50 Fun Facts About Winter Trivia for Kids

Which winter months does the Northern Hemisphere have, when it is summer south of the equator?

Australians can spend Christmas on the beach because their winter falls in June, July and August.

What is special about the winter solstice, around December 21 in the Northern Hemisphere?

The Sun makes its lowest arc across the sky, and the coldest weather usually comes a few weeks later.

How many arms or sides does a typical snowflake have?

That comes from the hexagonal way water molecules lock together as ice.

Who was the first person to photograph individual snowflakes, starting in 1885?

He caught the flakes on black velvet and worked fast, before they melted, and became known as Snowflake Bentley.

Ice is actually clear. Why does snow look white?

All the colours bouncing off the crystal surfaces mix together, and mixed light looks white to our eyes.

At what temperature does water freeze into ice?

That is 32 degrees Fahrenheit, which is why both numbers show up on the weather report.

Why does ice float on top of a pond instead of sinking?

Frozen water takes up about 9 percent more space, which is also why a bottle left in the freezer can crack.

Which animal spends the winter in a deep sleep called hibernation and even gives birth during it?

Female black bears have their cubs in the den in the middle of winter.

What happens to a snowshoe hare's brown summer fur when winter comes?

Only its black eyelids and the tips of its ears stay dark, which is perfect camouflage in the snow.

What colour is a polar bear's skin under all that white fur?

Its guard hairs are hollow and see-through, which helps trap heat and keeps the bear afloat.

Which is the only bird species that breeds during the freezing Antarctic winter?

The dads balance the egg on their feet for over two months without eating, losing about 12 kilograms.

Which small fox has a coat that turns from dark in summer to white in winter?

Its winter coat is twice as long as its summer coat to keep out the cold.

An igloo stays warm inside because snow is full of what?

It can be minus 45 outside and above freezing inside from body heat alone.

A classic North American snowman is built from how many big snowballs?

Sticks make the arms, and a carrot usually gets the job of being the nose.

In the song, what brings Frosty the Snowman to life?

Gene Autry first recorded the song in 1950, the year after his hit about Rudolph.

How do you make a snow angel?

Your arms make the wings and your legs make the gown.

Where were the very first Winter Olympic Games held, in 1924?

It was originally billed as International Winter Sports Week and only later declared the first Winter Olympics.

Snowboarding became an official Olympic sport at which Winter Games?

Halfpipe and giant slalom were the first events, with big air added in 2018.

In the sport of curling, what do players slide across the ice towards the target?

Teammates sweep the ice with brooms to make the stone travel farther and curl less.

What is a hockey puck made of?

Players may knock it out of the air with a hand but are not allowed to kick it into the net.

The machine that smooths the ice at a skating rink is named after which inventor?

He built the first one in 1949 in Paramount, California, after starting out in the refrigeration business.

The famous Iditarod sled dog race in Alaska finishes in which town?

The record time is just over eight days, set by Mitch Seavey in 2017.

What causes the northern lights, the glowing curtains seen in winter skies in the far north?

In the far south the same show is called the aurora australis.

For a snowstorm to officially count as a blizzard in the US, its winds must reach at least what speed?

It also has to cut visibility to a quarter mile or less and last three hours or more.

What is a snowstorm's blowing snow said to create when you cannot tell the ground from the sky?

Whiteouts are one reason blizzards are so dangerous even for people close to home.

On Groundhog Day, February 2, what does it supposedly mean if the groundhog sees its shadow?

In 2026 Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, though studies say his forecasts are no better than a coin flip.

Which parts of the body does frostbite usually attack first?

Warming the frozen part gently in warm water is the treatment, but only if it will not refreeze.

The world's first ice hotel is rebuilt from snow and ice every winter in which country?

It stands only from December to April, then melts back into the river it was carved from.

The Yeti, also called the Abominable Snowman, is a legendary creature said to live in which mountains?

Local names for it translate to things like man-bear and cattle-bear.

Reindeer are unusual among deer because of what?

Antlers are still bigger on the males, but Santa's team could easily be all female.

Which butterflies escape the northern winter by flying thousands of miles south to Mexico?

It takes several generations for them to make the trip back north in spring.

Which ancient people drank a cold, spicy chocolate drink long before hot cocoa existed?

They ground cacao into paste and mixed it with water, vanilla, cornmeal and even chili peppers.

What tool do ice fishers use to make a hole in a frozen lake?

A hole about 8 inches wide is usually enough, and a slotted spoon called a skimmer keeps it clear of slush.

What do people who hibernate-watch mean when they say a bear's heart rate slows drastically?

Hibernators drop their metabolism so far that some can go months without eating.

Igloos were traditionally built by which people?

Even among the Inuit, only people of Canada's far north and part of Greenland lived in snow houses; others used snow to insulate homes of bone and hide.

How many players are on each curling team?

Each player throws two stones per end, so every team slides eight.

Which country has hosted the Winter Olympics the most times, four?

Its Games were in 1932, 1960, 1980 and 2002; France and Italy have hosted three each.

Where do most people believe skiing began, before it spread around the world?

Cave paintings in Asia's Altai Mountains suggest people may have skied there 10,000 years ago too.

Very rarely a snowflake grows twelve branches instead of six. What symmetry does it still keep?

Fewer than one in a thousand snowflakes is a perfectly symmetrical six-pointed star anyway.

The word for the northern lights, aurora borealis, first appeared in a description written in which year?

Pierre Gassendi coined it after a display seen all over France in 1621.

A 122-foot snowwoman named Olympia, the world's biggest, was built in 2008 in which US state?

Olympia rose in the town of Bethel and was named after Senator Olympia Snowe. The same town had built the previous record holder, Angus, in 1999.

Erwin Perzy, who got the first patent for the snow globe, came from which country?

Perzy was actually trying to build a brighter surgical lamp when the swirling particles in a water flask reminded him of snowfall. His family still makes snow globes in Vienna.

A walrus's long tusks are really giant versions of which kind of tooth?

Both male and female walruses grow tusks, which can reach a metre long. They use them to haul themselves out of the water onto the ice.

A toboggan is a type of sled that is missing what?

A toboggan is a long, flat sled that slides on its whole underside, usually made from wood or plastic with a curled-up front.

An icicle is a spike of ice that forms when water does what?

Icicles often grow on sunny but freezing days, when sunshine melts a little snow that then refreezes as it drips off a roof or branch.

Which US state's Lower Peninsula is nicknamed 'The Mitten' because of its shape on a map?

The peninsula even has a region called The Thumb. Mittens keep hands warmer than gloves because less of their surface is exposed to the cold.

In normal play, how many ice hockey players per team are on the ice, goalie included?

The usual line-up is three forwards, two defencemen and a goaltender. Modern ice hockey was developed in Canada, where the first indoor game was played in Montreal in 1875.

Snowshoes were probably invented 4,000 to 6,000 years ago in which region, historians think?

The webbed snowshoe used today, though, comes from North American Indigenous peoples such as the Huron and Cree. Nature got there first: the snowshoe hare evolved oversized feet for deep snow.

Which Englishman found cocoa 'nauseous' in Jamaica, so mixed it with milk and took it home?

Sloane was president of the Royal College of Physicians, and his collections later formed the start of the British Museum. Hot chocolate was so pricey then that it was a drink for nobles.

We have winter because Earth is tilted on its axis. Roughly how big is that tilt?

When the Northern Hemisphere leans away from the Sun it gets winter, while the Southern Hemisphere leans towards it and enjoys summer at the same time.