"Why is it cold in winter? Is the sun farther away?" It's a fair guess,
and it's wrong. That's the kind of question this list is for. Below are winter facts
about snowflakes, the solstice, animals and ice, each one checked against NASA, NOAA,
the National Park Service or the National Snow and Ice Data Center. Then the same facts
turned into a quiz with answers, for kindergarten through 6th grade.
We went looking for winter facts you can say out loud without being corrected later.
A few of the famous ones turned out to be more complicated than they sound. Where a fact
needs careful wording, like "no two snowflakes are alike," we've said why.
25 winter facts for kids, sorted into snow, why it's cold, animals in winter, and ice and frost, each linked to the source we checked it against.
A 15-question winter trivia quiz with answers: an easier round for K–2 and a harder one for 3–6.
Asking the facts back as questions, a few days later, is likely to help them stick better than just reading them. Most of that research is on older kids and adults, though.
Snow facts for kids
Snow isn't frozen rain. It forms in clouds when water vapor, the
invisible water in the air, turns straight into ice crystals without becoming a liquid
first. Frozen raindrops are a different thing, called sleet (NSIDC).
Snow crystals have six sides. That comes from the way water
molecules fit together when they freeze. A crystal starts as a tiny six-sided column,
and as it grows, arms sprout from its six corners. Six corners, six arms
(Caltech
snow crystal FAQ).
A snowflake is often a clump of crystals. Scientists use "snow
crystal" for a single piece of ice and "snowflake" for anything that falls, including
many crystals stuck together (NSIDC).
Snow isn't really white. Up close, each ice crystal is clear, like
glass. A pile of snow looks white for the same reason a pile of crushed glass does:
light bounces around between all those surfaces and comes back out
(Caltech).
"No two snowflakes are alike" is mostly true, with a catch. Big,
fancy, branching snowflakes are so complicated that a physicist who studies them says
you'd almost certainly never find two exactly alike. But small, simple six-sided
crystals can look nearly the same under a microscope
(Caltech).
Most snowflakes are smaller than half an inch. In the right
conditions, usually close to freezing with light wind, clumps nearing 2 inches across
can fall (NSIDC).
It can't be too cold to snow. Snow can fall at very low
temperatures, as long as there's some moisture in the air
(NSIDC).
Fresh snow is mostly air. All that air trapped between the crystals
makes snow a good insulator, a bit like the insulation in a house's ceiling. It slows
heat escaping from the ground
(NSIDC).
The colder the snow, the louder the crunch. Snow near freezing
makes little noise when you step on it
(NSIDC).
Why is it cold in winter?
It's the tilt, not the distance. Earth's axis leans over by about
23.5 degrees. In December, the northern half of the planet leans away from the sun, so
it gets sunlight at a low angle and for fewer hours
(NASA Space Place;
NASA
Earth Observatory).
Earth is closest to the sun in early January. That's right in the
middle of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, which is the best proof that distance
isn't what causes the seasons
(NASA Space Place;
National Weather Service).
The winter solstice is the shortest day of the year. In the
Northern Hemisphere it falls on December 21 or 22. After that, the days start getting
longer again
(NASA
Earth Observatory).
On the same day, it's summer on the other side of the world.
December's solstice is the longest day of the year in places like Australia and
Chile, because the seasons are flipped in the Southern Hemisphere
(NASA
Earth Observatory;
National Weather
Service).
On the winter solstice, the far north gets no sunlight at all.
Near the North Pole, the sun doesn't come up that day
(NASA
Earth Observatory).
What do animals do in winter?
Some sleep through it, some fly away, and a few do things that sound made up. If
your kids want more after this, there's a whole
animal trivia list.
"True hibernation" has a specific meaning. The animal's
metabolism slows, its heart rate drops, and its body temperature falls. Lots of animals
rest through winter without doing all three
(National Park
Service).
Bears aren't true hibernators, by that definition. They spend much
of winter dormant in a den, but their body temperature doesn't drop the way a true
hibernator's does. Black bear cubs are even born in January, while their mother is
dormant (National
Park Service).
Arctic ground squirrels go colder than freezing. They hibernate
for 7 to 8 months a year, and their body temperature can drop from about 99°F to 27°F.
Every few weeks they briefly wake up and warm up
(National Park
Service).
A hibernating marmot's heart nearly stops racing. Awake, a
yellow-bellied marmot's heart beats 180 to 200 times a minute. In hibernation, it
averages about 30, and the marmot takes only one or two breaths a minute
(National Park
Service).
Wood frogs freeze solid and come back in spring. In Alaska, wood
frogs spend the winter in the leaves on the forest floor. Their bodies make a sugar
that protects their cells, so ice forms around the cells instead of inside them. All
winter they don't breathe and their hearts don't beat. In spring they thaw and hop off
to find a pond
(Denali National
Park; Kobuk Valley
National Park).
Monarch butterflies fly up to 3,000 miles to spend the winter.
The eastern monarchs go to forests in the mountains of central Mexico. Summer monarchs
live only a few weeks, but the generation that makes the long trip lives 6 to 9 months
(National
Park Service).
The Arctic tern has the longest migration of any animal. It flies
between the Arctic and Antarctica every year, about 24,000 miles round trip. Because it
gets summer at both ends of the world, it sees more sunlight than any other animal
(National Park
Service).
Water gets bigger when it freezes. It expands by about nine
percent. That makes ice lighter than the same amount of water, which is why ice cubes
and frozen ponds float (NOAA;
USGS).
Frost skips the water step. The feathery frost on grass and
branches, called hoarfrost, grows when water vapor in the air turns straight into ice
on a cold surface, without ever being liquid
(NSIDC).
Water can stay liquid below freezing. Tiny droplets in fog can be
colder than 32°F and still be liquid. When they touch a tree or a fence, they freeze
onto it right away. That white crust is called rime
(NSIDC).
Winter trivia for kids: a quick quiz with answers
Same facts, now as questions. Let them guess before you tap "Answer." The guess is
the part that helps (more on that below).
Easier round (K–2)
How many sides does a snow crystal have?
AnswerSix.
Snow looks white. What color is one tiny ice crystal up close?
AnswerClear, like glass.
Does ice sink or float in water?
AnswerIt floats. Water gets a little bigger when it
freezes, which makes ice lighter than water.
What's the shortest day of the year called?
AnswerThe winter solstice. It's on December 21 or 22 in
the northern half of the world.
Which butterfly flies all the way to Mexico for the winter?
AnswerThe monarch.
True or false: it can be too cold to snow.
AnswerFalse. Snow can fall even when it's very, very
cold, as long as there's some water in the air.
Which frog can freeze solid in winter and wake up in spring?
AnswerThe wood frog.
Harder round (3–6)
Why is it cold in winter? Is Earth farther from the sun?
AnswerNo. It's because Earth is tilted. In winter, your
half of the planet leans away from the sun, so the sunlight comes in at a low angle
and the days are shorter. Earth is actually closest to the sun in early
January.
When it's winter in the United States, what season is it in Australia?
AnswerSummer. The seasons are flipped in the Southern
Hemisphere.
Is it true that no two snowflakes are alike?
AnswerMostly. Big, branching snowflakes are almost
certainly all different. Small, simple crystals can look nearly
identical.
What three things have to slow down or drop for an animal to be a "true
hibernator"?
AnswerIts metabolism, its heart rate and its body
temperature.
Are bears true hibernators?
AnswerNot by that definition. They sleep through much of
the winter, but their body temperature doesn't drop the way a true hibernator's
does.
Which bird flies from the Arctic to Antarctica and back every year?
AnswerThe Arctic tern, about 24,000 miles a
year.
Hoarfrost forms when water vapor turns straight into ice. What step does it skip?
AnswerBeing liquid water.
Math bonus: water freezes at 32°F. If it's 20°F outside, how many degrees below
freezing is that?
Answer12 degrees (32 − 20).
The list comes with a quiz because of one of the better-supported findings in
learning research: trying to pull an answer out of your memory helps you
keep it, more than reading it again does. Psychologists call it retrieval practice,
which is basically quizzing yourself.
In a classic study, college students who took a recall test on a passage remembered
more of it days later than students who spent the same time rereading it
(Roediger & Karpicke,
2006). That was adults, though. The closest match to elementary ages is a
smaller set of experiments with 88 children around 10 years old. Practicing recall beat
restudying there too, whatever the child's reading level
(Karpicke, Blunt & Smith,
2016). The task was word lists, not winter trivia.
Two more findings shaped how the quiz is written. A large review found that producing an
answer helps memory more than picking it out of a list
(Rowland, 2014), so most questions are
open-ended rather than multiple choice. Most of those studies were on adults. And
practice spread over days tends to stick better than practice crammed into one
sitting. One small study showed that with 5- to 7-year-olds learning science
(Vlach & Sandhofer,
2012). So asking the wood frog question again next week is probably worth more than
reading ten new facts tonight.
None of this was tested on winter facts or on a trivia list like this one. It's the
closest evidence we could find. If your child would rather just hear the facts, that's
fine too. Curiosity is the point.
Try it at home: how to use a list like this
The list itself isn't the fun part. The fun part is when one fact sets off a pile of
questions, and then you go look things up together. Treat this as a starting point, not
a checklist.
Pick one or two facts at breakfast, not twenty. Ask them again a few days later.
Let an older sibling be the quizmaster. Reading a question, waiting for a younger
sibling to think, and not blurting the answer is practice at taking turns, which
matters as much as the facts.
Do the ones you can see. Catch a snowflake on a dark sleeve, look for frost on the
grass on a cold morning, or drop an ice cube in a glass of water and ask why it
floats.
Praise the guess, not "you're so smart." Research on praise suggests that's the
better habit. Those were short lab studies with fifth graders, and later research on
mindset found smaller effects, so it's sensible wording, not magic
(Mueller & Dweck,
1998).
Common questions
What are some good winter fun facts for kids?
A few favorites: snow crystals have six sides, each crystal is actually clear, and fresh snow is mostly air. Wood frogs freeze solid in winter and thaw in spring. Earth is closest to the sun in early January. Monarch butterflies fly up to 3,000 miles to Mexico. Each of these is checked against NASA, NOAA, NSIDC or the National Park Service.
Is it true that no two snowflakes are alike?
Mostly, with a catch. Large, branching snowflakes are so complex that a physicist who studies snow crystals says you'd almost certainly never find two exactly alike. Small, simple six-sided crystals are different: they can look nearly identical under a microscope. "Big, fancy snowflakes are almost never alike" is the careful way to say it.
Why is it cold in winter if Earth is closest to the sun in January?
Because seasons come from Earth's tilt, not its distance from the sun. Earth's axis leans about 23.5 degrees. In December and January the Northern Hemisphere leans away from the sun, so sunlight arrives at a low angle and days are short. The change in distance is too small to matter much, according to NASA.
Do bears really hibernate?
Not in the strict sense. The National Park Service says a true hibernator's metabolism, heart rate and body temperature all drop, and a bear's body temperature doesn't drop that way. Bears still spend much of winter dormant in a den, and black bear cubs are born in January. Calling it hibernation is fine in everyday talk.
About this article. Written by the Super Trivia Kids team from the
published sources listed below. We're not scientists, researchers or teachers. We
checked every fact above against pages from NASA, NOAA, the National Weather Service,
the National Snow and Ice Data Center, the National Park Service, USGS and a Caltech
physicist's snow crystal site, and dropped any we couldn't confirm. The notes on
learning come from published studies. Every source links to the original. If you spot
a mistake, tell us through the support page and we'll fix it.
Roediger, H. L., & Karpicke, J. D. (2006). Test-enhanced learning: Taking memory
tests improves long-term retention. Psychological Science, 17(3), 249–255.
doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01693.x
Karpicke, J. D., Blunt, J. R., & Smith, M. A. (2016). Retrieval-based learning:
Positive effects of retrieval practice in elementary school children. Frontiers in
Psychology, 7, 350.
doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00350
Rowland, C. A. (2014). The effect of testing versus restudy on retention: A
meta-analytic review of the testing effect. Psychological Bulletin, 140(6),
1432–1463. doi.org/10.1037/a0037559
Vlach, H. A., & Sandhofer, C. M. (2012). Distributing learning over time: The
spacing effect in children's acquisition and generalization of science concepts.
Child Development, 83(4), 1137–1144.
doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2012.01781.x
Mueller, C. M., & Dweck, C. S. (1998). Praise for intelligence can undermine
children's motivation and performance. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 75(1), 33–52.
doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.75.1.33