th, 2007

I recently got an email asking me if I was smarter than a preschooler. It was confirmed that I wasn’t. Let’s see how you do.

Which way is the school bus traveling?

Look carefully at the picture if you are having a hard time.

Preschoolers all over the US were asked which direction the school bus was traveling and 90% said that the bus was traveling to the left.

When asked how they got that answer, they said…

The bus had to be traveling to the left because the door was not seen.

Now how dumb or smart do you feel? Don’t forget to vote to let us know if you got the direction correct.

FYI, I did not get it right. Let’s hope Karen did.

Tags: childrens-activities

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Maria
Oct 29, 2007 at 6:51 pm

I wasn’t smarter either. I need to think out of the box more!
tasha
Oct 29, 2007 at 7:59 pm

nope, i am not smarter than my five year old daughter. i asked her & she knew.
Jennifer
Oct 29, 2007 at 10:06 pm

So far I’m not doing well. I thought it was going to the right. Or at least that’s what popped into my brain. My son is homeschooled but I’m still going to ask him to see what he says. I’m wondering if kids who go to school get it right because they see all the school buses?
Jennifer
Oct 29, 2007 at 10:07 pm

PS Are you going to pitch this to the networks :)
Karen
Oct 30, 2007 at 6:59 am

I got it right b/c I’ve seen it before. lol
Leslie
Oct 30, 2007 at 8:23 am

I said it was going away from the reader, because there were three windows.
Jennifer
Oct 30, 2007 at 8:38 am

So, I just three minutes ago explained about puzzle-like riddles and asked Cedar who is six to look and he said right away “left” and then I say, “why is that” he says, “I don’t understand the question.” I say again why is the bus going to the left and not the right. He just stares at me and finally says, “Your riddles don’t make sense or rhyme!” and storms off.

I guess he did not like the riddle and I have no clue about the “rhyme” deal. But he has been up sick all night so…
Tiffanie
Oct 30, 2007 at 12:31 pm

I didn’t get it right either! Boy do i feel dumb!
kellys
Oct 30, 2007 at 7:10 pm

You guys are great! Thanks.
Lindley
Oct 31, 2007 at 9:17 am

I thought the bus was parked! What does that say about me?
kellys
Oct 31, 2007 at 11:45 am

Lindley, you crack me up! All that says about you is that you are either very cautious and calculating on what you think or you are exhausted and need a nap. I vote for you for the later as I always vote for a nap. I just don’t think we get enough sleep these days.
Lindley
Oct 31, 2007 at 11:49 am

Ah, a nap. Dare to dream. I have a 3 -year-old who gave up naps a long time ago. I never gave up naps. Never!
kellys
Oct 31, 2007 at 11:58 am

Girlfriend, I am right there with you! Turkeybutt gave up naps at 18 months.
nikki
Nov 10, 2007 at 4:42 pm

it was not moving it was still besize it did not even look like a bus
Ricky
Nov 11, 2007 at 3:16 pm

I got it but only through guessing
Hathaway
Nov 11, 2007 at 4:45 pm

The bus could be in reverse.
Jim
Nov 12, 2007 at 1:15 pm

It could be a British school bus, so going to the right would be correct.
sophie
Nov 12, 2007 at 3:34 pm

lol my intuition literally SCREAMED left

but that may be my inner child subconscious hahaha
j
Nov 12, 2007 at 8:50 pm

I thought it was travelling towards me. The wheels look like headlights … the only problem with that logic is that the windshield would be divided into three sections. And there is no contour for the front.

Yeah, I failed either way.
David
Nov 13, 2007 at 8:28 am

Well, honestly I thought it was traveling away from me and that the shapes we see are the lights, etc. I believe a strong case could be made for my decision.
kellys
Nov 13, 2007 at 8:34 am

You guys are cracking me up! I guess the bus could be traeling right in a different country. I try not to limit myself to just the USA way of life but I might have failed this time. So is the bus going the correct direction for a British bus?
julian
Nov 13, 2007 at 7:19 pm

seeing that it is such a crude drawing, a person of higher thinking, aka an adult or older teen would have a hard time figuring it out simply because they would overthink it. One does not think of the door because they focus mainly on the wheels that are only circles and the windows that are only squares. Preschoolers get this right because their brains are not fully developed.
Raffaele
Nov 13, 2007 at 10:28 pm

Are you KID-ding us? My daughter is 5 years old and doesn’t know right from left…
Even is she can read and write well and make simple math
Fiona
Nov 14, 2007 at 1:05 am

I got it right, because of the introductory writing at the beginning made me doubt my actual answer
Dan
Nov 14, 2007 at 1:27 am

WRONG

It’s going right because it’s traveling in reverse! Wait, no, it’s clearly traveling sideways–toward the viewer. Oops! No, it’s traveling downward; there’s no ground, so it’s clearly falling through the air! No, no, it’s obviously on a rotating pedestal on the showroom floor in a school bus dealership; its rear is traveling toward the viewer and its front is traveling away.

Why not?

Even if we accept for some reason that the concrete rules of physical reality somehow MUST apply to an obviously abstract representation, there’s no reason why the door has to be on one side or the other. They typically are on the right side in America and other countries in which auto traffic flows on the right. This isn’t the case in other countries and there’s no reason why a door CAN’T be on the left side in America–they just usually AREN’T.This game is plainly just a shibboleth for your mind–a test to see if you think the same as the person who invented it. “KELLYS” here never even instructed us to assume anything about doors! That’s ALL it is: GUESS what I want, WHY I want it, or get out. I, for one, DO NOT recognize this person’s authority over the “rightness” and “wrongness” of thought. In fact, the obvious arrogance and short-sightedness that it took for her to try to claim that authority places her opinion BELOW other strangers’ in my view.
Dan
Nov 14, 2007 at 1:31 am

It’s just a bad thing to try to force onto a child. It would be better to ask her or him about her or his reasons for saying whether it’s going one way or the other instead of trying to enforce one view for one, arbitrary reason.
Karen
Nov 14, 2007 at 9:50 am

Dan, I will leave it up to Kelly whether or not to publish your comment. I know her well enough to know that she just thought this quiz was cute and posted it for fun, not to say you’re right or wrong. Rudeness won’t be tolerated here at Thrifty Mommy.
kellys
Nov 15, 2007 at 7:14 am

Dan, Thanks for joining in and you are right in one aspect, I took into account certain assumptions. But if you read any of my other posts, you will find that I am far from “arroganct” or “short-sighted”. At 5′1″, I might be short but that is as close as I get. :) And I would never try to force anything on a child except a smile and laughter once in a while. The one thing you forgot to find in the picture is the humor in relaxing and enjoying a quick mind tease.

Remember when we were kids and most of us enjoyed these kinds of puzzles? That was when we had time to play and not worry about bills or how we spent our time. That is what this puzzle was really all about. It was a way to relax and have a good laugh. Everyone else has had a good time with it while excercizing our minds to think. It doesn’t really matter which way you think the bus is going. That’s what I wanted you to do as well. Sorry you missed that point.
kellys
Nov 15, 2007 at 7:15 am

Thanks, Karen. Luv ya, girl!
Dan (a different one)
Nov 15, 2007 at 7:22 pm

Hi Kelly,

I love this puzzle. I’d actually seen it in a class I’m currently taking. (and I figured it out myself - Ya me!)

I think it gives some good insight into how our minds do make things more complicated. We sometimes have difficulty finding simple solutions to problems that children can see easily.

Very cool - thanks for posting this!
Emily
Nov 15, 2007 at 8:22 pm

I don’t think this is a fair test- with such a plain and undetailed drawing it can’t necessarily be assumed that the child would even think to include a door. Are they trying to portray a bus? It could easily be a van, in which case there would haved to be doors on both sides. Think about it- if you saw a bus as it actually looks you would probably be able to answer the question accurately.
kellys
Nov 15, 2007 at 8:32 pm

Thanks, Dan. I thought it was fun as well.
Tim
Nov 15, 2007 at 10:04 pm

Boy, someone is uptight (ehem, Dan). I like these kinds of puzzles and riddles because as a teacher of smaller children, it brings life back down to earth and reminds us of the perspective of a small child.

-T
Hoang
Nov 15, 2007 at 11:21 pm

I thought this puzzle/riddle was very interesting, I felt stupid.. I thought it was going to the right, because since when asked “What direction is the bus heading,” I assumed it was going to the positive direction (right).. Haha
bookmarkjedi
Nov 16, 2007 at 12:19 pm

Why is everyone calling the pumpkin carving a school bus?
matt
Nov 16, 2007 at 6:56 pm

If adults see the bus travelling to the right that doesn’t make them somehow any less intelligent then when they started the quiz. After the countless time people spend reading, it’s natural to analyze an image from left to right.
Ginger
Nov 17, 2007 at 8:04 am

Wow, interesting how ppl are getting so adamant about their answer. I wonder if it’s because they got it “wrong.” I wonder if these are the same ppl who, when watching Abbot and Costello’s “Who’s on first” routine, get angry about the senseless confusion! lol

As I’d say to my OCD and “Monk”-like husband as he gets upset about something: EEAAASSYY!! Jeesh! It’s not about science or rocket science or really anything. It’s simply an interesting and amusing observation. Remember, “who’s on first!”
kellys
Nov 17, 2007 at 11:56 am

I agree, Ginger. I just wanted to let you guys have some fun. Although I do welcome any negative or discenting comments as it spurs on conversation and Karen and I love talking to you guys.
Robin @ Heart of Wisdom
Nov 26, 2007 at 10:34 am

what about homeschoolers? THey don’t know about bus doors.
Karen
Nov 26, 2007 at 12:12 pm

I think most preschool and homeschooled children have seen a school bus before.
Anne Gilbert
Nov 26, 2007 at 1:11 pm

Without clear visual cues, how can you tell which way the bus is going? A door would be a visual cue, but in a cartoon drawing like this one, no door is visible. And, for an adult, it therefore doesn’t really mean much. I don’t know whether I got it right or wrong. Because, just looking at the picture, without any visual cues, I had no way of knowing which way it was traveling.
Anne G
Loloy D Anonymous
Nov 27, 2007 at 3:01 am

The bus is going nowhere. And it’s not a bus. It’s probably a UFO or a robot or some other thing. It’s not a bus because you can’t see any mechanism piecing together the wheel and the bus cabin, unless it’s a futuristic bus that preschoolers have seen in a movie or some other prophetic medium.

I can see that the 90% statistic is a made up factoid. Cool.

I can also see from my crystal ball that the annoyed Dan (1.0.0) was over-reacting on a silly game geared towards making fun of us and our adult outlook on arguably abstract stuff.

I can also see, in accordance to prophecy, that I have too much time on my hands to be posting this in thriftymommy.com. I have to get back to work. Thanks for the trip. Bus trip?
Joe
Nov 29, 2007 at 3:40 pm

Hi,
im 13 and go on a school bus nearly every day and i got this wrong
:(
Dan
Nov 29, 2007 at 4:47 pm

It could be traveling to the right if it were backing up.
kellys
Nov 29, 2007 at 6:52 pm

Sorry, Joe. I think you get a partial pass since you have more current experience.
mrwhisk
Nov 29, 2007 at 7:14 pm

I thought it looked a bit like a bus was coming towards me…

I think the ‘wheels’ are headlights and the windows are rear windows…hehe :D
Sarah
Nov 29, 2007 at 9:23 pm

This is hilarious to read down these comments! I bet you didn’t know that this simple question was going to generate so much “opinion” among your readers!!
Karen
Nov 29, 2007 at 9:53 pm

Sarah: I don’t think either one of us anticipated such a response to what was intended to just be something for fun. I can’t get over how some people are getting bent out of shape about it. Oh well, we are enjoying the traffic to our site! :) I hope that you’ll stick around for some thrifty tips.
Friday Procrastination: Link Love : OUPblog
Nov 30, 2007 at 6:41 am

[…] you smarter than a preschooler? Apparently, I am […]
Pmiller
Nov 30, 2007 at 11:50 am

I said left because I always used to draw vehicles like that pointing to the left. We drive on the left so the door thing didnt even cross my mind.
joe
Nov 30, 2007 at 2:22 pm

mrwhisk,
you certainly have a different way of looking at things
xD
blossy
Nov 30, 2007 at 9:12 pm

Now if you lived in Australia and said right you would be correct ~~ as the door to the bus is on the opposite side, being the left side in this case.
Dee
Dec 14, 2007 at 9:36 pm

I showed this to my middle school kids. None of them got it either. It was alot of fun. Does anyone know where you can get more puzzles like this one? My kids loved it!!

I am not smarter than a preschooler either
Robert
Dec 17, 2007 at 5:25 pm

Ask those smart kids why their parents have the same handwriting as Santa Claus, and see what you get for answers. Then we’ll see who’s smarter.
[edited]
GingerTPLC
Dec 18, 2007 at 4:45 am

“…same handwriting as Santa Claus…”

Oh that’s funny! That’s TOTALLY how I found out that Santa was really mommy. I was 5 that year and she’d written my name all over my school stuff, as well as had me practice writing my name too. So when I saw my (and my sister’s) Barbie clothes case, I instantly recognized the handwriting and had to explain the situation to my 7 year old sister! ;-)

Wonder how I’d have done on this back then? I did ride the bus then…
Earl
Jan 25, 2008 at 6:47 pm

Intuition said ‘left’. I went along. This from an ‘old fart’.
nellie
Mar 15, 2008 at 5:09 pm

i dont know how you answer but it is going left
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Apr 29, 2008 at 8:25 am

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