Christmas Trivia
Test your Christmas knowledge with festive questions covering traditions, movies, music, food and celebrations from around the world.
- Players
- 2+
- Ages
- 7+
- Time
- about 20 min
- You need
- Nothing needed
Play Christmas Trivia
Pick who is playing and how hard you want it. Every question comes with the answer explained, so you learn something either way.
Christmas trivia questions and answers
12 questions from the game, two from each category and a spread of difficulties, with the answer and a line of explanation under each one. Open a question to see its answer — or read them straight out to a room and keep score yourself.
On what date is Christmas Day celebrated each year?
AnswerDecember 25
Christmas Day is celebrated on December 25 in the Western calendar.
Which saint is the main historical figure behind the tradition of Santa Claus?
AnswerSaint Nicholas
Traditions surrounding the gift-giving Saint Nicholas gradually contributed to the figure now known as Santa Claus.
Advent calendars are especially associated with the Christmas traditions of which country?
AnswerGermany
Advent calendars are deeply rooted in German Christmas culture; modern German Advent calendars traditionally contain 24 daily surprises leading to Christmas Eve.
How many candles are normally used on a modern Advent wreath?
AnswerFour
A standard Advent wreath has four candles, with another candle lit on each Sunday of Advent.
In what year was It's a Wonderful Life first released?
Answer1946
AFI records the film's release on December 20, 1946.
What is Kevin's last name in Home Alone?
AnswerMcCallister
Macaulay Culkin's character is eight-year-old Kevin McCallister.
Which Christmas song is about a reindeer famous for his red nose?
AnswerRudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Johnny Marks turned Robert L. May's Rudolph story into the song later made famous by Gene Autry.
Who wrote “White Christmas”?
AnswerIrving Berlin
Composer and lyricist Irving Berlin wrote “White Christmas” for the film Holiday Inn.
Which ingredients give traditional British Christmas pudding much of its fruity character?
AnswerDried fruits
Traditional Christmas pudding is rich in dried fruit such as raisins and related fruits, along with spices and other ingredients.
Which Italian city is especially associated with panettone?
AnswerMilan
Treccani describes panettone as a typical Milanese sweet, and it remains a symbol of Milan as well as a Christmas staple throughout Italy.
The mischievous Christmas figures known as the Yule Lads belong to the folklore of which country?
AnswerIceland
The Yule Lads are distinctive figures of Icelandic Christmas folklore and visit during the run-up to Christmas.
In which country do children traditionally await La Befana around Epiphany?
AnswerItaly
La Befana is an Italian folklore figure associated with Epiphany. Tradition says she visits children on the night of January 5–6 and fills stockings with sweets or coal.
The quiz above holds 36 more, 48 in all, and never repeats a question inside a round.
What is in the Christmas Trivia game
Six categories, 8 questions each
General, Traditions, Movies, Music, Food and Around the world. A round draws across them rather than emptying one, so a quiz is never six questions about films in a row.
Three difficulties, evenly stocked
Every question carries its own difficulty, and the bank holds 16 at each tier. The setup screen asks for Easy, Mixed or Hard: Easy stays in the gentlest tier, Hard in the hardest, and Mixed deliberately spans all three so a group of different ages gets a fair share of both.
Every answer comes explained
Whether you get it right or wrong, the game shows the answer with a line of context — where the tradition comes from, who wrote the song, which year the film came out. The printed questions above carry the same explanations.
Rounds of 10 or 20 questions
Pick the length at the start. A 10-question round takes about ten minutes, 20 about 20; the game keeps score and shows it at the end.
Playing Christmas Trivia yourself
The quiz above runs itself. If you would rather host a round out loud — at the table, in the car, or at an office party — these are the rules the game is built on.
What it is
Christmas Trivia is an easy group game that works around the dinner table, at a family gathering or during an office Christmas party. Players answer festive questions covering Christmas traditions, movies, music, food and celebrations from around the world, either individually or in teams.
It needs almost no setup and can be as casual or competitive as your group wants. Use a prepared set of questions, have one person act as quizmaster, or play the interactive AllForXmas version with questions and answers ready to go.
Setting up
Choose one person to be the quizmaster and decide whether everyone will play individually or in teams. Have your Christmas trivia questions ready, and choose a simple scoring system such as one point for every correct answer. For a mixed-age group, use a range of easy and harder questions so everyone has a chance to contribute.
How to play
- Choose a quizmaster to read the Christmas trivia questions and keep score.
- Divide into teams, or let each person play individually for a smaller group.
- The quizmaster reads one question at a time and gives players or teams a chance to answer.
- Award one point for each correct answer.
- Continue through the agreed number of questions, mixing topics and difficulty levels when possible.
- Add up the points after the final question. The player or team with the highest score wins.
Rules
- Everyone should hear the full question before answering.
- Players should not look up answers while a question is in play.
- If playing in teams, teammates may discuss the answer quietly before giving their final response.
- Decide before starting whether incorrect answers can be passed to another player or team for a chance to score.
- For disputed answers, use the answer supplied with the question as the game answer and keep the game moving.
Winning
The player or team with the most points after the final question wins. If there is a tie, use one additional trivia question as a tiebreaker; continue with single questions until the tie is broken.
Running a good Christmas trivia round
Teams beat individuals at a party
Two or three teams confer, which means the person who does not know the answer is still in the conversation — and a team answer is nobody’s fault. Individual play suits two or three people at a table, where turns come round quickly.
Read the options out, not just the question
Every question here is multiple choice with four options. Reading all four keeps a round moving and gives a guess somewhere to go; keeping them back turns a quiz into an exam.
Read the explanation, even when they got it right
The line under each answer is where the round becomes a conversation — most groups stop to argue about a film release date at least once. That is the game working.
Choose the length before you start, not during
10 questions is a break between courses; 20 is an evening’s entertainment. Deciding halfway through is how a quiz outstays its welcome.
Settle a tie with one hard question
Level scores at the end? Take the next question from the hard tier and give it to both teams at once — first correct answer wins. The bank has plenty left.
Playing Christmas trivia with kids
From age 7, with the right questions
The record puts this game at 7+, which is the age at which a child can play it properly rather than watch. 38 of the 48 questions are written to be fair to a child that age — they are the ones the game draws from when you choose Kids on the setup screen, and choosing that is the single thing that makes the round work for them.
Easy is a real setting, not a smaller game
Picking Easy keeps the round inside the gentlest tier — 16 questions — at whichever length you chose. Nothing is shortened and nothing is dropped; the questions are simply ones a younger player has a fair chance at.
Pair a child with an adult for mixed ages
Where the ages are mixed, Family and a team each way works better than Kids: a child paired with an adult contributes what they know and hears the rest, which is more fun than a round pitched so low the adults have nothing to do.
Keep playing
More games for your group
Three that go well after Christmas Trivia — or let the Finder choose.
Christmas Would You Rather
Christmas Bingo
Where next
Answer three quick questions and the Finder picks from all 23 — or browse the whole library.
All 23 Christmas games