Christmas Trivia: 100 Questions and Answers (Free Printable)

Here are 100 Christmas trivia questions with answers, sorted so you can pull the right ones for your crowd: an easy round for kids, funny questions, Christmas movie trivia, traditions around the world, Santa and his reindeer, the first Christmas, history, a hard round for adults and a multiple-choice round. Every answer was checked against a trusted source, and the full list comes as a free printable PDF with a separate answer key and scorecard.

Our free Christmas Showdown board. Teams buzz in from their phones and the board keeps score.

Jump to: Kids · Funny · Movies · Around the world · Santa · First Christmas · History · Food and music · Hard · Multiple choice · Printable

Pick the right Christmas trivia for your crowd

Nobody needs all 100 in one night. Twenty to thirty questions makes a 30 to 40 minute game for two to four teams, which is about how long the cookies take to cool and the coffee takes to brew. Mix and match:

Open with two or three easy ones even for a grown-up crowd. Quick early points loosen up the quiet people, and the hard round lands better once everyone is warmed up.

Easy Christmas trivia for kids

Ages 5 and up. Let the youngest player on each team answer first, and only open it to the grown-ups if they're stuck.

1. What color is Santa's suit? Answer: Red, with white fur trim.
2. What date is Christmas Day? Answer: December 25.
3. What do we call the night before Christmas? Answer: Christmas Eve.
4. What do you hang by the fireplace for Santa to fill? Answer: Stockings.
5. Where does Santa live? Answer: The North Pole.
6. What animals pull Santa's sleigh? Answer: Reindeer.
7. Which reindeer has a shiny red nose? Answer: Rudolph.
8. What are Santa's workshop helpers called? Answer: Elves.
9. What red-and-white striped candy is shaped like a hook? Answer: A candy cane.
10. What snack do many kids leave out for Santa on Christmas Eve? Answer: Milk and cookies.
11. What do you call a calendar with little doors you open each day in December? Answer: An Advent calendar.
12. What is the name of the snowman who comes to life when a magic hat is put on his head? Answer: Frosty.
13. In "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," what is the name of the Grinch's dog? Answer: Max.
14. According to legend, what do naughty kids find in their stockings? Answer: A lump of coal.
15. What two things do people most often put on the very top of a Christmas tree? Answer: A star or an angel.

Funny Christmas trivia questions

Every one of these is true, and every one gets a laugh. Save a couple for when dessert hits and energy dips.

16. In the poem "'Twas the Night Before Christmas," which small creature was not stirring? Answer: A mouse.
17. In "Elf," Buddy says elves stick to four main food groups. What are they? Answer: Candy, candy canes, candy corns and syrup.
18. In Japan, fried chicken from which fast-food chain is a hugely popular Christmas dinner? Answer: KFC, thanks to a "Kentucky for Christmas" ad campaign that started in 1974.
19. Every year the Swedish town of Gävle builds a giant straw animal for Christmas, and people keep setting it on fire. What animal is it? Answer: A goat. The first one went up in 1966, and it has been burned more than two dozen times since.
20. In the Czech Republic, many families buy a live carp for Christmas Eve dinner. Where do they often keep it until it's cooked? Answer: In the bathtub.
21. An old Norwegian folk custom says to hide which household item on Christmas Eve so witches can't fly off on it? Answer: Brooms.
22. In Catalonia, kids "feed" a smiling wooden log for weeks, then whack it with sticks on Christmas until it drops out candy. What is the log called? Answer: Tió de Nadal, often called Caga Tió.
23. Lots of Americans hide a pickle ornament on the tree and call it an old German custom. Where is the tradition actually better known? Answer: The United States. Most Germans have never heard of it.
24. In "Home Alone," what made-up black-and-white gangster movie does Kevin play to scare off the pizza delivery boy? Answer: "Angels with Filthy Souls."
25. In Ukraine, which creepy-crawly is a traditional good-luck decoration on the Christmas tree? Answer: A spider (or its web), from a folk tale about a spider that decorated a poor family's tree.

Christmas movie trivia

From the 1940s classics to the ones your kids quote all December.

26. Who plays Buddy in the 2003 movie "Elf"? Answer: Will Ferrell.
27. In "Home Alone," which city is the McCallister family flying to when they leave Kevin behind? Answer: Paris.
28. In "Home Alone 2," Kevin boards the wrong plane. Which city does he end up in? Answer: New York City.
29. What does Ralphie want for Christmas in "A Christmas Story"? Answer: A Red Ryder BB gun.
30. In "A Christmas Story," what does Flick get stuck to a frozen flagpole? Answer: His tongue.
31. In "It's a Wonderful Life," what is the name of George Bailey's hometown? Answer: Bedford Falls.
32. Who plays Scott Calvin, the dad who turns into Santa, in "The Santa Clause" (1994)? Answer: Tim Allen.
33. What is the family's last name in "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation"? Answer: Griswold.
34. In "The Polar Express," what does the boy choose as the first gift of Christmas? Answer: A bell from Santa's sleigh.
35. In the 1964 TV special "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," what does Hermey the elf want to be instead of a toymaker? Answer: A dentist.
36. Which actor plays Ebenezer Scrooge in "The Muppet Christmas Carol" (1992)? Answer: Michael Caine.
37. In "The Nightmare Before Christmas," what is Jack Skellington's title in Halloween Town? Answer: The Pumpkin King.
38. In "Elf," Buddy's dad works in which famous New York skyscraper? Answer: The Empire State Building.
39. Edmund Gwenn won an Academy Award for playing Kris Kringle in which 1947 movie? Answer: "Miracle on 34th Street."

Want a whole round of famous lines? Our Christmas movie quotes game has the verified quotes, and Guess the Movie Line reads them out loud on the TV.

Christmas traditions around the world

40. Which country is usually credited with starting the tradition of decorating a Christmas tree? Answer: Germany.
41. On what date is Boxing Day celebrated in the U.K., Canada and Australia? Answer: December 26.
42. Which red Christmas plant, native to Mexico, is named after the first U.S. minister to Mexico? Answer: The poinsettia, named for Joel Roberts Poinsett.
43. In Mexico, what are the nine nights of candlelit processions from December 16 to 24 called? Answer: Las Posadas.
44. In Italy, which kindly witch brings gifts to children on the night before Epiphany? Answer: La Befana.
45. How many Yule Lads visit Icelandic children in the nights before Christmas? Answer: 13.
46. Which country has given London the big Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square every year since 1947? Answer: Norway, as a thank-you for Britain's help during World War II.
47. Icelanders call it the Jólabókaflóð, or "Christmas book flood." What do they give each other on Christmas Eve? Answer: Books, and many spend the night reading them.
48. Which country is famous for the world's longest Christmas season, starting in September, and for star-shaped lanterns called parols? Answer: The Philippines.
49. In Australia, Christmas falls in which season? Answer: Summer. Beach barbecues are a classic.
50. Many Orthodox Christians in countries like Russia and Serbia celebrate Christmas on January 7. Why? Answer: Their churches follow the older Julian calendar, which runs 13 days behind ours.

Santa and reindeer trivia

51. What do people in the United Kingdom traditionally call Santa? Answer: Father Christmas.
52. How many reindeer are named in the poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas"? Answer: Eight.
53. Which of Santa's reindeer shares its name with the German word for thunder? Answer: Donner.
54. Rudolph was created in 1939 for a booklet handed out by which department store? Answer: Montgomery Ward. Copywriter Robert L. May wrote the story.
55. The real St. Nicholas was a bishop in the city of Myra. In what present-day country is Myra? Answer: Turkey.
56. Which U.S.-Canadian military command tracks Santa's flight every Christmas Eve? Answer: NORAD. The tradition started in 1955 at its predecessor, CONAD, after a Sears newspaper ad printed the wrong phone number.
57. Which illustrator painted the jolly, red-suited Santa in Coca-Cola ads starting in 1931? Answer: Haddon Sundblom.
58. Which cartoonist drew Santa for Harper's Weekly starting in the 1860s and helped give him his North Pole home? Answer: Thomas Nast.
59. Canada Post gives Santa his own postal code. What is it? Answer: H0H 0H0.

The first Christmas: Nativity trivia

For church groups, Sunday school and anyone who searched for "first Christmas trivia." The answers follow the Gospels of Matthew and Luke.

60. In which town was Jesus born? Answer: Bethlehem.
61. Where did Mary lay the baby, because there was no room at the inn? Answer: In a manger.
62. Which angel told Mary she would have a son? Answer: Gabriel.
63. In Luke's Gospel, who are the first people the angels tell about the birth? Answer: Shepherds watching their flocks at night.
64. What three gifts did the wise men bring? Answer: Gold, frankincense and myrrh.
65. Which king tried to find the newborn child after hearing the wise men's news? Answer: King Herod.
66. Does the Bible say how many wise men there were? Answer: No. Matthew never gives a number. Tradition settled on three.

Christmas history trivia

67. Who wrote "A Christmas Carol," published in 1843? Answer: Charles Dickens.
68. The first commercial Christmas cards were sold in England that same year. Who commissioned them? Answer: Sir Henry Cole.
69. Which royal couple's decorated tree, pictured in an 1848 newspaper, made Christmas trees fashionable in Britain and America? Answer: Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.
70. Which American colony made celebrating Christmas illegal from 1659 to 1681? Answer: The Massachusetts Bay Colony.
71. Which president signed the 1870 law that made Christmas a federal holiday? Answer: Ulysses S. Grant.
72. Which president lit the first National Christmas Tree near the White House in 1923? Answer: Calvin Coolidge.
73. In December 1914, British and German soldiers on the Western Front stopped fighting and met in no man's land. What is this event called? Answer: The Christmas truce.
74. The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree tradition began in 1931. Who put up that first tree? Answer: The construction workers building Rockefeller Center.

Christmas food and music trivia

75. Which creamy holiday drink is made from milk, cream, sugar and eggs? Answer: Eggnog.
76. Which Brothers Grimm fairy tale helped make gingerbread houses popular in Germany? Answer: "Hansel and Gretel."
77. What is a bûche de Noël? Answer: A French cake rolled and decorated to look like a yule log.
78. Which tall, dome-shaped sweet bread studded with candied fruit comes from Milan? Answer: Panettone.
79. What did traditional mince pies contain that most modern versions leave out? Answer: Meat.
80. Which singer released "All I Want for Christmas Is You" in 1994? Answer: Mariah Carey.
81. Bing Crosby's recording of which song is listed by Guinness World Records as the best-selling single of all time? Answer: "White Christmas."
82. In which country was "Silent Night" first performed, on Christmas Eve 1818? Answer: Austria, in the village of Oberndorf.

For a whole music round, see our Christmas music trivia questions, or play Name That Carol, which plays instrumental clips of 25 public-domain carols until someone buzzes in.

Hard Christmas trivia for adults

For the uncle who says these are all too easy.

83. "A Visit from St. Nicholas" was first published, without the author's name, in a Troy, New York, newspaper. In what year? Answer: 1823.
84. Which associate of Thomas Edison put the first electric lights on a Christmas tree, in 1882? Answer: Edward H. Johnson.
85. The X in "Xmas" comes from which Greek letter? Answer: Chi, the first letter of "Christ" in Greek.
86. Which composer wrote "The Nutcracker," first performed in St. Petersburg in 1892? Answer: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
87. Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean was named by a ship's captain who sailed past it on Christmas Day 1643. Which country governs it today? Answer: Australia.
88. If you add up every gift in "The Twelve Days of Christmas," counting the repeats each day, how many gifts are there? Answer: 364.
89. In the Netherlands, Sinterklaas arrives each November by steamboat. Which country does he sail from, according to tradition? Answer: Spain.
90. Christmas crackers were invented in Victorian London by a man in what trade? Answer: A confectioner (candy maker), Tom Smith.

Multiple-choice Christmas trivia

Best for big groups and office parties. Read all four choices, let everyone answer at once, then reveal.

91. Counting Jacob Marley, how many ghosts visit Scrooge in "A Christmas Carol"? (a) Two (b) Three (c) Four (d) Five. Answer: (c) Four.
92. What is the name of Scrooge's hardworking clerk? (a) Bob Cratchit (b) Fezziwig (c) Fred (d) Jacob Marley. Answer: (a) Bob Cratchit.
93. Male reindeer usually shed their antlers by early winter. So Santa's antlered reindeer on Christmas Eve are most likely: (a) Male (b) Female (c) Moose (d) Elk. Answer: (b) Female. Females keep their antlers until spring.
94. Spain's giant Christmas lottery, El Gordo, draws its prizes on which day? (a) December 1 (b) December 22 (c) December 25 (d) January 6. Answer: (b) December 22.
95. "Jingle Bells" was first published in 1857 under which title? (a) Sleigh Ride (b) One Horse Open Sleigh (c) Winter Bells (d) The Boston Sleigh. Answer: (b) One Horse Open Sleigh.
96. In 1965, the astronauts of Gemini 6 surprised Mission Control by playing which song on a harmonica and bells? (a) Silent Night (b) Deck the Halls (c) Jingle Bells (d) Joy to the World. Answer: (c) Jingle Bells.
97. Who wrote and recorded "Feliz Navidad" in 1970? (a) Julio Iglesias (b) José Feliciano (c) Ricky Martin (d) Gloria Estefan. Answer: (b) José Feliciano.
98. The German Christmas fruit bread called stollen is most famously linked to which city? (a) Vienna (b) Zurich (c) Dresden (d) Paris. Answer: (c) Dresden.
99. Which Italian-American Christmas Eve dinner is built around seafood? (a) The Feast of the Seven Fishes (b) The Twelve Breads (c) Festa di Natale (d) The Night of Nine Soups. Answer: (a) The Feast of the Seven Fishes.
100. How old was Brenda Lee when she recorded "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree"? (a) 13 (b) 16 (c) 19 (d) 22. Answer: (a) 13.

Free printable Christmas trivia

The PDF has all 100 questions without the answers, so you can hand a round to each team. The answer key starts on its own page for the host, and the last page is a scorecard with room for six teams and all ten rounds. Print single-sided so nobody reads the answers through the paper.

A few things that make a printed game run smoother:

• Deal out one round at a time. Teams that get the whole packet race ahead and stop listening.
• Read each question twice, slowly, then give 20 seconds. Kids need the second read.
• Make the hard round worth double. It keeps the adults invested and gives trailing teams a way back.
• Keep the answer key on you, not on the counter next to the cookie tray.

Play Christmas trivia on your TV

Paper works fine around a table. For a living room full of people, a game board on the TV turns it into a show. Our free Christmas Showdown board has five categories (Traditions, Santa and Reindeer, Holiday Movies, Sweet Treats and Around the World) with five questions each, worth 200 to 1,000 points.

Pick a tile and the question fills the screen. Hit Show answer when someone gets it.

• Phones become buzzers. Guests scan the QR code on the screen to join. No app, no account, and the first buzz gets to answer.
• No phones needed, either. Switch to "take turns" or "hands up" and play with zero devices.
• The board keeps score, runs a timer and plays sound effects, so you can be the host instead of the scorekeeper.

To get it on the TV, plug a laptop in with an HDMI cable, use AirPlay from a Mac, or open gameshowly.com in your smart TV's browser. The full setup for a holiday party is on our Christmas trivia game page.

Make your own Christmas trivia board

The best question of the night is usually about your own family. "Who burned the cinnamon rolls in 2019?" beats any fact about Tchaikovsky. With Instant Board you type a topic, like "Christmas movies for kids ages 8 to 12" or "our family's Christmas traditions," and get a full 25-question board sorted from easiest to hardest. Read it over, swap in a few inside jokes, and play.

It also works the other way around: copy any rounds from this list into a custom board so your printed game and your TV game match. This post is part of our trivia questions collection, which has a round for every holiday on the calendar.

Sources

We checked each answer against primary or long-standing sources, including the National Park Service (the National Christmas Tree), Mass Moments (the Massachusetts Christmas ban), TIME (Christmas becoming a federal holiday), NORAD Tracks Santa, The Local Sweden (the Gävle goat), the Tom Smith entry (Christmas crackers), and the Gospels of Matthew (chapter 2) and Luke (chapters 1 and 2) for the Nativity round.

Christmas trivia FAQ

What are some good Christmas trivia questions for adults?

Questions with a surprising answer work best for grown-ups: Santa's reindeer probably being female, Massachusetts banning Christmas for 22 years, or the 364 gifts in "The Twelve Days of Christmas." The Hard and History rounds above have 16 of them.

What are easy Christmas trivia questions for kids?

Stick to things kids see every December: Santa's suit, Rudolph's nose, the candy cane, stockings and the Grinch's dog Max. The Kids round has 15, and the Movies round has a few more that school-age kids will know.

Is there a printable Christmas trivia PDF with answers?

Yes. The free PDF above has all 100 questions, a separate answer key and a scorecard for six teams. If you'd rather not print, the Christmas Showdown board runs the game on your TV.

How many questions do you need for a Christmas trivia game?

Plan on 20 to 30 questions for a 30 to 40 minute game with two to four teams. Five categories of five questions makes one full game board, with time left for a final wager question.

What are some first Christmas trivia questions?

"First Christmas" questions are about the Nativity: Bethlehem, the manger, the angel Gabriel, the shepherds and the wise men's gold, frankincense and myrrh. Our Nativity round has seven, all answerable from Matthew and Luke.