Winter Riddles for Kids

Press the button for one winter riddle, guess, then tap Show answer.

  1. What did Jack Frost say to the violet?
All 22

How it works

These winter riddles for kids are 22 old riddles about snow, ice, skates, gloves and a cold nose. Each answer stays hidden until you tap Show answer, so everyone can guess first.

Read the full guide

Snow riddles and word play

Snow and ice holds 13 riddles, from grass under the snow to the icicle that listens at the roof. Keeping warm has 10 about gloves, fires and colds. Word play turns on a sound: skates, soles and heels are all fish, if you say eels.

Where they come from

Each riddle is in an old riddle or puzzle book, free to read at Project Gutenberg and named under the full list. We told them again in words a child can read, and chose ones about things children see in winter.

Tips
  • For a winter class party, set the count to 5, read them out, and let tables write their guesses before you show the answers.

Questions and answers

What are good riddles for winter with young kids?

Start with the Snow and ice chip. "What color is grass under the snow?" (invisible green) and the glove with four fingers and a thumb need no word play. Save the Word play chip for readers who know that eels and heels sound alike.

Are there snowman riddles here?

No. The old books these come from have none, and we did not make any up. The snow riddles here are about snowdrifts, icicles, icy sidewalks, skates and Jack Frost.

Can I print these winter themed riddles?

Yes. The full list below the tool prints all 22 riddles with each answer beside it. Fold the answers under, or read the riddles from the page and keep the list for yourself.

All 22 riddles

Snow and ice 13

  • My first brings the snow, my second is the color of summer, and my whole grows red berries. What am I? Wintergreen.
  • On an icy day, which three fish do you wear on your feet? Skates, soles and (h)eels.
  • We travel on water, but only when it is hard. The tighter you strap us on, the faster we go. What are we? A pair of skates.
  • What color is grass under the snow? Invisible green.
  • What did Jack Frost say to the violet? Wilt thou? And it wilted.
  • What is the difference between a winter storm and a child with a cold? One snows and blows; the other blows its nose.
  • When is a boat like a heap of snow? When it is adrift (a drift).
  • Which letter turns ice into rice? R. Put it in front of ice.
  • Who listens under the roof all winter long? An icicle. It is an eaves-dropper.
  • Why are icy sidewalks like music? If you don't C sharp, you'll B flat.
  • Why does the air feel so fresh in winter? It is kept on ice most of the time.
  • Why is snow like a maple tree? It leaves in the spring.
  • You sail 20 miles south-west from the North Pole. Which way do you steer to get straight back? Due north. But from the North Pole every way is south, so you could not start south-west.

Keeping warm 9

  • I have no flesh and no bones, but I have four fingers and a thumb. What am I? A glove.
  • My nose is long and my back is round. I puff and blow at the fire, but I carry no load. What am I? A pair of bellows.
  • What is the last cure for a smoky chimney? Put the fire out.
  • When does a person sneeze three times? When they cannot help it.
  • Which group of stars is like an empty fireplace? The Great Bear (grate bare).
  • Which kind of paper is most like a sneeze? Tissue (a-tishoo).
  • Which part of your face in January is like a soft fur? Your chin-chilly (chinchilla).
  • Why is a dog dressed warmer in summer than in winter? In winter it wears a fur coat. In summer it wears a coat and pants.
  • Why is your thumb, when you pull on a glove, like forever? It is ever last in (everlasting).
How this list was compiled

Traditional riddles found in 7 public domain books on Project Gutenberg: The Handbook of Conundrums (Edith B. Ordway, 1915) https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/32898; The Book of Riddles (1846) https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/36571; How to Solve Conundrums (1900) https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/44099; Conundrums, Riddles and Puzzles (Dean Rivers, 1903) https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/52598; The Santa Claus' Book of Games and Puzzles (1864) https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/54508; The Twentieth Century Standard Puzzle Book (A. Cyril Pearson) https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63884; Puzzles and Oddities (1876) https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/72129. Book texts fetched from https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/<id>/pg<id>.txt on 2026-09-24, and a script found the key words of every riddle and answer in one passage of its cited book (the line number is kept in x.line). Every riddle and answer was then told again in plain words for this page. Chosen for children: the answers are things a child knows in winter (snow, ice, skates, gloves, a fire, a cold). None is on this site's riddle-generator page or on another page of the riddles set. Licence: public domain sources (Project Gutenberg, https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/permission.html); the wording of each riddle and answer is own work