Looking for Christmas riddles with answers? Here are 30 festive riddles for family gatherings, classrooms and Christmas parties, sorted from easy to hard. The easy ones are perfect for younger kids, the medium ones will get teens thinking, and the hard ones can puzzle the grown-ups too.
Read each riddle, have a guess, then tap Show Answer to check. Every answer comes with a short explanation, and every riddle has a picture card you can save and share with friends and family.
Easy Christmas Riddles for Kids
Short, silly riddles about Santa, snowmen, elves and reindeer. Great for children aged 5 to 9.
Riddle 1: I’m round and jolly, dressed in red and white. I say “Ho ho ho!” and visit on Christmas night. Who am I?
Answer: Santa Claus.
Santa wears a red and white suit, laughs “Ho ho ho!” and delivers presents on Christmas Eve.
Riddle 2: I’m a house you can eat, with icing for snow and sweets on my roof. What am I?
Answer: A gingerbread house.
Gingerbread houses are baked from spiced biscuit dough and decorated with icing and sweets.
Riddle 3: What do snowmen eat for breakfast?
Answer: Snowflakes.
A play on breakfast cereal flakes: snowmen would naturally choose snow-flakes!
Riddle 4: What do you call an elf who loves to sing?
Answer: A wrapper.
Elves wrap presents, and “wrapper” sounds just like “rapper”.
Riddle 5: What do you call a snowman in the middle of summer?
Answer: A puddle.
In the summer heat a snowman melts, leaving only a puddle of water behind.
Riddle 6: What goes “Oh oh oh”?
Answer: Santa walking backwards.
Say “Ho ho ho” backwards and you get “Oh oh oh”.
Riddle 7: I have a red nose that glows so bright, I help guide Santa’s sleigh at night. Who am I?
Answer: Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer.
In the famous story, Rudolph’s shining nose lights the way for Santa’s sleigh.
Riddle 8: I hang by the fireplace on Christmas Eve, empty at night but full of treats in the morning. What am I?
Answer: A Christmas stocking.
Children hang stockings by the fireplace for Santa to fill with small gifts.
Riddle 9: What do you call a cat on the beach at Christmas time?
Answer: Sandy Claws.
Say it out loud: “Sandy Claws” sounds just like “Santa Claus”.
Riddle 10: What did the gingerbread man put on his bed?
Answer: A cookie sheet.
A cookie sheet is a baking tray, but here it is also a bed sheet for a biscuit!
Medium Christmas Riddles
These need a little more thinking. Watch out for puns and words with two meanings.
Riddle 11: I have needles but I can’t sew, and a trunk but I never travel. Every December I wear lights. What am I?
Answer: A Christmas tree.
Pine trees have needle-shaped leaves and a trunk, and at Christmas they are decorated with lights.
Riddle 12: I’m tall at the start of December and shorter by Christmas Eve. One of me is lit each Sunday of Advent. What am I?
Answer: An Advent candle.
Advent candles are lit one by one in the weeks before Christmas, and each burns shorter over time.
Riddle 13: I have 24 little doors, and you open one each day. Behind each one is a treat until Christmas Day. What am I?
Answer: An Advent calendar.
An Advent calendar counts down the days of December with a small surprise behind each door.
Riddle 14: What is the best key to have at Christmas?
Answer: A turkey.
Turkey ends with the word “key”, and it is the star of many Christmas dinners.
Riddle 15: Where do snowmen keep their money?
Answer: In a snow bank.
A snowbank is a big pile of snow, and a bank is where money is kept.
Riddle 16: With white berries I hang above the door. People who meet beneath me share a kiss. What am I?
Answer: Mistletoe.
It is a Christmas tradition to kiss when two people stand under the mistletoe.
Riddle 17: Two people pull me apart at Christmas dinner. I go “bang!” and inside you’ll find a paper hat and a joke. What am I?
Answer: A Christmas cracker.
Christmas crackers are pulled from both ends, snap with a bang and hold a small gift, hat and joke.
Riddle 18: What do you call a reindeer with no eyes?
Answer: No idea.
“No-eye deer” sounds exactly like “no idea”.
Riddle 19: What do you get if you cross a snowman with a vampire?
Answer: Frostbite.
Snowmen are made of frost, and vampires bite.
Riddle 20: Why does Santa have three gardens?
Answer: So he can “hoe, hoe, hoe”.
A hoe is a garden tool, and “hoe, hoe, hoe” sounds like Santa’s laugh.
Hard Christmas Riddles for Teens and Adults
Logic puzzles and tricky wordplay with a festive twist. Read every word carefully.
Riddle 21: A boy was born on 25 December, yet his birthday always falls in summer. How is this possible?
Answer: He lives in the Southern Hemisphere.
In countries like Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, December is in the middle of summer.
Riddle 22: Jingle’s mother has four children. Three of them are called Holly, Ivy and Noel. What is the name of the fourth child?
Answer: Jingle.
The riddle tells you at the start: it is Jingle’s mother, so Jingle is the fourth child.
Riddle 23: In the song “The Twelve Days of Christmas”, how many gifts are given in total over all twelve days?
Answer: 364.
Each day repeats all the earlier gifts: 1 + 3 + 6 + 10 + … + 78 adds up to 364, almost one for every day of the year.
Riddle 24: What do you call people who are afraid of Santa Claus?
Answer: Claustrophobic.
Claustrophobic really means afraid of small spaces, but it sounds like “Claus-phobic”.
Riddle 25: Write the word CHRISTMAS, then write it backwards underneath. Which letter is in the same place in both words?
Answer: The middle S (the 5th letter).
CHRISTMAS backwards is SAMTSIRHC. In both words the 5th letter is S.
Riddle 26: I have a head and a tail but no legs, and I’m sometimes hidden inside a Christmas pudding for good luck. What am I?
Answer: A coin.
Coins have a “heads” and a “tails” side, and finding one in the pudding is an old tradition.
Riddle 27: I’m round with no end, made of holly and pine, and I hang on your door to say “welcome, friend”. What am I?
Answer: A Christmas wreath.
A wreath is a circle of evergreen leaves, so it has no beginning and no end.
Riddle 28: The more of me there is outside, the quieter the world becomes. Children wish for me on the 25th, but I can never be wrapped. What am I?
Answer: Snow.
Fresh snow absorbs sound, and many children hope for a white Christmas.
Riddle 29: Which of Santa’s reindeer needs to work on his manners?
Answer: Rude-olph.
Rudolph’s name starts with “Rude”.
Riddle 30: What comes at the end of Christmas Day?
Answer: The letter Y.
The last letter of the word “day” is Y.
Christmas Riddles FAQ
What are good Christmas riddles for kids?
Start with the easy section above. Riddles like “What do you call a snowman in the middle of summer?” (a puddle) and “What do you call a cat on the beach at Christmas time?” (Sandy Claws) are short, funny and easy for young children to understand.
What is the hardest Christmas riddle?
The “Twelve Days of Christmas” riddle stumps most people: it asks how many gifts are given in total across all twelve days of the song. Try working it out on paper before you check the answer!
How can I use these riddles at a Christmas party?
Write a few riddles on cards and put one in each Christmas cracker, or split guests into teams and award a chocolate for every correct answer. They also make a fun quiz round after Christmas dinner.
Want more? Try our riddles for kids, funny riddles, hard riddles and Halloween riddles.