This weather hangman game for kids has 25 hidden weather words to guess one letter at a time, with six balloons in place of a gallows. Tap letters or type them: right letters fill in the word, and each wrong letter pops a balloon. The words run from 3 to 11 letters, including sunny, cloudy and rainbow and temperature, and every word in this set is about the weather, so the category is your first clue. It is a free weather word game that needs no sign-up, works on phones and tablets, and comes with a printable word list with clues.
Weather hangman game: see how it plays
The game below starts a new weather word as soon as the page opens, and a round ends when you find the word or lose all six balloons. The printable weather hangman word list has all 25 words with a clue and empty letter boxes, and the pictures show the game at the start, in the middle of a round and after a win.
How the weather hangman game works
- Guess a letter: tap a letter on the keyboard below the word, or type it on a computer. You can only try each letter once.
- Right letters appear: every place the letter is used in the word fills in.
- Wrong letters pop a balloon: you have six balloons, so six wrong guesses ends the round, and the game shows the word.
- Keep a streak: each word you find adds one to your streak, and your best streak is saved on this device only.
- Change the category: use the buttons above the game to switch to animals, fruits and vegetables, space, countries, the human body, sports, weather or spelling words.
It plays like hangman, the classic pencil-and-paper word guessing game described in Wikipedia’s hangman article, but a basket of balloons replaces the hanging picture, so it suits younger children and classrooms.
Weather word game: all 25 words with clues
The list is the same every time, so you can study it before you play or use the clues as riddles. The table gives the number of letters, a clue and the kind of weather word for each word.
| No. | Word | Letters | Clue | Kind of weather word |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | sunny | 5 | Bright with plenty of sunshine and few clouds | Fair and windy weather |
| 2 | cloudy | 6 | Covered with clouds, so the sun is hard to see | Fair and windy weather |
| 3 | rainbow | 7 | An arch of colors you see when sun shines through rain | Fair and windy weather |
| 4 | thunder | 7 | The loud rumble you hear after lightning | Rain and storms |
| 5 | lightning | 9 | A flash of electricity in a storm cloud | Rain and storms |
| 6 | snowflake | 9 | A tiny six-sided crystal of ice that falls from the sky | Frozen weather |
| 7 | hurricane | 9 | A huge spinning storm that forms over warm ocean water | Rain and storms |
| 8 | tornado | 7 | A narrow, spinning funnel of wind that touches the ground | Rain and storms |
| 9 | drizzle | 7 | Light rain with very small drops | Rain and storms |
| 10 | blizzard | 8 | A heavy snowstorm with strong wind | Frozen weather |
| 11 | breeze | 6 | A gentle, light wind | Fair and windy weather |
| 12 | frost | 5 | A thin layer of ice crystals on cold surfaces | Frozen weather |
| 13 | hail | 4 | Balls of ice that fall from storm clouds | Frozen weather |
| 14 | fog | 3 | A cloud that sits on the ground and makes it hard to see | Fair and windy weather |
| 15 | storm | 5 | Strong wind with rain, snow, thunder or hail | Rain and storms |
| 16 | puddle | 6 | A small pool of rain water on the ground | Tools and measures |
| 17 | umbrella | 8 | You hold it over your head to stay dry in the rain | Tools and measures |
| 18 | forecast | 8 | A prediction of what the weather will be | Tools and measures |
| 19 | humid | 5 | Warm and damp, with a lot of water in the air | Fair and windy weather |
| 20 | monsoon | 7 | A seasonal wind that brings heavy rain to parts of Asia | Rain and storms |
| 21 | drought | 7 | A long time with very little rain | Fair and windy weather |
| 22 | freezing | 8 | So cold that water turns to ice | Frozen weather |
| 23 | windy | 5 | With a lot of moving air | Fair and windy weather |
| 24 | sleet | 5 | Rain that is partly frozen as it falls | Frozen weather |
| 25 | temperature | 11 | How hot or cold something is, measured in degrees | Tools and measures |
Weather words by kind: storms, frozen weather and more
| Kind of weather word | Words | Which ones |
|---|---|---|
| Fair and windy weather | 8 | sunny, cloudy, rainbow, breeze, fog, humid, drought and windy |
| Rain and storms | 7 | thunder, lightning, hurricane, tornado, drizzle, storm and monsoon |
| Frozen weather | 6 | snowflake, blizzard, frost, hail, freezing and sleet |
| Tools and measures | 4 | puddle, umbrella, forecast and temperature |
Wikipedia’s meteorology article describes how scientists study the weather and make forecasts.
Word guess game strategy for weather hangman: the best letters
Good hangman players guess the letters that appear in the most words. In this list, 58 of the 167 letters in the list are vowels (35%). These letters are used in the greatest number of the 25 words:
| Letter | Words that contain it | Times used altogether |
|---|---|---|
| R | 14 of 25 | 16 |
| E | 11 of 25 | 17 |
| N | 10 of 25 | 13 |
| O | 10 of 25 | 13 |
| U | 9 of 25 | 9 |
| L | 9 of 25 | 10 |
| D | 9 of 25 | 10 |
| A | 9 of 25 | 9 |
- Seven words are about rain and storms (thunder, lightning, hurricane, tornado, drizzle, storm and monsoon), so O, R and N are good early guesses.
- Six words are frozen weather (snowflake, blizzard, frost, hail, freezing and sleet), and many of them contain S, L or Z.
- Short words give a head start: fog, hail, frost, storm and windy have only three to five letters.
Double letters are a clue too. In this list, sunny, hurricane, drizzle, blizzard, breeze, puddle, umbrella, monsoon, freezing and sleet all have a letter used twice in a row.
The length gives you a head start too. The words are 3 to 11 letters long, and the longest is temperature. The shortest is fog. Here is how many words there are of each length:
| Length | Words | The words |
|---|---|---|
| 3 letters | 1 | fog |
| 4 letters | 1 | hail |
| 5 letters | 6 | sunny, frost, storm, humid, windy, sleet |
| 6 letters | 3 | cloudy, breeze, puddle |
| 7 letters | 6 | rainbow, thunder, tornado, drizzle, monsoon, drought |
| 8 letters | 4 | blizzard, umbrella, forecast, freezing |
| 9 letters | 3 | lightning, snowflake, hurricane |
| 11 letters | 1 | temperature |
Hangman for kids: learning ideas
- Weather diary: write one word from the list each day for the real weather outside.
- Rain gauge: cut the top off a clear bottle, mark centimeters on the side and measure the next rainfall.
- Cloud watch: look at the sky three times a day and note whether it is sunny, cloudy or foggy.
- Be the forecaster: use six words from the list to write and read a forecast for tomorrow.
The weather hangman game also builds spelling, because children must think about which letters go in which order. The Common Core grade 3 language standards expect children to use spelling patterns, and a word game is a friendly way to practice them. For spelling lists to match, try the spelling worksheet maker.
Weather word game riddles
Turn the clues from the weather hangman word list into riddles for a group. Read the clue, let children guess, then check against the game:
- Bright with plenty of sunshine and few clouds. Which one is it? Answer: sunny.
- Covered with clouds, so the sun is hard to see. Which one is it? Answer: cloudy.
- An arch of colors you see when sun shines through rain. Which one is it? Answer: rainbow.
- The loud rumble you hear after lightning. Which one is it? Answer: thunder.
- A flash of electricity in a storm cloud. Which one is it? Answer: lightning.
Short, frequent rounds of weather hangman work better than one long session, because each new word is a small success. Play a few rounds, check the word list, and see how long your streak can grow.
Weather hangman game: frequently asked questions
Which words are in the weather hangman game?
There are 25: sunny, cloudy, rainbow, thunder, lightning, snowflake, hurricane, tornado, drizzle, blizzard, breeze, frost, hail, fog, storm, puddle, umbrella, forecast, humid, monsoon, drought, freezing, windy, sleet and temperature.
How many balloons do you get in the weather hangman game?
Six. Each wrong letter pops one balloon, and when all six are gone the round ends and the word is shown.
Can I choose another category in the weather hangman game?
Yes. Use the buttons above the game to switch between animals, fruits and vegetables, space, countries, the human body, sports, weather and spelling words.
Is the weather hangman game free, and do kids need an account?
Yes, it is free, and no account is needed. Best scores are saved only in the browser on this device.
Does the weather hangman game work on phones and tablets?
Yes. The game is built for touch first and also works with a mouse or keyboard on a computer.
What is a good first letter to guess?
Guess R, E and N first. They appear in the most words in this list, so they give you the most information.