Winter Clothes Riddles: 30 Cozy Riddles with Answers on Riddlepedia
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Winter Clothes Riddles: 30 Cozy Riddles with Answers

30 riddles · tap Hint or Answer to reveal

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When the first cold morning arrives, the hallway turns into a pile of hats, boots and one mitten that has lost its partner. Getting dressed for winter takes a few extra minutes, but every piece has a job: trapping warm air, keeping out wind and snow, or keeping your fingers able to build a snowman.

These 30 winter clothes riddles start with the things kids pull on every day, move on to what winter clothes are made of, and finish with tricky riddles about clothes named after real people and places. Read them while everyone is zipping up, or save them for a snow day indoors.

Easy Winter Clothes Riddles

I sit on top of your head when the wind blows cold. I’m knitted or woolly, and I keep your ears warm too if you pull me down low. What am I?

Hint
Some of me have a fluffy ball on top.
Answer
A winter hat

I keep your hand warm, but I have only one room for all four fingers. Your thumb gets a little room of its own. What am I?

Hint
I’m often on a string so I don’t get lost.
Answer
Mittens. Mittens are warmer than gloves because your fingers share their warmth.

I’m long and soft, and I wrap around your neck once or twice. On a snowman, I’m the finishing touch. What am I?

Hint
Your neck is my favorite place to be.
Answer
A scarf

I’m tall and waterproof, with thick soles and warm linings. I stomp through slush and puddles so your socks stay dry. What am I?

Hint
You leave me by the door so you don’t track snow inside.
Answer
Snow boots

I’m the biggest thing you put on before going out in the cold. I have sleeves and a front that closes, and I hang on a hook when you come inside. What am I?

Hint
I go on last, over everything else.
Answer
A winter coat

I’m two fuzzy circles joined by a band over the top of your head. I cover just one part of you, and I’m not a hat. What am I?

Hint
I keep your ears warm.
Answer
Earmuffs

I keep your hands warm, and I have a separate little room for every finger. What am I?

Hint
I’m the cousin of a mitten.
Answer
Gloves

I go on before your boots, and I come in pairs, but somehow one of me always goes missing in the wash. In winter, I’m thick and woolly. What am I?

Hint
Your feet wear me first.
Answer
Wool socks

I’m puffy, waterproof trousers you pull on over your clothes for sledding and snow angels. What am I?

Hint
I keep your legs dry when you sit in the snow.
Answer
Snow pants

I have teeth but I never bite. I go up and down the front of your coat and close it tight. What am I?

Hint
My little pull tab slides between two rows of teeth.
Answer
A zipper

Medium Winter Clothes Riddles

I’m warm and a little scratchy, and I started out as the coat of a fluffy farm animal. I keep you warm even if I get a little damp. What am I?

Hint
Think “baa.”
Answer
A wool sweater. Wool comes from sheep, and it traps warm air between its curly fibers.

I’m attached to the back of a coat’s collar. When snow starts falling, you flip me up over your head. What am I?

Hint
I’m like a hat that can never get lost.
Answer
A hood

I’m small and round, and I go through a hole to keep your coat closed. Some coats have a whole row of me. What am I?

Hint
Zippers do the same job.
Answer
Buttons

I’m a fluffy ball of yarn that sits on top of a winter hat. I don’t keep you any warmer, but I look great. What am I?

Hint
Cheerleaders shake bigger versions of me.
Answer
A pom-pom

I’m worn under your clothes on the coldest days: a snug top and bottoms that cover you from wrists to ankles. What am I?

Hint
Some people call me “thermals.”
Answer
Long underwear

I’m the soft, fluffy layer that grows under a duck’s or a goose’s outer feathers. Stuff me inside a puffy jacket and I trap lots of warm air. What am I?

Hint
My name is the opposite of “up.”
Answer
Down. Down feathers are fluffy and light, so they hold a lot of warm air.

I’m soft and fuzzy like wool, but I’m usually made from a kind of plastic. Some of me even started out as old plastic bottles. What fabric am I?

Hint
Hoodies and cozy jackets are often made of me.
Answer
Fleece. Most fleece is made of polyester, and some is made from recycled bottles.

We come in a pair, we’re long and pointy, and we click together all evening until a new hat or scarf is finished. What are we?

Hint
We work with a ball of yarn.
Answer
Knitting needles

Every sweater and coat has two of me. Your arms go inside me, and on a cold day, you pull me down over your hands. What am I?

Hint
Short ones are for summer.
Answer
Sleeves

I’m a little pouch sewn into your coat. Your cold hands hide in me, and so do tissues and the occasional lost glove. What am I?

Hint
Your jeans have some of me too.
Answer
Pockets

Tricky Winter Clothes Riddles

I cover your whole head and neck, with just an opening for your face or eyes. I’m named after a town in Crimea, where British soldiers wore knitted versions of me in the freezing winter of 1854. What am I?

Hint
Skiers and snowboarders wear me under their helmets.
Answer
A balaclava

I’m a knitted sweater that opens down the front with buttons. I’m named after a British earl from the 1800s who liked wearing one. What am I?

Hint
The earl took his title from a town in Wales.
Answer
A cardigan. It’s named after the 7th Earl of Cardigan.

I’m a sweater with a tall collar that folds down and hugs your neck, so you might not even need a scarf. I’m named after an animal that can pull its head into its shell. What am I?

Hint
The animal is slow and has a shell.
Answer
A turtleneck

You pull off your wool hat on a dry winter day, and your hair stands straight up and crackles. What invisible thing caused it?

Hint
Touch a metal doorknob next and you might feel a tiny zap.
Answer
Static electricity. Rubbing the hat against your hair moves tiny charges around, and dry winter air lets them build up.

We’re a pair of clips on a strap that runs through your coat sleeves. Thanks to us, your mittens can fall off but never get lost. What are we?

Hint
You might call us a mitten string’s fancier cousin.
Answer
Mitten clips

Shake me and I get warm all by myself, without batteries or a plug. Tiny bits of iron inside me react with the air. Tuck me in a mitten on a cold day. What am I?

Hint
I’m a little packet that warms up your fingers.
Answer
Hand warmers. Inside, iron powder slowly rusts, and rusting gives off heat.

Skiers wear me over their eyes. I don’t keep your eyes warm so much as protect them from icy wind and the bright sun bouncing off the snow. What am I?

Hint
I’m like big, snug sunglasses with a strap.
Answer
Ski goggles

You walked home in your warm hat, and now you’re inside and you’ve taken it off. Your hair is flat on top and sticking out at the sides. What do you have?

Hint
The name says exactly what caused it.
Answer
Hat hair

Instead of one big thick sweater, you put on a T-shirt, then a long-sleeved shirt, then a fleece, then a coat. Warm air gets trapped between each one. What is this way of dressing called?

Hint
A cake can be made this way too.
Answer
Layers. Dressing in layers traps warm air, and you can take one off if you get too hot.

What did the hat say to the scarf as the cold wind blew?

Hint
The hat is sitting higher up than the scarf.
Answer
“You hang around, I’ll go on a head.”

Winter Clothes Riddle Games

  • Dress the snowman: draw a big snowman on paper. Every time a kid solves a riddle, they draw that piece of clothing on the snowman: hat, scarf, mittens, earmuffs and boots. Who can dress the snowman first?
  • Mitten match: write the riddles on cut-out paper mittens and the answers on their “partners.” Kids read a riddle, then hunt for the matching mitten to make a pair.
  • Closet relay: for a snow day, lay out real winter clothes at one end of the room. Read a riddle, and the first player to run over and hold up the right item wins a point (and gets to wear it for the next riddle).
  • Classroom sort: after the medium round, sort the materials: which come from animals (wool, down), which are made from plastic (fleece), and which could be either?

Want more riddles to wear? Try our shoe riddles, these Halloween costume riddles or our snowman riddles.