25 Christmas Riddles for Seniors

1. Four gifts—a book, scarf, mug and puzzle—sit left to right. The mug is far right; the puzzle is left of the book, and the book is left of the scarf. Which is far left?

2. I'm made of popped kernels and red berries, strung together with a needle and thread, and I was draped on trees long before shiny store-bought trim. What am I?

3. I'm made of colored paper loops glued one by one at the kitchen table, and children tear off one link a day until Christmas. What am I?

4. I rest across two knees, grow one row at a time, and keep someone warm before I am even finished. What am I?

5. We click and clack every evening by the lamp, and Grandma's scarf grows a little longer thanks to us. What are we?

6. I am a wooden circle that waits under a hot dish so the table does not have to feel it. What am I?

7. Lower my needle and a black circle turns old grooves into a room full of sound. What am I?

8. Once I held butter cookies; now I live in the closet, full of buttons, thread and spare needles. What am I?

9. Each person adds one remembered detail, and by dessert I am longer than when dinner began. What am I?

10. I am a smooth curved guide tucked behind your heel. Your foot slides into a shoe without crushing the back. What am I?

11. I'm a sweet paste of ground almonds and sugar, often shaped into tiny fruits and animals. What am I?

12. I'm a rich steamed pudding packed with dried fruit, and old-fashioned cooks hid a small coin inside me for luck. What am I?

13. My pages are full of faces in black and white, and I come off the shelf every Christmas when the relatives visit. What am I?

14. I am a book that waits beside the door for every visitor to leave one line of themselves. What am I?

15. Wind me up and I play a gentle tune; lift my lid and a tiny dancer starts to spin. What am I?

16. Which word is always spelled wrong, even at the best Christmas spelling bee?

17. The more of me there is, the less you can see, especially at five o'clock on a December evening. What am I?

18. I'm a small stable with figures of a family, shepherds and animals, unpacked with care and set on the sideboard each December. What am I?

19. I was the shiny 'tree' of the late 1950s and 1960s: silver, never needing water, lit by a spinning color wheel. What am I?

20. I have to be broken before you can use me, and I'm the first thing cracked open for holiday baking. What am I?

21. I run all the way around the yard without ever moving, and one neighbor always wraps me in lights. What am I?

22. I arrive as a flat card, stand up on four folded corners, and carry the name of one dinner guest. What am I?

23. I am a cloth pocket at every place, and the silverware waits inside me before dinner. What am I?

24. I have plenty of teeth but never bite, and I tidy everyone's hair before the family photo. What am I?

25. We go door to door in the cold, singing on doorsteps, and we're often rewarded with cookies and cocoa. Who are we?