Here are 100 Christmas trivia questions and answers for kids, sorted by age so a 5 year old and a 12 year old can both win, plus a hard round for teens and grown-ups. Every answer sits right under its question, and every one was fact-checked for this 2026 to 2027 edition. That covers both the easy ones a 4 year old can shout out, like what Santa says when he laughs, and the ones that stump grown-ups, like which Christmas song was played in space.
We make Who Smarted?, a podcast that answers kids’ questions about how the world works, so we write questions to be read out loud and we check the answers against real sources. When we rechecked last year’s Christmas list, 8 answers were wrong or unproven and 12 more needed a fuller answer. “Jingle Bells” was never shown to be a Thanksgiving song, three of Santa’s reindeer (not two) have names that start with D, and Coca-Cola did not invent Santa’s red suit. The corrected answers are below, with the real story.
If you are a parent planning a Christmas Eve game, start with the age guide so nobody at the table gets stuck. If you are a teacher with a class party and a room full of different traditions, the science round and the winter holidays round give everyone something to answer. And if you are a grown-up hunting for Christmas trivia questions and answers for your own party, the hard round and the “answers most lists get wrong” section are for you.
This page has the key dates for the 2026 season, how to run the game, which questions suit which age, a round builder you can print, six rounds of questions, and four Who Smarted? episodes about holiday questions to play when the quiz is over.
Jump to a round:
Easy Christmas Trivia for Ages 4 to 6
Christmas Trivia for Kids Ages 7 to 9
Christmas Trivia for Kids Ages 10 to 12
Hard Christmas Trivia Questions and Answers for Teens and Grown-Ups
Christmas Science Trivia
Winter Holidays Around the World Trivia
Christmas Trivia Answers Most Lists Get Wrong
Holiday Questions on Who Smarted?
Christmas 2026 Dates
Christmas Day 2026 falls on a Friday, December 25, and Christmas Eve is Thursday, December 24. The table below lists the other key dates of the 2026 to 2027 holiday season, from the first Sunday of Advent on November 29 to Three Kings Day on January 6, 2027, so you can plan a trivia night around them.
| Date | Holiday | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday, November 29, 2026 | First Sunday of Advent | Advent calendars and the Advent season begin |
| Friday, December 4 (evening) to Saturday, December 12 | Hanukkah | Eight nights; the first candle is lit on the evening of December 4 |
| Sunday, December 6 | St. Nicholas Day | Shoes and stockings get small treats in parts of Europe |
| Sunday, December 13 | St. Lucia Day | Candle crowns and saffron buns in Sweden |
| Wednesday, December 16 to Thursday, December 24 | Las Posadas | Nine nights of processions in Mexico |
| Monday, December 21 | Winter solstice | Least daylight of the year in the Northern Hemisphere (3:50 p.m. Eastern) |
| Thursday, December 24 | Christmas Eve | Families follow Santa’s route on NORAD Tracks Santa |
| Friday, December 25 | Christmas Day | |
| Saturday, December 26 | Boxing Day and the first day of Kwanzaa | Kwanzaa runs to Friday, January 1, 2027 |
| Thursday, December 31 | New Year’s Eve | |
| Wednesday, January 6, 2027 | Epiphany, or Three Kings Day (DÃa de los Reyes) | The day after the twelfth night of Christmas |
| Thursday, January 7, 2027 | Orthodox Christmas | Celebrated by churches that follow the older Julian calendar |
The Santa tracking tradition behind that Christmas Eve row is itself a trivia question: it started with a misprinted phone number in 1955. You will find the full story in the 10 to 12 round.
How to Play Christmas Trivia at a Party, in Class or in the Car
The easiest way to play Christmas trivia with kids is to pick one round that fits the youngest player, read each question out loud and hide the answer until everyone has guessed. From there, the setup depends on where you are and who is playing.
- With mixed ages at the same table, do not read one list to everyone. Give each player questions from their own age round, so the 5 year old gets “What animals pull Santa’s sleigh?” while the 11 year old gets the Scrooge questions. Everybody scores one point per right answer.
- At a class party, split the room into table teams and play 15 questions from one age round. If some of your students celebrate other holidays, or none, lead with the science round and the winter holidays round, and use the round builder’s option to skip the questions about religious history (numbers 45, 58, 59, 70, 84, 85 and 97). Teachers can also get a free Who Smarted? subscription for educators to play episodes in class.
- In the car, skip the scoring and the teams. Read straight down one round and let whoever answers first ask the next question.
- At a grown-up or teen party, go straight to the hard round and the 10 to 12 round, give each answer a 10 second timer, and save the myth-busting section for a tiebreaker.
Picture Christmas Eve at Grandma’s: three cousins aged 5, 8 and 11, and one bowl of candy canes as the prize. Read the same questions to all three and the 11 year old wins by question four. Deal 5 questions to each cousin from their own round instead, and it comes down to the last question.
- Choose your setting from the list above.
- Pick rounds using the age guide below.
- Deal and print a round with the Christmas Trivia Round Builder.
- Hide the answers until every player has had a guess.
Picking a Christmas Trivia Round by Age
Each round on this page is written for a specific age, so the questions match the kid answering them. The table shows where to start.
| Round | Best for | Questions | What is in it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Easy Christmas trivia | Ages 4 to 6 | 1 to 20 | One or two word answers about Santa, snowmen and the tree. Count close guesses as right. |
| Christmas trivia for kids | Ages 7 to 9 | 21 to 45 | Songs, movies, the Grinch and reindeer facts. They know the characters, so the fun is in the details. |
| Christmas around the world | Ages 10 to 12 | 46 to 70 | Traditions in other countries, A Christmas Carol and the history behind the songs. Add a timer. |
| Hard Christmas trivia | Teens and grown-ups | 71 to 85 | Space-age carols, two Christmas Islands and the Christmas truce of 1914. |
| Christmas science | Ages 8 and up | 86 to 93 | Mistletoe, poinsettias, snowflakes and reindeer eyes. |
| Winter holidays around the world | Ages 8 and up | 94 to 100 | Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and St. Lucia Day. Younger kids can play in teams. |
Say a teacher has a second-grade class party with 20 minutes between the cookie decorating and pickup. The ages 7 to 9 round, read to four table teams, takes about 15 minutes with whispering time.
Easy Christmas Trivia for Ages 4 to 6
Easy Christmas trivia for ages 4 to 6 sticks to things a young child already knows from books, songs and the decorations at home: Santa, reindeer, snowmen and the tree. Every answer is one or two words.
Read these slowly and accept “Santa’s deer” for reindeer. At this age, shouting out the answer is what counts.
1. What color is Santa’s suit?
Answer: Red, with fluffy white trim.
2. What does Santa say when he laughs?
Answer: “Ho ho ho!”
3. What animals pull Santa’s sleigh?
Answer: Reindeer.
4. Which reindeer has a shiny red nose?
Answer: Rudolph.
5. What do you call a person made out of snow?
Answer: A snowman.
6. In the song “Frosty the Snowman,” what kind of nose does Frosty have?
Answer: A button nose.
7. In the same song, what are Frosty’s eyes made of?
Answer: Coal.
8. Who helps Santa make toys in his workshop?
Answer: Elves.
9. Where does Santa live in the stories?
Answer: The North Pole.
10. What do families hang by the fireplace for Santa to fill?
Answer: Stockings.
11. What two colors are the stripes on a classic candy cane?
Answer: Red and white.
12. What cookie is shaped like a little person and spiced with ginger?
Answer: A gingerbread man.
13. What do many kids leave out for Santa on Christmas Eve?
Answer: Cookies and milk, and sometimes carrots for the reindeer.
14. What is the name of the snowman in Disney’s Frozen?
Answer: Olaf.
15. What plant with prickly green leaves and red berries do people use to decorate at Christmas?
Answer: Holly.
16. What are the shiny, sparkly strands people hang on Christmas trees?
Answer: Tinsel.
17. What is the date of Christmas Day?
Answer: December 25.
18. What do you call the night before Christmas?
Answer: Christmas Eve.
19. Who is the green, grumpy character who tried to steal Christmas?
Answer: The Grinch.
20. In “Jingle Bells,” how many horses pull the open sleigh?
Answer: One. It’s a “one-horse open sleigh.”
Christmas Trivia for Kids Ages 7 to 9
Christmas trivia for kids ages 7 to 9 moves on to the details of the songs, books and movies they know by heart, plus a few real reindeer facts. Expect arguments about the reindeer count; the answer explains both sides.
21. How many reindeer pull Santa’s sleigh, counting Rudolph?
Answer: Nine. The 1823 poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” names eight, and Rudolph joined the team in 1939, so you will hear both answers.
22. Three of Santa’s reindeer have names that start with D. Can you name them?
Answer: Dasher, Dancer and Donner. Donner is spelled Donder in older versions of the poem.
23. Which of Santa’s reindeer has a name that starts with V?
Answer: Vixen.
24. In the song, what made Frosty the Snowman come to life?
Answer: An old silk hat.
25. In the Rudolph song, what did the other reindeer never let Rudolph join in?
Answer: Any reindeer games.
26. In the Rudolph song, why did Santa need Rudolph to guide the sleigh?
Answer: It was a foggy Christmas Eve, and Rudolph’s nose was bright enough to light the way.
27. What is the name of the Grinch’s dog?
Answer: Max.
28. In what town do the Whos live?
Answer: Whoville.
29. On what mountain does the Grinch live?
Answer: Mount Crumpit.
30. At the end of How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, how many sizes does the Grinch’s heart grow?
Answer: Three sizes.
31. In the book The Polar Express, what gift does the boy ask Santa for?
Answer: A silver bell from Santa’s sleigh.
32. In the movie Elf, which city does Buddy travel to?
Answer: New York City.
33. In Elf, what is the first rule in the Code of Elves?
Answer: Treat every day like Christmas.
34. In “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late),” what does Alvin want for Christmas?
Answer: A hula hoop.
35. Which Christmas song has the line “You better watch out, you better not cry”?
Answer: “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town.”
36. What is a baby reindeer called?
Answer: A calf.
37. Do female reindeer grow antlers?
Answer: Yes. Reindeer, also called caribou, are the only deer where both males and females grow antlers.
38. What do you call a calendar with little doors you open each day before Christmas?
Answer: An Advent calendar.
39. What Christmas plant has bright red leaves that many people think are flower petals?
Answer: The poinsettia.
40. In A Charlie Brown Christmas, what kind of Christmas tree does Charlie Brown pick?
Answer: A small, droopy real tree, even though Lucy told him to get a shiny aluminum one.
41. In the movie Home Alone, where is Kevin’s family flying when they accidentally leave him behind?
Answer: Paris.
42. In The Nutcracker ballet, what is the name of the girl who gets the nutcracker?
Answer: Clara in most versions. Some productions call her Marie or Masha.
43. In the United Kingdom, what treat do many children leave out for Father Christmas?
Answer: A mince pie, with a carrot for the reindeer.
44. In “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” what gift comes on the first day?
Answer: A partridge in a pear tree.
45. When do the Twelve Days of Christmas start?
Answer: On Christmas Day, December 25. They run until January 5, the night before Epiphany, so the twelve days come after Christmas, not before it.
Christmas Trivia for Kids Ages 10 to 12
Christmas trivia for ages 10 to 12 travels around the world and back in time, from Saint Nicholas and A Christmas Carol to how the Santa tracker started. Several answers correct things most kids (and adults) have heard wrong, so read the whole answer out loud.
46. Which country is usually credited with starting the tradition of bringing decorated Christmas trees indoors?
Answer: Germany. (Riga, Latvia, and Tallinn, Estonia, both claim early public Christmas trees, too.)
47. Saint Nicholas, whose stories helped inspire Santa Claus, was born in what modern country?
Answer: By tradition, in the town of Patara, in what is now Turkey (Türkiye).
48. What is Santa called in France?
Answer: Père Noël, which means Father Christmas.
49. In the Netherlands, what gift-bringer arrives in mid-November and brings presents on December 5?
Answer: Sinterklaas, a figure based on Saint Nicholas. He is a separate character from Santa Claus, though the name Santa Claus comes from Sinterklaas.
50. In Italy, who brings gifts to children on the night of January 5?
Answer: La Befana, a kind old woman on a broomstick. Children who misbehave might get a lump of coal instead.
51. In which country is a bucket of KFC fried chicken a popular Christmas dinner?
Answer: Japan.
52. Which country sends a giant Christmas tree to London’s Trafalgar Square every year?
Answer: Norway, as a thank-you for Britain’s help during World War II. It has sent one every year since 1947.
53. What was the poem we call “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” titled when it was first published in 1823?
Answer: “A Visit from St. Nicholas.”
54. Who wrote A Christmas Carol, and in what year?
Answer: Charles Dickens, in 1843.
55. In A Christmas Carol, what is the name of Scrooge’s dead business partner?
Answer: Jacob Marley.
56. How many ghosts visit Scrooge in A Christmas Carol?
Answer: Four: Jacob Marley’s ghost, then the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come. If someone says three, they forgot Marley.
57. What two words does Scrooge grumble about Christmas?
Answer: “Bah! Humbug!”
58. What does the X in “Xmas” stand for?
Answer: The Greek letter chi, which looks like an X. It is the first letter of the Greek word for Christ, so Xmas is a shortened way of writing Christmas.
59. In many Christian churches, what is the season of the four Sundays before Christmas called?
Answer: Advent. In 2026, Advent begins on Sunday, November 29.
60. Who sent the first commercial Christmas cards, in England in 1843?
Answer: Sir Henry Cole.
61. Which famous scientist was born on Christmas Day in 1642?
Answer: Isaac Newton. That date comes from the old calendar England used at the time; on today’s calendar it would be January 4, 1643.
62. In what year was Dr. Seuss’s book How the Grinch Stole Christmas! first published?
Answer: 1957.
63. In what year did Christmas become a federal holiday in the United States?
Answer: 1870, when President Ulysses S. Grant signed a law making Christmas a holiday for federal workers.
64. What mix-up started the Santa tracking tradition in 1955?
Answer: A newspaper ad for Sears printed the wrong phone number, so kids calling Santa reached a military command center called CONAD. The colonel on duty played along, and NORAD, formed in 1958, kept the tradition going.
65. Which ballet, with music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, first opened in 1892?
Answer: The Nutcracker.
66. What was “Jingle Bells” called when it was first published in 1857?
Answer: “The One Horse Open Sleigh.” Its lyrics never mention Christmas. You may have heard it was written for Thanksgiving, but that story has never been proven.
67. Which Christmas song was written during a July heat wave in 1945?
Answer: “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!”
68. Which Christmas song, sung by Bing Crosby, is the best-selling single of all time?
Answer: “White Christmas.”
69. In “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” how many gifts are given in total if you add up every verse?
Answer: 364.
70. In Mexico, what nine-night celebration from December 16 to 24 acts out Mary and Joseph’s search for a place to stay?
Answer: Las Posadas.
Hard Christmas Trivia Questions and Answers for Teens and Grown-Ups
These hard Christmas trivia questions and answers are for teens and grown-ups, the round that keeps the adults humble. Expect space history, two different Christmas Islands and an Icelandic book tradition worth stealing.
71. “Jingle Bells” was one of the first songs ever played in space. Which mission played it, and when?
Answer: Gemini 6A, on December 16, 1965. Astronauts Wally Schirra and Tom Stafford played it on a tiny harmonica and a handful of sleigh bells they had sneaked on board.
72. In It’s a Wonderful Life, what is the name of George Bailey’s guardian angel?
Answer: Clarence Odbody.
73. In what town is It’s a Wonderful Life set?
Answer: Bedford Falls.
74. In A Christmas Story, what “major award” does Ralphie’s dad win?
Answer: A lamp shaped like a leg.
75. Australia’s Christmas Island, in the Indian Ocean, is famous for the yearly migration of what animal?
Answer: Red crabs. Tens of millions of them march from the forest to the sea to lay their eggs.
76. A second Christmas Island, in the Pacific Ocean, was named by Captain James Cook when he arrived on Christmas Eve 1777. What is it called today?
Answer: Kiritimati, part of the country of Kiribati.
77. In what year did British and German soldiers hold the famous Christmas truce of World War I?
Answer: 1914.
78. In Iceland, what is the tradition of giving books on Christmas Eve and reading them that night called?
Answer: Jólabókaflóð, which means the “Christmas book flood.”
79. In Icelandic folklore, how many Yule Lads visit children in the nights before Christmas?
Answer: 13.
80. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was created in 1939 for what?
Answer: A free illustrated storybook that Montgomery Ward department stores gave to shoppers, written by the company’s copywriter, Robert L. May.
81. Which singing cowboy turned “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” into a hit record in 1949?
Answer: Gene Autry.
82. What kind of animation was used for the 1964 TV special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer?
Answer: Stop-motion animation, with small puppets moved a tiny bit for every frame.
83. Did Coca-Cola invent Santa’s red suit?
Answer: No. Artists like Thomas Nast drew Santa in red decades earlier, and other companies used Santa in ads first. Coca-Cola’s ads painted by Haddon Sundblom, starting in 1931, helped make the jolly, red-suited Santa famous.
84. On January 6, many Spanish-speaking countries celebrate DÃa de los Reyes. Who are the Reyes?
Answer: The Three Kings, also called the Three Wise Men or the Magi, who visit the baby Jesus in the Christmas story.
85. The name “Kris Kringle” comes from a German word for which gift-bringer?
Answer: Christkind (or Christkindl), meaning the Christ Child, who brings presents in parts of Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
The tiny harmonica from question 71 is real, and you can see it: the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum keeps the Gemini 6 harmonica in its collection.
Christmas Science Trivia About Snow, Reindeer and Mistletoe
Christmas science trivia explains the real nature behind the decorations: why mistletoe grows on trees, what poinsettia “petals” really are and how reindeer see in the dark. These work for any kid who asks “but why?”
86. Is mistletoe a parasite?
Answer: Partly. Mistletoe grows on trees and takes water and nutrients from them, but its green leaves also make some of its own food. Scientists call it a hemiparasite.
87. What color are mistletoe berries?
Answer: White.
88. Are a poinsettia’s red “petals” really petals?
Answer: No. They are colored leaves called bracts. The real flowers are the tiny yellow buds in the middle.
89. How many sides or arms do snowflakes almost always have?
Answer: Six.
90. Why do reindeer eyes change color in winter?
Answer: A shiny layer at the back of their eyes changes from gold in summer to blue in winter, which helps them see in the long Arctic dark.
91. What is the winter solstice?
Answer: The day with the least daylight of the year. In the Northern Hemisphere it falls on Monday, December 21, in 2026.
92. What gives gingerbread its dark color and deep, sweet flavor?
Answer: Molasses. Flour is still the main ingredient.
93. What is the difference between hot cocoa and hot chocolate?
Answer: Hot cocoa is made from cocoa powder, while hot chocolate is made from melted chocolate, so it is usually richer and thicker.
Want more questions like these all year? Our science trivia for kids has 75 more.
Winter Holidays Around the World Trivia
Christmas is one of several holidays in December, and this round covers Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and St. Lucia Day so every kid at the table has questions they can answer. It is a good round to open with in a classroom where families celebrate different holidays.
94. How many nights is Hanukkah celebrated?
Answer: Eight.
95. What is the Hanukkah candleholder with nine branches called?
Answer: A menorah, also called a hanukkiah. The ninth candle, the shamash or helper candle, lights the other eight.
96. What four-sided spinning top do kids play with at Hanukkah?
Answer: A dreidel.
97. Why do people eat foods fried in oil, like latkes, at Hanukkah?
Answer: To remember the story of a small jar of pure oil, enough for one day, that kept the Temple menorah burning for eight days.
98. How many days does Kwanzaa last, and when does it start?
Answer: Seven days, from December 26 to January 1.
99. Who created Kwanzaa, and in what year?
Answer: Dr. Maulana Karenga, in 1966.
100. On St. Lucia Day, December 13, what does the girl playing Lucia wear on her head in Sweden?
Answer: A crown of candles on a green wreath. Many families now use battery candles.
Christmas Trivia Answers Most Lists Get Wrong
Many Christmas trivia lists, including the old version of this one, repeat a few answers that are wrong or unproven. Here are the ones we corrected for 2026, with what the record actually shows, so you can settle the argument at your own party.
- “Jingle Bells” was written for Thanksgiving. Unproven. James Lord Pierpont published it in 1857 as “The One Horse Open Sleigh,” and the lyrics mention neither Thanksgiving nor Christmas.
- Coca-Cola was the first company to use Santa in ads, and it made his suit red. No on both. Other brands used Santa in ads first, and artists drew him in red long before 1931. Coca-Cola’s ads did make the jolly red-suited Santa famous.
- Gingerbread’s main ingredient is molasses. No. Flour is the main ingredient; molasses gives the color and flavor.
- Krampus leaves lumps of coal. No. In the stories, coal comes from Santa or Italy’s La Befana. Krampus carries a bundle of sticks.
- “Kris Kringle” is the German name for Santa. No. It comes from Christkind, the Christ Child, a different gift-bringer. Santa in Germany is the Weihnachtsmann.
- Alabama was the first state to make Christmas a legal holiday, in 1836. Widely repeated, but no record proves it, so we took the question out.
- Santa has eight reindeer, or nine. Both, depending on the source. The 1823 poem names eight; Rudolph arrived in 1939.
- Three ghosts visit Scrooge. Four, if you count Jacob Marley, and most quizzes do.
- The Twelve Days of Christmas are the twelve days before Christmas. They start on Christmas Day and run to January 5.
Say your brother-in-law insists “Jingle Bells” is a Thanksgiving song. You do not have to win the argument; just ask him to find the word Thanksgiving in the lyrics.
Holiday Questions Answered on Who Smarted?
When the quiz is over, these Who Smarted? episodes answer more holiday questions, and each one pairs with a question on this page. They run from about 11 to 18 minutes, the right length for the drive to a holiday party.
SMARTY Q: Holiday Q’s???
The Trusty Narrator answers holiday questions sent in by kids who listen to the show, released on Christmas Eve 2025. (12 minutes)
SMARTY Q: Why do people kiss under the mistletoe???
The story behind the mistletoe tradition. Pair it with the mistletoe questions in the science round. (11 minutes)
What country has the most Elves?
Do magical elves actually exist, and what different kinds of elves are there? A good follow-up to the Yule Lads question in the hard round. (17 minutes)
Is Hot Chocolate & Hot Cocoa the same?
What is in hot chocolate, where it came from and why people float marshmallows on top. It pairs with the last question in the science round. (18 minutes)
More Holiday Trivia and Riddles for Smarty Pants
When the Christmas questions run out, there is plenty more to play this season.
- Christmas riddles for kids: 80 riddles from easy to tricky, with a riddle a day Advent calendar
- Thanksgiving trivia questions for kids: for the table in November
- Family trivia questions: for game nights the rest of the year
- Movie trivia for kids: for the kids who aced the Elf and Home Alone questions
- Trivia questions for kids: 135 questions across eight topics
Keep the Holiday Questions Coming With Who Smarted?
We wrote every question on this page the way we write for the show, to be read out loud with the answer right behind it. If the game gets your kid asking why, our holiday episodes for kids have the answers, from Christmas and Hanukkah questions to why we celebrate the New Year.
