Winter Riddles
Snow days and long evenings are made for riddles. Read a few by the fire or hand them out to bored kids.
Tip: Short and simple wins at a party: pick the riddles you can read in one breath.
97 riddles in this collection, page 1 of 3. Tap a riddle for the answer, or open it for the full explanation.
I am a long vehicle with runners that glides over snow behind reindeer. What am I?
The snowman is bigger than the mitten, and the snowball is bigger than the snowman. Which one is the middle size?
Three kids race to build the tallest mitten tower. Ida finished before Omar. Omar finished before Kai. Who finished last?
A row goes: snowman, snowman, mitten, snowman, snowman, mitten, snowman, snowman. What comes next?
Why was the snowman looking through the bag of carrots?
Max has 4 sleds. Noah has twice as many. How many sleds do they have together?
Lily counts mittens in a pattern: 1, 4, 7, 10. How many mittens come next?
Mia makes 2 rows of 3 ice cream cones and adds 5 more at the end. How many ice cream cones are there in all?
Ben puts 6 snowmen in each of 4 boxes. How many snowmen is that altogether?
Half of the 12 snowballs on the table are taken away. How many snowballs are left on the table?
I am a thin white coat on the windows on freezing mornings. What am I?
I am white and I fall from the sky in the cold, and kids build a man with me. What am I?
There are hoof prints on the snowy roof leading to the chimney, but none on the ground. Who most likely made them?
I am hot and sweet and topped with marshmallows, and I warm you on a cold day. What am I?
I am brown and soft, and I stick to your boots in the garden. What am I?
The snowman is bigger than the mitten, and the mitten is bigger than the snowball. Which one is the smallest?
The ice cream cone is smaller than the sand castle, and the sand castle is smaller than the swimmer. Which one is the biggest?
Three kids race to build the tallest snowball tower. Mia finished before Zoe. Max finished before Mia. Who finished last?
Three kids race to build the tallest ice cream cone tower. Mia finished before Noah. Noah finished before Omar. Who finished last?
Lily makes 5 rows of 2 mittens and adds 4 more at the end. How many mittens are there in all?
A line goes: shell, ice cream cone, shell, ice cream cone, shell. What comes next?
15 snowmen are shared equally among 3 friends. How many snowmen does each friend get?
Noah gets 5 ice cream cones on Monday and 5 ice cream cones on Tuesday, then gives away 6. How many ice cream cones are left?
One snowball costs 4 dollars. How many dollars do 7 snowballs cost?
Noah gets 9 boots on Monday and 8 boots on Tuesday, then gives away 3. How many boots are left?
Take the first letter off a winter flake and you get a word for "at this moment." What is it?
The snowball is smaller than the icicle, and the icicle is smaller than the mitten. Which one is the biggest?
The sand castle is bigger than the ice cream cone, and the wave is bigger than the sand castle. Which one is the middle size?
A row goes: shell, shell, ice cream cone, shell, shell, ice cream cone, shell, shell. What comes next?
Sam has 14 snowballs and Zoe has 7. How many more snowballs does Sam have?
Ida counts ice cream cones in a pattern: 1, 3, 5, 7. How many ice cream cones come next?
Noah has 11 boots. Omar has twice as many. How many boots do they have together?
Leo counts sleds in a pattern: 5, 7, 9, 11. How many sleds come next?
Ida puts 8 mittens in each of 3 boxes. How many mittens is that altogether?
Frequently asked questions
- When should I share these?
- Publish or print them a week or two ahead of December to February.
- Are the answers included?
- Yes. Tap "Show answer" under each riddle, or open the riddle page for the full explanation.

