50 of the Best Jokes, Puns, and Christmas Riddles for Kids

How many more days until Christmas?? You might hear this question a thousand times between now and Christmas Day. It’s time for parents to turn the tables and fire back with one of these Christmas riddles for kids every time they ask. Some of them are groan-worthy dad jokes, which to be honest are my favorite! So get those brains cranking and fuel the fire of the holiday spirit! After the riddles and jokes, I’ll share a few of the best books I’ve found for keeping the kids laughing during Christmas, answer some common questions about jokes and riddles, and a few ways to give Christmas a deeper meaning this year.

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Favorite Jokes and Christmas Riddles for Kids

Reindeer, the North Pole, Elves, holiday cheer, and of course Santa Claus himself, get ready for all things Christmas with comedy! Some are new, and some are classic. You’ll laugh, you’ll groan, and then you’ll come back for more! Enjoy this list of the best puns, jokes, and Christmas riddles for kids that will keep them smiling until the big day. Find your new favorite!

Why was the alphabet only 25 letters long at Christmas?
Answer: It sent a letter to Santa. It has no L (noel).

What did Santa name his new reindeer who couldn’t stop singing Christmas songs?
Answer: Carol.

What kind of fish does Santa Claus put at the top of his Christmas tree?
Answer: Angel fish.

What is an astronomer’s favorite reindeer?
Answer: Comet

What does Santa Claus do at the end of Christmas Eve?
Answer: He goes ho-ho-home.

How do elves keep themselves from playing all day with the Christmas toys they make?
Answer: They practice “elf-control.”

What kind of photos do elves post on social media?
Answer: Elf-ies

Why did the snowman melt when it was freezing outside?
Answer: He drank the hot cocoa.

What did the elves put on the gingerbread man’s bed?
Answer: A cookie sheet.

Where do Santa’s elves keep their money?
Answer: In a snow bank. (Maybe the First Bank of the North Pole?)

I light up a room but don’t need electricity. The more light I give, the smaller I get. What am I?
Answer: A candle.

Santa Claus fills me up on Christmas Eve, but you find me empty on Christmas morning.
Answer: Chimney.

I walk through the snow but I don’t wear boots. I fly through the air but I don’t have wings. What am I?
Answer: Reindeer.

What can fall from the sky without being harmed but falls apart in your hand?
Answer: A snowflake!

What has two arms and two legs but can’t run or give you a hug?
Answer: A gingerbread man.

What makes many points without saying a word?
Answer: A star.

I’m a ball that doesn’t bounce, and when I get warm I disappear. What am I?
Answer: A snowball.

When I’m young, I’m very tall, and when I’m old, I’m very short. What am I?
Answer: A candle.

I’m bright when it’s dark, and dim when it’s bright. What am I?
Answer: Christmas lights!

Snow falls all year long here but it’s not cold. There’s water everywhere but no one is swimming. Where is this?
Answer: Inside a snow globe.

What kind of mints are the best for Christmas?
Answer: OrnaMINTS

Which reindeer comes back for Valentine’s Day?
Answer: Cupid

What did Dancer say to Prancer?
Answer: Between us, we have all the ancers (answers).

What did one snowman say to the other?
Answer: Do you smell carrots?

What do you call very young snowmen?
Answer: Chill-dren

What comes at the very end of Christmas?
Answer: The letter S.

What do Santa’s elves learn in preschool?
Answer: The elf-abet!

Why was the Christmas tree so bad at sewing?
Answer: Because it keeps dropping needles!

What did the snowman do on vacation in Florida?
Answer: He watered a palm tree! (He melted!!)

What do you call a snowman with a 6-pack?
Answer: An abdominable snowman!

What do you call a reindeer with poor manners?
Answer: Rude-olph

What kind of cars does Santa buy for his elves?
Answer: TOY-otas!

What do you call a dog that works for Santa Claus?
Answer: Santa Paws

What do you call a cat who spends Christmas on the beach?
Answer: Sandy Claws

What do you call an elf that strikes it rich?
Answer: WELFy

Why do reindeer wear bells?
Answer: Because their horns don’t work!

What do you call an elf that’s afraid of Santa?
Answer: Claus-trophobic

What did the tree say at the beginning of the holiday season?
Answer: I’m pining for Christmas!

What did one snowman say to the other?
Answer: I’m SNOW excited for Christmas!

Why did Santa send his elf to therapy?
Answer: To boost his elf-esteem!

How did Santa win the flying competition?
Answer: He sleighed his way to victory.

Why couldn’t the two gifts get together for lunch during the holidays?
Answer: They were both always tied up.

What did one snowman say to the other?
Answer: Have an ice day!

What did one icicle say to the other when he made a Christmas pun?
Answer: ICY what you did there!

What did the gifts say to their teacher on Christmas morning?
Answer: I am present and accounted for!

What do elves call it when they talk about Christmas times of the past?
Answer: Getting Santa-mental!

Why do Santa’s elves not have any college loans?
Answer: They are all elf-taught!

Why didn’t the snowball make it to the Christmas party?
Answer: He flaked out.

What did the icicle say to his sweetheart?
Answer: I only have ice for you.

Christmas joke books make good gifts, but so do the kind that make a difference in kids’ lives! Put I Am Kind: Kindness Practices for Kids under the tree this year.

Christmas Mad Libs

Mad Libs are my hands down absolute favorite word games. Not only are they a sneaky way to teach grammar and spelling without it feeling like they’re doing worksheets, but you can find Mad Libs for every major holiday, including Christmas. Christmas Mad Libs make a great stocking stuffer, or you can do a page a day like an advent calendar. Try doing one at breakfast each morning for a hilarious start to the day! Either way, take advantage of the fun of Christmas to squeeze in some reading, writing, spelling, and grammar activities that everyone will enjoy. I call that win-win!

Holiday Joke Books

Holiday joke books in general are great for kids when they’re going through their joke-telling phase during Christmas. If you’ve got a long drive ahead of you, you can either listen to them ask “are we there yet” a thousand times or listen to an endless string of hilarious and silly jokes and riddles about Santa, reindeer, stockings, and snowmen. You do the math, but I know which one I prefer. If you’re like me, you’ll want to pick up the Best Kids’ Christmas Jokes Ever from Highlights to take on the road trip. 

Christmas Riddles for Kids Book

It may be a little redundant, but yes you can get an actual book filled with Christmas riddles for kids. While my personal favorite list of the best riddles above is free, if you can’t get enough you can always order a book from Amazon! This book is filled with hundreds of jokes, riddles, brain teasers, and word games. It even has some fun illustrations throughout and lots of positive reviews – we have enjoyed this book a lot ourselves this year!

What’s the Difference Between Riddles and Jokes?

You might be wondering what the difference is between riddles and jokes. (At least I was wondering, because I am the Word Nerd after all!) I took a look at the differences and essentially it comes down to the laughs. Jokes are inherently supposed to be funny – the goal is to make people laugh! There’s a question or a story followed by a punchline, some unexpected twist that gets everyone laughing. 

While riddles can be funny, the main intent is to make people think. They may end up laughing, and that’s a great bonus! But riddles are really more about engaging the brain in a different and creative way. I prefer riddles that both make me think and make me laugh! But if you really want some activities that get your brain fired up, try creating jokes and riddles of your own for Christmas. Trust me, it’s a challenge! But it’s free, fun, and your family can let you know how successful you’ve been based on the laughs you hear. (Here are some more brain teasers for kids – they aren’t Christmas or Santa related, but they are fun!)

But just a fair warning – once kids start getting the jokes, they’ll have them on repeat for the rest of the Christmas season. Maybe you’ll be lucky and they will start making up fun puns of their own! Either way, grab a good pair of earmuffs and enjoy the Christmas spirit!

How do Riddles, Word Games, and Jokes Help Kids Think in New Ways?

When it comes to creative thinking, jokes and riddles help kids create new connections in their brains in a way that worksheets have a hard time doing. Our brains are solution-seeking machines, and when we’re asked an unexpected question, those neurons go into overdrive trying to come up with possible answers. There won’t be any Christmas holiday break brain drain in your family when you keep tossing the kids more Santa and Christmas related laughs! Here are some of the ways jokes and riddles make the brain work and why they will be your new favorite way to advance cognitive skills at home! 

Problem-Solving Skills

In order to solve a riddle or “get” a pun or joke, kids’ brains process the information, evaluate from a different perspective, and apply both logical reasoning and lateral thinking. These are brain-building skills they will apply to real life problems for their entire lives! But the good news is that they won’t even know how hard they are working – they are just having fun!

Strengthen Vocabulary and Language Skills

Even for adults, but especially with kids, jokes, riddles, and puns boost vocabulary and help kids learn new sayings and idioms. They must apply their current skills and practice new ones as they work to understand context, nuances of language, word meaning and more. This boosts comprehension, communication skills, and cultural literacy. So don’t worry if you have to explain a lot of the jokes. That means they’re learning! 

Boost Memory and Recall

When kids laugh at a good joke, they want to be able to remember it so they can tell their friends, siblings, grandparents, etc. This means they have to remember it! Who knew Christmas joke-telling would become a memory exercise? (Or they can write it down and boost their writing, spelling, and penmanship skills. That’s the best!) Humor is also key to early childhood development, so be sure to keep the laughs rolling!

Critical and Creative Thinking

Kids – especially very young children – tend to think very literally. (How many times have they literally clocked 60 seconds when you said, “In a minute!”) Lots of jokes are the kind that need kids to detect patterns, hidden clues, or abstract meanings. This means kids have to think beyond the obvious literal meanings to answer the riddle or to understand the joke. I remember how excited I was when my son finally started to get my endless string of puns!

While doing math worksheets makes the brain work in one way, riddles make them work in an entirely different way. Both activities are important for well-rounded development, so don’t forget to include some riddles at Christmas time and throughout the year for every holiday and special event. Have fun, learn, and build those brains. These are gifts that Santa simply cannot leave under the tree, and you don’t have to go to the North Pole to get them!

The best gifts are those you can open again and again. You’ll be glad you put I Am Kind under the tree this Christmas!

Beyond the Laughs: Making Christmas Matter as a Family

Christmas is all about making memories with your family and friends. Kids might be very focused on writing a letter to Santa Claus, gifts, decorating the tree, and all their favorite delicious Christmas sweets that come with the season, but it’s also important to encourage kids to go deeper than that. One of my favorite activities to encourage giving, empathy, and sharing during Christmas time is to do a reverse advent calendar. It’s easy for kids to understand and to participate in (it even makes you feel a little like Santa!), and it truly makes a difference to a family in need over the holidays. You can learn how to use a laminator and protect your reverse advent calendar and keep it around for next year, or make it a monthly thing to do good and keep the giving going all year long. 

You can also look up volunteer opportunities in your area that you can do as a family. Volunteermatch.org is a good way to find the right fit for you and your family. This can include activities like serving at a soup kitchen or something as simple as joining a singing group that visits rest homes over the holidays. Seniors are one of the most neglected groups and could really use a good pick-me-up over Christmas! (You don’t even have to dress up like Santa Claus or turn the kids into elves, although if that’s your thing I’m sure they would love it!) Who knows – this one time volunteer over Christmas season could turn into a new passion for helping others that lasts long into the new year and beyond. 

Make it a kind Christmas and read a kindness book to your kids during this holiday season of giving!

Having Fun? Let’s Stay Connected!

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