Christmas Riddles with Answers
Nutcrackers, snowmen and reindeer in disguise, with the answer one tap away.
- Time
- 10–30 min
- Players
- One or more people
- Best for
- Holiday parties, gift opening and drives to see relatives
- Deck
- 100 riddles in 5 categories
How to use these Christmas riddles
- Pick a category from the menu under the card, or keep “All categories”.
- Read the riddle on the top card aloud and let everyone guess.
- Tap “Show answer”, then “Next riddle”, or swipe the card away, for another. Riddles do not repeat until you have seen the whole category.
- Tap the heart to save a riddle on this device, or tap “Make a 10-riddle list” to copy riddles with their answers.
When to play Christmas riddles
A Christmas riddle takes a minute and needs nothing but one reader and a few guessers, so it fits the gaps of a busy December. The answer is always one tap away, which keeps a stumped room from getting stuck.
Late on Christmas Eve
With the stockings hung and the lights low, a few What am I? riddles about nutcrackers and snow globes wind the evening down.
A holiday get-together
Read Easy holiday riddles while the cookies go around. Someone always shouts “a candy cane” first, and the next card goes to them.
A December team lunch
Three Holiday jokes and puns take a couple of minutes and get the whole table groaning before the food arrives.
Ways to play with Christmas riddles
A riddle before each gift
When the gifts come out, the person about to open one first hears a riddle from the phone. They get one guess, the room gets the next, and then the paper comes off whether anyone solved it or not.
Riddle relay at the holiday party
Split into two teams. Each team draws a card for the other and gives them one minute to agree on an answer. A right answer earns a point, and the team with more points at the end picks the first cookie.
Jokes on the drive to visit relatives
The passenger reads Holiday jokes and puns aloud and everyone in the car tries the answer. The groans count as much as the laughs, and a Tricky riddle every few miles keeps the guessing going.
Tips for a good Christmas riddle round
- Start with Easy holiday riddles or What am I? so everyone gets a quick win, and save Tricky riddles for when the room is warmed up.
- Read the jokes with a straight face and a short pause before the answer. A pun lands better when the room has had a second to guess.
- Count any guess that fits every clue. A riddle about something round on the front door could fairly be more than one thing.
All 100 christmas riddles by category
The complete list, grouped by category. The cards above draw from the same list, so you can read ahead here and play there.
Easy holiday riddles
Quick warm-ups about candy canes, gingerbread men, chimneys and the North Pole.
- What gets brought indoors in December, stands in a pot of water and wears lights and ornaments?Answer: a Christmas tree
- What has red and white stripes, a hooked top and tastes like peppermint?Answer: a candy cane
- Who wears a red suit trimmed with white fur, black boots and a long white beard?Answer: Santa Claus
- What has hooves instead of wings, yet pulls a sleigh across the night sky?Answer: a reindeer
- What has a face of icing, buttons of candy and a body made of cookie?Answer: a gingerbread man
- What comes in a mug, is made from chocolate and warm milk, and warms both hands at once?Answer: hot cocoa
- What night comes right before December 25, when the stockings go up and everyone listens for sleigh bells?Answer: Christmas Eve
- What place is as far north as anyone can go, and is said to be Santa’s home?Answer: the North Pole
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- What grows on other trees, has white berries and gets hung over doorways in December?Answer: mistletoe
- What dense loaf is packed with candied fruit and nuts, and gets joked about every December?Answer: a fruitcake
- Who wears pointed shoes and spends all year working in a North Pole workshop?Answer: an elf
- What gets shaken, squeezed and guessed at for days before anyone is allowed to open it?Answer: a wrapped present
- What do people sign, seal and mail in December, often with a snowy scene on the front?Answer: a holiday card
- What does Santa carry over his shoulder, stuffed full, on just one night a year?Answer: his sack of toys
- What day always lands on December 25 and starts with stockings by the fireplace?Answer: Christmas Day
- What vegetable gets left out for the reindeer and also makes a good snowman nose?Answer: a carrot
- What wraps around the bottom of the tree, catches falling needles and hides under the presents?Answer: a tree skirt
- What sticks up from the roof, is lined with soot and works as Santa’s front door?Answer: a chimney
- What sits at the very top of the tree, goes on last and comes down first?Answer: the tree topper
- What sticky roll seals every wrapped gift and always goes missing right when you need it?Answer: tape
What am I?
Holiday things describe themselves, from a nutcracker and a wreath to a snow globe.
- I wear a painted uniform and a wooden grin, and my big jaw cracks walnuts. What am I?Answer: a nutcracker
- I’m hung by the fireplace empty and found full in the morning. What am I?Answer: a stocking
- I come out of the box in one big tangle, and once you sort me out, the tree glows. What am I?Answer: string lights
- I’m round and green, I hang on the front door, and I have no beginning or end. What am I?Answer: a wreath
- My walls are cookie, my roof is frosting and my windows are candy, but nobody can move in. What am I?Answer: a gingerbread house
- I’m shiny and stringy, and I keep turning up in the carpet weeks after the tree comes down. What am I?Answer: tinsel
- Turn me upside down, then right side up, and it snows inside my glass. What am I?Answer: a snow globe
- Two people each hold one end of me and pull until I go bang. What am I?Answer: a Christmas cracker
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- I never need watering, I fold into a box, and I go back to the attic in January. What am I?Answer: an artificial tree
- Scrape me across a scissor blade and I spring into shiny spirals on top of a gift. What am I?Answer: curling ribbon
- I’m a little label that tells each present who it’s for and who it’s from. What am I?Answer: a gift tag
- I sit on top of a present in neat loops, and one tug undoes me. What am I?Answer: a bow
- I have runners and bells, a team in front of me and one very busy night a year. What am I?Answer: Santa’s sleigh
- I run around the bottom of the tree on my track all December, but I never get anywhere. What am I?Answer: a toy train
- I hang from a branch and catch the light, but if I fall I might shatter. What am I?Answer: a glass ornament
- I press stars, trees and bells out of dough, but I never eat a crumb. What am I?Answer: a cookie cutter
- I fall from an evergreen, I have scales but I’m no fish, and my seeds hide inside. What am I?Answer: a pinecone
- I’m a long green rope of branches, draped along the stair rail and the mantel. What am I?Answer: a garland
- I’m small and round with a slit and a ball inside, and I ring whenever the sleigh moves. What am I?Answer: a jingle bell
- I have a mantel above me and a fire in my belly, and stockings hang from me. What am I?Answer: a fireplace
Winter and snow
Snowflakes, sleds, earmuffs, polar bears and the shortest day of the year.
- What drifts down from a cloud, is said to never have a twin, and melts on your tongue?Answer: a snowflake
- What wears a scarf and a hat all winter, stands in the yard all night and never shivers?Answer: a snowman
- What is round and cold, gets packed by hand and bursts apart when it hits something?Answer: a snowball
- What has a wide blade and a long handle, and clears the driveway one scoop at a time?Answer: a snow shovel
- What comes in pairs, is long and skinny, and carries you down a mountain?Answer: skis
- What has runners but no legs, and gives you a fast ride down a snowy hill?Answer: a sled
- What do you lace up tight, with a thin blade underneath, to glide across a frozen pond?Answer: ice skates
- What draws feathery patterns on the window overnight without a pencil or a brush?Answer: frost
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- What round house is built from blocks of packed snow and has a low tunnel for a door?Answer: an igloo
- What big white bear hunts from the Arctic sea ice and paddles with its huge front paws?Answer: a polar bear
- What bird looks like it’s wearing a tuxedo, swims instead of flying and slides on its belly?Answer: a penguin
- What day off arrives overnight, with no plan at all, when the roads turn white?Answer: a snow day
- What tool do you need on a frosty morning before you can see out of the car?Answer: an ice scraper
- What keeps both ears warm and is joined by a band over the top of your head?Answer: earmuffs
- What waterproof footwear gets left by the door, dripping, after a walk through slush?Answer: snow boots
- What day in December has the least daylight of the year north of the equator?Answer: the winter solstice
- What truck pushes snow off the road with a big angled blade on the front?Answer: a snowplow
- What gets filled from the kettle and tucked under the covers on a cold night?Answer: a hot water bottle
- What lets you walk across deep snow without sinking, like a pair of rackets strapped to your feet?Answer: snowshoes
- What keeps four fingers together in one room and gives the thumb a room of its own?Answer: a mitten
Holiday jokes and puns
Groan-worthy question-and-answer jokes about elves, reindeer and snowmen.
- What do you call a snowman in July?Answer: a puddle
- What do you call Santa’s helpers?Answer: subordinate clauses
- What did Mrs. Claus say when she saw clouds over the North Pole?Answer: “looks like rain, dear”
- Why was the Christmas tree so bad at knitting?Answer: it kept dropping its needles
- What do reindeer hang on their Christmas trees?Answer: horn-aments
- What does Santa do in his vegetable garden?Answer: hoe, hoe, hoe
- Where does a snowman keep his savings?Answer: in a snow bank
- What kind of music do elves like best?Answer: wrap music
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- Why is it so cold at Christmas?Answer: because it’s in Decemberrr
- What did the gingerbread man put on his bed?Answer: a cookie sheet
- Why did the Christmas tree go to the barber?Answer: it needed a trim
- Why do Christmas trees act so stuck-up?Answer: the presents are beneath them
- What goes “oh, oh, oh”?Answer: Santa walking backward
- What do elves take with a phone held at arm’s length?Answer: elfies
- What do you call a snowman’s temper tantrum?Answer: a meltdown
- How does Santa keep track of every fireplace he visits?Answer: he keeps a log
- What did the reindeer say before telling a joke?Answer: “this one will sleigh you”
- What do you call an elf who won’t share?Answer: elfish
- How is the Christmas alphabet different from the regular one?Answer: it has Noel, no L
- What do sheep say to each other on December 25?Answer: “Fleece Navidad”
Tricky riddles
December brain teasers about dates, letters and reindeer names. Every word counts.
- What letter is in December but in no other month of the year?Answer: the letter D
- If Christmas Day falls on a Monday, what day of the week is New Year’s Day?Answer: a Monday too
- Two days ago it was Christmas Eve. What’s the date today?Answer: December 26
- When it’s noon on Christmas Day in London, is it Christmas Day in New York yet?Answer: yes, it’s 7 a.m. there
- A carrot, a scarf and two lumps of coal lie on a wet lawn in spring. How did they get there?Answer: a snowman melted
- Why don’t polar bears ever catch penguins?Answer: they live at opposite ends of the earth
- How many presents can you put into an empty stocking?Answer: one, after that it isn’t empty
- What present can’t be wrapped, returned or held, yet everyone has it right now?Answer: the present moment
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- What has branches all over town but no leaves, and gets busiest right before Christmas?Answer: the post office
- How can you spell candy using only two letters?Answer: C and Y
- How do you spell hard water with three letters?Answer: ice
- Rearrange the letters of “silent” to get something shiny for the tree.Answer: tinsel
- What has bark that never bites and needles that never sew?Answer: an evergreen tree
- What’s the last thing Santa takes off before he goes to bed?Answer: his feet, off the floor
- Two reindeer are in front of a reindeer, two behind a reindeer and one in the middle. How many reindeer?Answer: three
- You open one door of a 24-door countdown calendar each morning from December 1. When do you open the last?Answer: December 24
- What starts every snowflake and ends every Christmas?Answer: the letter S
- Which has more letters, CHRISTMAS or SNOWFLAKE?Answer: neither, nine each
- What gets frosted all December but never feels a chill?Answer: a cookie
- What do people make on January 1 and often break by February, without dropping a thing?Answer: a New Year’s resolution
Frequently asked questions
How many Christmas riddles are there?
There are 100 Christmas riddles, 20 in each of five categories: easy holiday riddles, what am I riddles, winter and snow, holiday jokes and puns, and tricky riddles. Every one comes with its answer, shown on the card when you tap “Show answer” and printed under it in the list on this page.
Are these riddles good for a work party or a family gathering?
Yes. They are about cookies, chimneys, snowmen, reindeer and wrapping tape, with nothing personal or private in them. Easy holiday riddles suit a mixed table, and a few jokes and puns make a quick warm-up at a team lunch.
Do you have riddles that aren’t about Christmas?
Yes. Riddles with answers has everyday objects, nature and animals, word riddles and tricky ones for any time of year. For holiday facts instead of puzzles, try Christmas trivia, with questions about traditions, food and classic stories.
What should we play after Christmas riddles?
Try Christmas questions. Instead of guessing an answer, each card asks about traditions, gifts, food or decorations, so everyone around the room gets to tell a story of their own.