Winter Scavenger Hunt Riddles

Press Print this list for ten what-am-I riddles to solve and then find, or press Pick 10 new riddles first.

Winter Scavenger Hunt Riddles

TeamDate

  1. Nobody steps on a frozen pond, lake or river.
  2. Nobody stands under an icicle.
  3. Berries are looked at, never tasted.
  1. I am a wooden egg covered in scales, and I fell from a tree that stays green. What am I?Answer: a pine cone. The plates of a cone are called scales. Look under a pine or a spruce and leave it there.
  2. Two thin lines run down the hill side by side, and nobody used a ruler. What am I?Answer: sled tracks. Look on any slope where children have been.
  3. I am a line of small prints that tells who crossed the yard before breakfast. What am I?Answer: animal tracks in the snow. A bird, a squirrel, a rabbit, a cat or a dog. Guess who made them.
  4. I grow downward, drip by drip, and I am gone on the first warm day. What am I?Answer: an icicle. A spike of ice made where falling water freezes. Point to it from well back.
  5. I am two soft cups joined by a band, and I make the world a little quieter. What am I?Answer: earmuffs. On someone walking by, or in the hat basket.
  6. I count the days on the wall, and this month my picture is full of snow. What am I?Answer: the calendar. Any winter month counts, snow in the picture or not.
  7. We go on before the boots, one on each side, the thickest pair in the drawer. What are we?Answer: thick socks. On feet, or rolled in a pair in the drawer.
  8. I sit on your head and cover your ears, and some of my cousins wear a pom-pom. What am I?Answer: a wool hat. Any knitted winter hat.
  9. I keep four fingers together in one room and give the thumb a room of its own. What am I?Answer: a mitten. On a hand or in the basket by the door.
  10. I draw ferns on the glass overnight and never use a pencil. What am I?Answer: frost on a window. Window frost is also called fern frost. Try a car window or a shed window early in the day.

Next step More riddles for a day indoorsNo riddles: winter finds with points

How it works

These winter scavenger hunt riddles are solved before anyone looks: guess the what-am-I, then find the answer and tick its box. Most need no snow, and one set never leaves the house.

Read the full guide

Solve first, then look

The page opens on ten riddles, each with its answer in the note beneath. Press Hide all notes, under the list, before you press Print this list: every answer then prints as a blank line for the hunter to write on. The All riddles menu keeps the sheet to one set, such as Dressed for the cold.

No snow on the ground

Under More filters, No snow needed leaves out every riddle that needs snow. Three rules print on the sheet: nobody steps on frozen water, nobody stands under an icicle, and berries are never tasted.

Tips
  • Easy under More filters keeps the riddles that say what the thing does, for ages 4 to 7 read aloud.
  • One sheet works for a team: one reads, everyone guesses, and whoever spots the answer ticks the box.

Questions and answers

What are some winter riddles for a scavenger hunt?

Ones whose answer can be found and ticked. I have a hundred teeth and never bite, pull me up when the wind does: a zipper. I draw ferns on the glass overnight and never use a pencil: frost on a window.

Can you do a winter scavenger hunt with no snow?

Yes. No snow needed keeps the riddles answered by evergreens, bare branches, birds, winter clothes and things indoors, and the ones that want only a freeze: an icicle, window frost and a frozen puddle.

What ages are these riddles for?

Each riddle is marked Easy or Medium. Easy ones say what the thing does and suit ages 4 to 7 when read aloud. Medium ones hide it a little more, for ages 8 and up. The levels are the editors' judgment.

How do you play a riddle scavenger hunt outside?

Read one riddle, let the team guess, then walk until someone spots the answer and ticks it. Icicles and frozen puddles are found by pointing: the note says to look from the edge or from well back.

More tools

Browse Holiday Games

All 48 riddles

Snow, frost and ice 12

  • I am half snow and half puddle, gray at the edge of the sidewalk and loud under boots. What am I? Answer: slush. Seen from the sidewalk.
  • I am round and cold, and two mittens pressed me into shape. What am I? Answer: a snowball. One you make counts.
  • I draw ferns on the glass overnight and never use a pencil. What am I? Answer: frost on a window. Window frost is also called fern frost. Try a car window or a shed window early in the day.
  • I grow downward, drip by drip, and I am gone on the first warm day. What am I? Answer: an icicle. A spike of ice made where falling water freezes. Point to it from well back.
  • I have a carrot for a nose, and I am never invited indoors. What am I? Answer: a snowman. Any snow figure counts, with or without the carrot.
  • I have six arms and no hands, and I land on your sleeve without a sound. What am I? Answer: a snowflake. A dark sleeve or mitten shows the six arms best.
  • I ride on a branch like icing on a cake until a bird lands and knocks me off. What am I? Answer: snow on a branch. Evergreens hold the most.
  • Someone carved me through the white so the mail could reach the door. What am I? Answer: a shoveled path. A cleared sidewalk or driveway counts.
  • Two thin lines run down the hill side by side, and nobody used a ruler. What am I? Answer: sled tracks. Look on any slope where children have been.
  • The wind piled me against the fence: one white wave that never breaks. What am I? Answer: a snowdrift. Look on the sheltered side of a fence, a wall or a hedge.
  • Yesterday you could splash in me. Today I am a window lying on the ground. What am I? Answer: a frozen puddle. Look at it from the edge.
  • You make me with every step, and I stay behind to show where you went. What am I? Answer: your own footprint in the snow. Turn around and look back along your path.

Trees, birds and tracks 12

  • All my neighbors let go in the fall. I am the dry brown one still rattling up here. What am I? Answer: a dead leaf still on its tree. Oaks and beeches often keep some.
  • I am a line of small prints that tells who crossed the yard before breakfast. What am I? Answer: animal tracks in the snow. A bird, a squirrel, a rabbit, a cat or a dog. Guess who made them.
  • I am a tight little fist at the tip of a twig, holding next spring inside. What am I? Answer: a bud on a twig. Look at the end of a low branch, without picking it.
  • I am a wooden egg covered in scales, and I fell from a tree that stays green. What am I? Answer: a pine cone. The plates of a cone are called scales. Look under a pine or a spruce and leave it there.
  • I am no fatter than last week. I have puffed out my feathers to keep warm. What am I? Answer: a bird fluffed up against the cold. Look on a branch, a wire or a fence.
  • I am the brightest thing on the bush. Birds may eat me, and you may not. What am I? Answer: red berries. Holly berries are a food for some birds and slightly toxic to people. Looked at, never tasted.
  • I buried my lunch in the fall, and now I am digging to remember where. What am I? Answer: a squirrel. Look low on a trunk or under an oak.
  • I come for the seeds, take one, and I am gone before you count to three. What am I? Answer: a bird at a feeder. Stand still and watch from a window or from across the yard.
  • I look like a ball of dead leaves stuck in the fork of a tall tree, and someone sleeps in me. What am I? Answer: a squirrel's nest. It is called a drey: leaves and twigs, built in the fork of a tall tree. Bare branches show them.
  • In summer I wore a thousand leaves. Now you can count my fingers against the sky. What am I? Answer: a bare branch. Any tree that dropped its leaves in the fall.
  • Leaves hid me all summer. Now I sit in plain sight, an empty cup of twigs. What am I? Answer: a bird's nest in a bare tree. Seen from the ground.
  • When the other trees undress for winter, I keep my green coat on. What am I? Answer: an evergreen tree. An evergreen keeps green leaves or needles all year. A pine, a spruce, a fir or a holly counts.

Dressed for the cold 12

  • I am long like a snake, and I wind around your neck without squeezing. What am I? Answer: a scarf. On a person or on a hook.
  • I am small and round, and I slip through a slot to shut the cold out. What am I? Answer: a coat button. Count the ones on your own coat.
  • I am two soft cups joined by a band, and I make the world a little quieter. What am I? Answer: earmuffs. On someone walking by, or in the hat basket.
  • I hang behind your neck doing nothing until the wind blows. Then I am a roof. What am I? Answer: a hood. On a coat or a sweatshirt.
  • I have a hundred teeth and never bite. Pull me up when the wind does. What am I? Answer: a zipper. On a coat, a boot or a bag.
  • I have five empty fingers until a hand moves in. What am I? Answer: a glove. A lone one on a fence post counts too. Leave it there for its owner.
  • I keep four fingers together in one room and give the thumb a room of its own. What am I? Answer: a mitten. On a hand or in the basket by the door.
  • I sit on your head and cover your ears, and some of my cousins wear a pom-pom. What am I? Answer: a wool hat. Any knitted winter hat.
  • In July I held nothing at all. Now I carry the heaviest clothes in the house. What am I? Answer: a coat hook. Look by the door.
  • Snow falls off us in lumps on the mat, and our laces are stiff with cold. What am I? Answer: winter boots. On feet or drying by the door.
  • We go on before the boots, one on each side, the thickest pair in the drawer. What are we? Answer: thick socks. On feet, or rolled in a pair in the drawer.
  • You make me each time you breathe out in the cold, and I vanish in a second. What am I? Answer: the cloud of your breath. Water vapor in warm breath turns to tiny drops in cold air. It needs a cold day, not snow.

Indoors on a cold day 12

  • I am brown and sweet and too hot at first. Marshmallows float on me like little rafts. What am I? Answer: hot cocoa. The tin on the shelf counts.
  • I come in hundreds of pieces, and I keep a family at the table all afternoon. What am I? Answer: a jigsaw puzzle. The box on the shelf counts.
  • I count the days on the wall, and this month my picture is full of snow. What am I? Answer: the calendar. Any winter month counts, snow in the picture or not.
  • I found the warmest spot in the house and folded myself into a circle. What am I? Answer: a pet curled up asleep. A cat, a dog or a hamster. A person napping counts as well.
  • I have no arms, yet on the couch I can wrap all of you from chin to toes. What am I? Answer: a blanket. The one on the couch or the one on a bed.
  • I have numbers and no hands. On cold days I point to the small ones. What am I? Answer: a thermometer. By a window, on a wall or outside the door.
  • I never leave my wall, yet I am the reason you took your coat off. What am I? Answer: a radiator or a heating vent. Find it by looking.
  • I wear a thick peel for a coat and come apart in a dozen slices. What am I? Answer: an orange. Try the fruit bowl.
  • In summer nobody needs me until bedtime. In winter I am switched on before dinner. What am I? Answer: a lamp that is on in the afternoon. Any lamp that is lit before the evening meal.
  • The warm room breathes on me until I turn gray. Then a finger can draw on me. What am I? Answer: a steamed-up window. Water vapor in the warm air turns to drops on the cold glass. Try the kitchen or the bathroom.
  • We are soft and flat, we never meet the snow, and we shuffle down the hall. What are we? Answer: slippers. Beside a bed or by the door.
  • You eat me with a spoon, and I steam like a tiny pond. What am I? Answer: a bowl of soup. A soup can on the shelf counts.
How this list was compiled

Written for this site by its editors on 2 October 2026: 48 original what-am-I riddles, each answered by one thing a hunter can find and tick in winter, outdoors or in the house. Nothing was copied from another riddle list. The note under each riddle gives the answer and where to look. Where a note states a fact, it was read on 2 October 2026 in the English Wikipedia article for the thing (text under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license): Condensation, Conifer_cone, Drey, Evergreen, Frost, Holly, Icicle, Marcescence, Snowflake, all under https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/. Every answer is found by looking: nothing is picked, tasted or taken, and no riddle asks anyone onto ice. Easy and Medium are the editors' judgment. Licence: own work