Christmas riddles for kids: 46 riddles with answers (+ free printable cards)

A good riddle turns a few seconds of waiting into a little game. Children have to listen to every word, picture the thing being described, test a guess and say it out loud. Along the way they meet new words (mistletoe, icicle, solstice), practise explaining their thinking, and learn that a wrong guess is just a step towards the right one.

Christmas riddles fit almost anywhere in December:

As an advent countdown: one riddle a day, read at breakfast or bedtime.
At the dinner table: a riddle between courses keeps everyone at the table a little longer.
On car trips: no paper needed, just a grown-up reading from a phone.
As a party game: split the children into two teams and keep score.
As clues for hidden presents: each answer tells the children where to look next (see the treasure hunt section below).

Free printable: 12 Christmas riddle cards to cut out, with an answer sheet for the grown-up. Download the A4 PDF or the US Letter PDF.

All the riddles below were written for this page. They are grouped by difficulty, but children often surprise us: try a few from each section and see which ones make your family laugh or think.

Easy Christmas riddles (ages 4–6)

These riddles describe things young children can see or touch in December. Read them slowly and let them guess more than once.

1. I stay green all year, but in December people hang shiny balls and lights on my branches. What am I? Answer: a Christmas tree.

2. I have a carrot for a nose and buttons for a smile, and I don’t like sunny days. Who am I? Answer: a snowman.

3. You hang me up empty by the fireplace, and on Christmas morning I am full. What am I? Answer: a Christmas stocking.

4. I wear paper clothes and a ribbon bow, and nobody is allowed to open me before the big day. What am I? Answer: a present.

5. I am striped red and white, I am shaped like a walking stick, and I taste of mint. What am I? Answer: a candy cane.

6. I shine at the very top of the tree, but I don’t live in the sky. What am I? Answer: a star.

7. I have antlers on my head and I help pull a sleigh across the night sky. Who am I? Answer: a reindeer.

8. I fall softly from the clouds, I am white and cold, and I melt on your tongue. What am I? Answer: a snowflake.

9. I keep your hands warm. I have one room for your thumb and one big room for all your other fingers. What am I? Answer: a pair of mittens.

10. I jingle on the sleigh and ding-dong on the church tower, but I never answer when you call. What am I? Answer: a bell.

Tricky Christmas riddles (ages 7–10)

These ones need a second thought. Encourage children to repeat the riddle in their own words before they answer.

11. The more of me you tear off, the bigger the messy pile on the living room floor. What am I? Answer: wrapping paper.

12. I have a little flame for a hat, I cry wax tears, and I get shorter every evening. What am I? Answer: a candle.

13. I have a hard shell but I am not an egg, squirrels hide me in autumn, and at Christmas you need a cracker to open me. What am I? Answer: a nut (a walnut or a hazelnut).

14. I have many doors but no house. You open one each morning, and the last one waits for Christmas Eve. What am I? Answer: an advent calendar.

15. I am full of wishes but I am not a birthday cake. Children write me in December and send me far to the north. What am I? Answer: a letter to Santa (a wish list).

16. I am green with small white berries, I hang above doorways, and when two people stand under me, someone usually blushes. What am I? Answer: mistletoe.

17. My walls are biscuits, my roof is covered in icing and my windows are sweets. You can live in me only if you are very small, but you can eat me if you are big. What am I? Answer: a gingerbread house.

18. I am a circle with no beginning and no end. I am made of green branches and I welcome visitors on the front door. What am I? Answer: a Christmas wreath.

19. Two people pull me at the same time, I go snap, and out fall a paper crown and a joke. What am I? Answer: a Christmas cracker (a British tradition).

20. I am dark and sooty inside. Smoke goes up through me, and one night a year, a visitor is said to come down. What am I? Answer: a chimney.

21. I hang from the edge of the roof, pointing down. Every cold night I grow a little longer, and one sunny day I drip away. What am I? Answer: an icicle.

22. I wrap myself all around the tree but I have no arms. Plug me in and I twinkle. What am I? Answer: fairy lights (Christmas lights).

Funny Christmas riddles (wordplay)

Wordplay riddles are perfect for children who have started to enjoy puns. If they don’t get it straight away, explain the double meaning: that is half the fun.

23. Why did the bauble refuse to come down from the tree? Answer: because it was completely hooked.

24. What did the wrapping paper whisper to the nervous present? Answer: “Relax, I’ve got you covered.”

25. Why did the snowman keep a carrot in the fridge? Answer: he liked to keep his nose cool.

26. Why did the fairy lights always sit at the front of the class? Answer: they wanted to be the brightest in the room.

27. Why is the Christmas tree so good at knitting? Answer: it has hundreds of needles.

28. What did one snowflake say to the other snowflake? Answer: “You’re one of a kind.” (No two snowflakes look exactly the same.)

29. Why did the candy cane take such good care of its toys? Answer: it wanted to keep them in mint condition.

30. Why was the Christmas stocking so sleepy on 26 December? Answer: it had been stuffed all night.

Christmas math riddles

These math riddles use small numbers and everyday Christmas situations. Let children use their fingers, a pencil or a few buttons to count. The working is shown in each answer so a grown-up can explain it.

31. Eight reindeer pull Santa’s sleigh. How many reindeer legs are pulling it? Answer: 32 legs. Each reindeer has 4 legs, so 8 × 4 = 32.

32. Mia has 3 stockings. She puts 4 chocolates in each one, then eats 2. How many chocolates are left in the stockings? Answer: 10 chocolates. 3 × 4 = 12, then 12 − 2 = 10.

33. An advent calendar has 24 doors. On the morning of 10 December, Sam opens that day’s door. How many doors are still closed? Answer: 14 doors. Sam has opened doors 1 to 10, so 24 − 10 = 14.

34. You need 3 big snowballs to build one snowman. You have rolled 17 snowballs. How many snowmen can you build, and how many snowballs are left over? Answer: 5 snowmen and 2 snowballs left over. 5 × 3 = 15, and 17 − 15 = 2.

35. Leo bakes 20 gingerbread biscuits. He gives half to his grandma, then eats 3. How many does he have now? Answer: 7 biscuits. Half of 20 is 10, and 10 − 3 = 7.

36. Four elves each wrap 5 presents an hour. How many presents do they wrap in 3 hours? Answer: 60 presents. In one hour, 4 × 5 = 20 presents; in 3 hours, 20 × 3 = 60.

37. Today is 18 December. Christmas Day is 25 December. How many sleeps are left until Christmas? Answer: 7 sleeps: the nights of 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 and 24 December. 25 − 18 = 7.

38. A tree is decorated in 6 rows of baubles. The top row has 1 bauble, and each row has 2 more than the row above it. How many baubles are on the tree? Answer: 36 baubles. The rows have 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11 baubles, and 1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + 9 + 11 = 36.

Winter riddles for kids

Not every winter riddle has to be about Christmas. These work all season long, from the first frost to the last snowball.

39. I am a floor that nobody built. You can slide on me in January, and in spring I turn back into a pond. What am I? Answer: ice.

40. I wind around your neck and keep you warm, but I am not a hug. What am I? Answer: a scarf.

41. You can roll me into balls, pile me into forts and lie in me to make angels. What am I? Answer: snow.

42. On a cold morning you can see me in front of your mouth, but you can never catch me. What am I? Answer: your breath.

43. I curl up in a den when the cold comes and sleep through the whole winter. I wake up very hungry in spring. Who am I? Answer: a bear (it hibernates).

44. I have no wheels and no engine, but I race down snowy hills with children on my back. What am I? Answer: a sledge (a sled).

45. At night I draw feathers and ferns on your window, but I have no pencil, and the sun rubs out my pictures. What am I? Answer: frost.

46. I am the day with the least daylight of the whole year in the northern half of the world. I come just a few days before Christmas. What am I? Answer: the winter solstice (around 21 December).

How to turn riddles into a Christmas treasure hunt

Riddles become even more exciting when the answer is a place in your home. The idea is simple: every riddle describes the hiding place of the next riddle, and the last one leads to a present.

Choose the final hiding place first, for example under the Christmas tree or behind the sofa.
List 4 to 6 places around the house: the fridge, the bathtub, the boots by the front door, a kitchen drawer, a bookshelf, a pillow.
Write one riddle for each place. For example: “I am cold inside even in summer, and I keep the milk fresh” (the fridge), or “I wait by the door all day with nobody inside me” (a boot).
Hide the riddles in a chain: the riddle about the fridge goes in the hand of the children, the riddle about the boot goes in the fridge, and so on. The last riddle describes the place of the present.
Hand the first riddle to the children and stay close by to read aloud for the youngest players.

A few tips: keep the hiding places at child height, write a list of the order for yourself so you don’t lose track, and give a spoken hint if someone gets stuck for too long. If you would like a ready-made version to start with, our free printable indoor scavenger hunt has six clue cards and a hiding list for grown-ups; it works all year round, Christmas included.

When you want something longer

Riddles are quick. When your children want a real mystery to solve, we also make longer printable games. In our Christmas escape room, the golden star has vanished from the top of the tree on Christmas Eve: children solve a puzzle on each hidden case card, collect three pieces of evidence and work out which of four suspects took it. It comes in two levels of the same adventure, Junior (6–7) and Expert (8–10), and you print it at home. For the whole of December, the mystery advent calendar tells one story in 24 episodes: each day there is one short episode and one puzzle, and the answer gives the number of the door to open on a paper advent calendar that you build once at the start.

Don’t forget your free cards: 12 printable Christmas riddle cards with an answer sheet, in A4 or US Letter. Print them, cut them out and keep them in a jar for December.

FAQ

What age are these Christmas riddles for?

The easy riddles suit children from about 4 years old, with a grown-up reading them aloud. The tricky, funny and math riddles are best for children aged about 7 to 10, and many adults enjoy the wordplay too. Mix the levels when children of different ages play together.

How do I help a child who can’t find the answer?

Read the riddle again slowly, then give one small hint at a time: the first letter, the room where the thing can be found, or a question such as “Is it something you can eat?”. Children enjoy a riddle much more when they find the answer themselves, even with a little help.

Can I print these riddles?

Yes. You can download 12 free printable Christmas riddle cards with an answer sheet, in A4 or US Letter (links above). You can also copy any riddle from this page onto a card by hand: children love receiving a riddle written just for them.