Winter Riddles With Answers
Updated · Best Riddles With Answers editorial team
Quick answer: This page gathers 42 winter riddles with answers for snow days, classroom countdowns and evenings by the fire. The easy riddles use familiar things such as snowmen and scarves, the middle sets need a little more thought, and the hard riddles include number puzzles and a classic lateral thinking mystery. Everything is clean and family friendly.
Easy Winter Riddles
I fall from the sky, I have six arms, and no two of me are ever alike. What am I?
A snowflake
I have a carrot nose, coal eyes and a scarf, and I am built from three balls of snow. What am I?
A snowman
I keep your hands warm, but you cannot use your fingers separately. Only your thumb is on its own. What am I?
A mitten
I am long and woolly, and I wrap around your neck to keep out the wind. What am I?
A scarf
I am warm, sweet and brown, and I often come with marshmallows floating on top. What am I?
Hot chocolate
You sit on me at the top of a snowy hill, and I slide you down to the bottom. What am I?
A sled
I am long, clear and pointed, and I hang from the edge of a roof. When it warms up I drip. What am I?
An icicle
Logs crackle inside me, I warm the whole room, and a visitor in red is said to come down my chimney. What am I?
A fireplace
I have sleeves, a zip and sometimes a hood, and you wear me over your jumper when you go outside. What am I?
A coat
I have blades under my boots, and I help you glide across a frozen pond. What am I?
Ice skates
You pack me in your hands, and then you throw me at a friend. What am I?
A snowball
On a cold morning you can see me coming out of your mouth like a little cloud. What am I?
Your breath
Trickier Winter Riddles
I paint patterns on the window overnight, yet I use no brush and no paint. What am I?
Frost
Bears, hedgehogs and bats do this when the weather is cold: a long sleep that lasts for months. What is it?
Hibernation
I am a round house built from blocks of ice and snow, with no corners at all. What am I?
An igloo
I am the first month of winter in the north, and I end the year. What am I?
December
I am a big truck with a blade on the front, and I push snow off the road. What am I?
A snow plough
My level drops when the weather turns cold, and I live in a glass tube. What am I?
A thermometer
I am chopped, stacked in a pile, and burned to heat a home. What am I?
Firewood
I sit under a window with metal fins, and hot water runs through me to warm the room. What am I?
A radiator
I fall all winter long but I never get hurt. What am I?
Snow
I am a flat plastic tool, and on a frosty morning I clear the ice from a car windscreen. What am I?
An ice scraper
I am a pair of long thin planks, and I carry you down a mountain over the snow. What am I?
Skis
I am a storm of heavy snow and strong wind, and you can hardly see through me. What am I?
A blizzard
Hard Winter Riddles
I am the shortest day of the year in the north, with the longest night, and I fall around December 21st. What am I?
The winter solstice
A snowman has three snowballs. The bottom one weighs 12 kg, the middle one is half as heavy as the bottom, and the top one is half as heavy as the middle. How much does the snowman weigh?
21 kg, because 12 + 6 + 3 = 21
A snowman is 90 cm tall. Each hour in the sun melts 15 cm. How many hours until he is only 30 cm tall?
4 hours, because 90 - 30 = 60 and 60 / 15 = 4
I am scattered on icy roads in winter, and I make the ice melt at a lower temperature. What am I?
Salt
It is minus 5 degrees at noon, and the temperature falls by 3 degrees every hour. What is it 4 hours later?
Minus 17 degrees, because 4 x 3 = 12 and -5 - 12 = -17
I look like a wet patch on the road, but I am actually a thin layer of clear ice, and drivers fear me. What am I?
Black ice
In the middle of a grassy lawn in spring lie two lumps of coal, a carrot and a scarf. Nobody has been there. Why?
A snowman stood there in winter and melted, leaving only what he was dressed in
A fire burns 3 logs every hour. It is lit at 6 in the evening and kept going until midnight. How many logs are needed?
18, because 6 hours x 3 logs = 18
Hot chocolate starts at 85 degrees and cools by 5 degrees every 10 minutes. It is cool enough to drink at 60 degrees. How long does it take?
50 minutes, because 25 degrees / 5 = 5 steps, and 5 x 10 = 50
On a winter forecast, a Celsius thermometer and a Fahrenheit thermometer show exactly the same number. What is the number?
Minus 40
Quick-Fire Winter Riddles
A woolly hat with a bobble on top. What am I?
A beanie
A thick knitted top worn over a shirt. What am I?
A sweater
Worn over the ears when it is freezing. What are we?
Earmuffs
Waterproof and warm, I keep your feet dry in the snow. What am I?
Snow boots
Pulled by reindeer across the night sky. What am I?
A sleigh
Smoke goes up me from the fire below. What am I?
A chimney
A thick, soft cover on your bed on a cold night. What am I?
A duvet
Wave your arms and legs on the snow and I appear. What am I?
A snow angel
How to Use These Winter Riddles
Winter riddles are perfect for days when everyone is stuck indoors. Read them out while children drink something warm, or put one on the whiteboard each morning during the cold months. The easy riddles suit ages four and up.
The hard set works as a family quiz. Give each person a pencil and paper for the number puzzles, and see who can solve the lawn mystery without help.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a good winter riddle for children?
Try 'I fall from the sky, I have six arms, and no two of me are alike.' The answer is a snowflake. Riddles about snowmen, mittens and hot chocolate are easy for young children.
Why is the winter solstice important?
It is the day with the fewest hours of daylight in the year in the northern half of the world, falling around December 21st. After it, the days slowly begin to grow longer again.
Why does salt melt ice on roads?
Salt lowers the freezing point of water, so ice turns back into liquid at a temperature below zero. This stops the road from staying slippery, although it stops working in very hard frost.
What is the answer to the riddle about coal, a carrot and a scarf on the lawn?
A snowman melted. The things that decorated him were left behind when the snow turned to water in spring. It is a classic lateral thinking puzzle, and the clue is that nobody has been there.
