Christmas Riddles for Kids With Answers
Updated · Best Riddles With Answers editorial team
Quick answer: This page offers 42 Christmas riddles for kids with answers, ready to read aloud at the dinner table, in class or beside the tree. They start with easy picture riddles about Santa and snowmen, then move on to jokes, wordplay and a few real brain teasers for older children. Every answer is given underneath.
Easy Christmas Riddles For Kids
I wear a red suit and a fluffy white beard, and I squeeze down chimneys with a sack of toys. Who am I?
Santa Claus
I stand in the living room covered in lights and shiny balls, and I smell like a forest. What am I?
A Christmas tree
I am a sweet white stick with red stripes, and my top is bent like a hook. What am I?
A candy cane
We have antlers and we pull Santa's sleigh across the night sky. Who are we?
Reindeer
I hang by the fireplace waiting to be filled with small treats, but the rest of the year I go on a foot. What am I?
A Christmas stocking
I am wrapped in bright paper and tied with a bow. You shake me and wonder what is inside. What am I?
A present
I am a round white man with a carrot nose and coal eyes, and I melt when the sun comes out. Who am I?
A snowman
I am small and round with a tiny ball inside, and I jingle all the way on a sleigh ride. What am I?
A jingle bell
I have five points and I glow at the very top of the tree. What am I?
A star
I am a green plant with prickly leaves and red berries, and I decorate doors in December. What am I?
Holly
I am a spicy biscuit shaped like a little person, and you can eat my icing buttons. What am I?
A gingerbread man
I am a warm drink made from milk and cocoa, and I am often topped with marshmallows. What am I?
Hot chocolate
Trickier Christmas Riddles For Kids
What do elves learn at school?
The elf-abet.
Why does Santa go down the chimney?
Because it soots him.
What do snowmen eat for breakfast?
Snowflakes
I have lots of tiny doors but no rooms, and you open one each day before Christmas. What am I?
An advent calendar
What did one snowman say to the other?
Do you smell carrots?
What can you catch in winter but never throw?
A cold
Children write me in December, address me to the North Pole, and hope I get read. What am I?
A letter to Santa, also called a wish list
What do reindeer hang on their Christmas trees?
Horn-aments
Why did the gingerbread man visit the doctor?
He was feeling crummy.
No two of us are alike, we drift down from clouds, and we land on your mittens. What are we?
Snowflakes
What is the best Christmas present of all?
A broken drum, because you cannot beat it.
Hang me over a doorway and people stop beneath me to share a Christmas kiss. What am I?
Mistletoe
Hard Christmas Riddles For Kids
Which letter appears twice in the word Christmas and also begins Santa's name?
S. It is the only letter that is in Christmas twice and starts Santa.
Santa packs 20 toys. He leaves 4 toys at each of 3 houses. How many toys are still in his sack?
8, because 4 x 3 = 12 and 20 - 12 = 8.
Shuffle the letters of the word silent to make something sparkly that hangs on the tree.
Tinsel
In the garden there is a heap of coal, a carrot and a scarf lying on the grass, and nobody has touched them. What happened?
The snowman melted.
Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, and then who?
Comet, the fifth reindeer in the famous poem.
A man stands somewhere and every direction he looks is south. Where is he?
At the North Pole.
Elf Ellie wraps 3 presents an hour for 4 hours. Elf Eli wraps 2 an hour for 5 hours. Who wraps more, and by how many?
Ellie, by 2. She wraps 3 x 4 = 12 and Eli wraps 2 x 5 = 10.
I am black and I burn, I come from the ground, and a very naughty child might find me in a stocking instead of toys. What am I?
Coal
Seven stockings each hold 3 candy canes and 2 oranges. How many treats are there in all?
35, because 3 + 2 = 5 in each stocking and 5 x 7 = 35.
I start with C, I end with S, and I am full of presents and songs. What am I?
Christmas
Quick-Fire Christmas Riddles For Kids
Shiny balls that dangle from the branches. What are they?
Ornaments
Songs sung door to door in the snow. What are they?
Carols
Santa's small, pointy-eared workshop helpers.
Elves
A curly strip tied around a present.
Ribbon
The reindeer with the glowing red nose.
Rudolph
Santa's way into the house, covered in soot.
The chimney
Santa's ride, pulled through the sky.
A sleigh
A round ring of leaves hung on the front door.
A wreath
How to Use These Christmas Riddles
Read one riddle at a time and give children a minute to guess before you reveal the answer. The easy set suits ages four to six, the trickier set works well for ages seven to nine, and the hard set gives older children something to chew on. The quick-fire set is perfect for car journeys.
Try a riddle countdown by reading one each day in December, or write several on slips of paper and tuck them into a stocking or advent calendar. Children can also make up their own Christmas riddles and test them on the family.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a good Christmas riddle for kids?
A good Christmas riddle uses familiar things like Santa, snowmen or presents and has one clear answer. Try: I am round, white and melt in the sun, with a carrot for a nose. The answer is a snowman.
What age are these Christmas riddles suitable for?
The easy and quick-fire sets suit children from about four to seven, while the trickier and hard sets are better for ages eight and up. Younger children can enjoy the harder ones with a grown-up reading and helping.
How can I use Christmas riddles in a classroom or party?
Read them aloud as a warm-up, split the group into teams and score points for correct answers, or print them on cards for a table game. They also work well as a quiet activity before a holiday break.
Are there Christmas riddles with maths in them?
Yes. The hard section includes a few simple sums about toys, stockings and elves wrapping presents. Each answer shows the working, so children can check their own thinking and learn how the sum was solved.
