50 Christmas Trivia Questions and Answers for the Whole Family

Christmas trivia is one of those games that works almost anywhere. You can pull it out at the dinner table, in the car on the way to Grandma’s, during a family game night or at an office party, and everyone from the youngest reader to the family know-it-all can join in.

These 50 Christmas trivia questions and answers are split into five rounds of 10, so you can play them one at a time or mix and match to suit your group. Each question has the answer right underneath, so there is nothing to look up and no prep beyond reading them out.

Free Printable Christmas Trivia

Want to play without reading from your phone? Grab the free printable version. It includes all 50 questions on five easy-to-read round sheets with answer lines, a separate answer key, a team scorecard with a tiebreaker, and simple instructions. Just print and play.

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How to Play Christmas Trivia

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The simplest way is to split everyone into two or three teams, have one person read the questions aloud and give one point for each correct answer. If you are playing with mixed ages, let younger kids team up with a grown-up reader, or save Round 1 for them and let the adults compete on Round 5.

A few easy ways to change things up: let teams steal a point if the other team gets an answer wrong, play a “speed round” where you read a question every ten seconds, or keep a few extra questions back as a tiebreaker. If you want a game that is a little more active afterward, try these Christmas minute-to-win-it games.

Round 1: Easy Christmas Trivia for Kids

1. How many reindeer pull Santa’s sleigh, not counting Rudolph?
Answer: Eight (Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen).

2. What color is Rudolph’s nose?
Answer: Red.

3. What brings Frosty the Snowman to life?
Answer: A magic silk hat.

4. What do children traditionally hang by the fireplace for Santa to fill?
Answer: Stockings.

5. In which country did the modern Christmas tree tradition begin?
Answer: Germany.

6. What is the name of the Grinch’s dog?
Answer: Max.

7. What do children traditionally leave out for Santa on Christmas Eve?
Answer: Milk and cookies (and often a carrot for the reindeer).

8. What are Santa’s helpers called?
Answer: Elves.

9. On which date is Christmas Day?
Answer: December 25.

10. What is the name of the red and white striped Christmas candy shaped like a hook?
Answer: A candy cane.

Round 2: Christmas Movie and TV Trivia

11. In Home Alone, what is the name of the boy who gets left behind?
Answer: Kevin McCallister.

12. In Elf, what does Buddy say is the best way to spread Christmas cheer?
Answer: Singing loud for all to hear.

13. In A Christmas Carol, what is the name of Ebenezer Scrooge’s late business partner?
Answer: Jacob Marley.

14. In The Polar Express, what is the first gift of Christmas?
Answer: A silver bell from Santa’s sleigh.

15. In How the Grinch Stole Christmas, what is the name of the town the Grinch looks down on?
Answer: Whoville.

16. What kind of Christmas tree does Charlie Brown choose in A Charlie Brown Christmas?
Answer: A small, scraggly real tree.

17. What is the name of the main character in It’s a Wonderful Life?
Answer: George Bailey.

18. In the 1964 TV special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, what does Hermey the elf want to be?
Answer: A dentist.

19. Which Christmas movie features the Griswold family and a very overloaded house of lights?
Answer: National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.

20. In the classic film Miracle on 34th Street, which department store employs Kris Kringle as its Santa?
Answer: Macy’s.

Round 3: Christmas Around the World

21. Which country is the poinsettia, a popular Christmas plant, originally from?
Answer: Mexico.

22. In which country is it a popular tradition to order fried chicken from KFC for Christmas dinner?
Answer: Japan.

23. What is the name of the Italian sweet bread traditionally eaten at Christmas?
Answer: Panettone.

24. What is the French Christmas dessert shaped like a log called?
Answer: Bûche de Noël.

25. In Sweden, a large straw goat is a well-known Christmas decoration. What is it called in English?
Answer: The Yule Goat.

26. In Australia, which season does Christmas fall in?
Answer: Summer.

27. In the Netherlands, children leave out their shoes for a visit from which gift-giving figure around December 5th and 6th?
Answer: Sinterklaas.

28. “Feliz Navidad” means Merry Christmas in which language?
Answer: Spanish.

29. In the UK, what are the paper tubes that two people pull apart with a bang, revealing a paper hat and a small gift?
Answer: Christmas crackers.

30. What holiday is celebrated on December 26 in the UK and many Commonwealth countries?
Answer: Boxing Day.

Round 4: Christmas Song Trivia

31. Which singer’s version of “White Christmas” is one of the best-selling singles of all time?
Answer: Bing Crosby.

32. In “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” what is the gift on the first day?
Answer: A partridge in a pear tree.

33. How many gifts are given in total across all twelve days of the song?
Answer: 364.

34. Which carol was first performed on Christmas Eve in 1818 in a small church in Austria?
Answer: “Silent Night.”

35. Who sings “All I Want for Christmas Is You”?
Answer: Mariah Carey.

36. In “Jingle Bells,” what kind of sleigh are you riding in?
Answer: A one-horse open sleigh.

37. In the song about Rudolph, what did the other reindeer refuse to let him join?
Answer: Their reindeer games.

38. Which carol tells the story of three wise men following a star?
Answer: “We Three Kings.”

39. What is the English title of the carol known in Latin as “Adeste Fideles”?
Answer: “O Come, All Ye Faithful.”

40. Which pop duo released the 1984 holiday song “Last Christmas”?
Answer: Wham!

Round 5: Harder Christmas Trivia for Grown-Ups

41. Which US state is widely reputed to have been the first to make Christmas an official holiday, in 1836?
Answer: Alabama.

42. In which year was the first commercially produced Christmas card sent in London?
Answer: 1843.

43. What is the name of Bob Cratchit’s youngest son in A Christmas Carol?
Answer: Tiny Tim.

44. Which plant is traditionally hung overhead at Christmas for kissing underneath?
Answer: Mistletoe.

45. According to the Nativity story, what three gifts did the Magi bring?
Answer: Gold, frankincense and myrrh.

46. In which year was Home Alone released?
Answer: 1990.

47. Which saint is the original inspiration for Santa Claus?
Answer: Saint Nicholas.

48. In which US city is the famous Rockefeller Center Christmas tree displayed each year?
Answer: New York City.

49. Which Tchaikovsky ballet is performed in theaters around the world every Christmas season?
Answer: The Nutcracker.

50. Who is traditionally credited with writing the poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” better known as “Twas the Night Before Christmas”?
Answer: Clement Clarke Moore (first published in 1823).

Ways to Use These Christmas Trivia Questions

These questions work well beyond a single game night. Read one round aloud at Christmas dinner, use Round 1 as a car game on the way to see the lights, or print the questions you like and tuck them into a Christmas Eve box for a low-key evening activity.

If you are hosting a bigger gathering, trivia pairs nicely with a few other games. Take a look at these Christmas party games for the whole family, or if you have teenagers in the mix, these Christmas party games for teens are a good next stop. Planning something around gifts? A themed Christmas gift exchange makes a great follow-up to a trivia round, and the winning team can pick their gift first.

And if trivia becomes a hit, you might like to turn it into a yearly habit alongside some of these meaningful Christmas traditions.

For more ways to celebrate together, explore our Christmas games and activities.

Grab The Free Printable Christmas Trivia Game

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