Christmas traditions and history — round one of your printable quiz
Start with the classics. These questions cover where the holiday's best-known customs actually come from — decorated trees, mistletoe, Advent, and the real Saint Nicholas. Print this round for mixed-age groups: grandparents tend to dominate here.
Q1.Which country is credited with starting the modern tradition of decorating a Christmas tree at home?Tap to reveal
Answer: Germany
Sixteenth-century German Christians brought evergreens indoors and decorated them, and the custom spread across Europe from there.
Q2.Who wrote the 1843 novella "A Christmas Carol"?Tap to reveal
Answer: Charles Dickens
Dickens wrote it in about six weeks, and it has never been out of print.
Q3.Besides Jacob Marley, how many spirits visit Ebenezer Scrooge in "A Christmas Carol"?Tap to reveal
Answer: Three — the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come
Marley's ghost arrives first to warn Scrooge the three spirits are coming.
Q4.Under which plant do people traditionally kiss at Christmas?Tap to reveal
Answer: Mistletoe
The kissing custom became popular in England in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Q5.Saint Nicholas, the inspiration for Santa Claus, was a bishop of Myra — in which modern-day country is Myra located?Tap to reveal
Answer: Turkey
Myra was a town in Lycia, Asia Minor, near today's Demre on Turkey's Mediterranean coast.
Q6.If you received every gift in the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas," how many gifts would you have in total?Tap to reveal
Answer: 364
Each gift repeats on every following day, so the totals stack up to 364 across the twelve days.
Q7.Which artist's Coca-Cola ads, starting in 1931, helped standardize the image of a plump, red-suited Santa Claus?Tap to reveal
Answer: Haddon Sundblom
Santa had appeared in many forms before; Sundblom's ads cemented the modern look.
Q8.What is the name of the season of preparation observed on the four Sundays before Christmas?Tap to reveal
Answer: Advent
The word comes from the Latin adventus, meaning "arrival" or "coming."
Q9.In what year did Christmas become a federal holiday in the United States?Tap to reveal
Answer: 1870
President Ulysses S. Grant signed the bill making Christmas a federal holiday.
Q10.In the abbreviation "Xmas," the X stands for a letter from which alphabet?Tap to reveal
Answer: The Greek alphabet
X is the Greek letter chi, the first letter of "Christos" — so Xmas is an old abbreviation, not a modern shortcut.
Christmas movies and songs — the crowd-pleaser round
Everyone has seen at least three of these movies, which makes this the loudest round of any Christmas quiz. Print it double-spaced so teams can scribble answers next to each question.
Q1.In "Home Alone," which city is the McCallister family flying to when they leave Kevin behind?Tap to reveal
Answer: Paris
The family only realizes Kevin is missing mid-flight over the Atlantic.
Q2.What gift does Ralphie desperately want in "A Christmas Story"?Tap to reveal
Answer: A Red Ryder BB gun
Every adult in the movie warns him: "You'll shoot your eye out!"
Q3.In "Elf," what is the name of Buddy's biological father, played by James Caan?Tap to reveal
Answer: Walter Hobbs
Walter is a children's book publisher in New York — and starts the movie on the naughty list.
Q4.What is the name of the angel trying to earn his wings in "It's a Wonderful Life"?Tap to reveal
Answer: Clarence
Clarence Odbody, Angel Second Class, gets his wings when a bell rings at the end.
Q5."Miracle on 34th Street" centers on the Santa Claus of which famous New York department store?Tap to reveal
Answer: Macy's
Kris Kringle is hired as the Santa for Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and its flagship store.
Q6.Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was created in 1939 as a promotional character for which American retailer?Tap to reveal
Answer: Montgomery Ward
Copywriter Robert L. May invented Rudolph for a giveaway coloring booklet.
Q7.How many reindeer pull Santa's sleigh in the poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas"?Tap to reveal
Answer: Eight
Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder and Blitzen — Rudolph came more than a century later.
Q8.Which Christmas song, recorded by Bing Crosby, is the best-selling single of all time?Tap to reveal
Answer: "White Christmas"
Written by Irving Berlin, it has sold an estimated 50 million copies worldwide.
Q9."Jingle Bells" was originally written for which holiday?Tap to reveal
Answer: Thanksgiving
James Lord Pierpont's 1857 song was first titled "One Horse Open Sleigh" and had no Christmas lyrics at all.
Q10.Which 1994 Mariah Carey song climbs back up the charts every December?Tap to reveal
Answer: "All I Want for Christmas Is You"
It finally hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2019 — 25 years after its release.
Q11.In "Die Hard," what is the name of the Los Angeles skyscraper where the Christmas party is held?Tap to reveal
Answer: Nakatomi Plaza
The exterior is the real Fox Plaza in Century City — and yes, this question settles the "is it a Christmas movie" argument at every party.
Christmas around the world — the round nobody sweeps
This is the great equalizer: even your trivia-champion uncle probably doesn't know all thirteen Yule Lads. These questions travel from Japan to Iceland to Mexico, and they're the most fun to read out loud.
Q1.In which country has a bucket of KFC fried chicken become a popular Christmas meal?Tap to reveal
Answer: Japan
A 1970s "Kentucky for Christmas" marketing campaign turned it into a national tradition — many families order weeks in advance.
Q2.In Italian folklore, which friendly witch delivers gifts to children on the eve of Epiphany?Tap to reveal
Answer: La Befana
She flies on a broomstick on the night of January 5, filling stockings with sweets — or coal for the naughty.
Q3.How many Yule Lads visit children over the thirteen nights before Christmas in Icelandic tradition?Tap to reveal
Answer: Thirteen
Each has a distinct personality, like Spoon-Licker and Door-Slammer, and leaves small gifts in children's shoes.
Q4.In Ukraine, Christmas trees are sometimes decorated with ornaments of which creature, thanks to a folk tale about a poor family?Tap to reveal
Answer: A spider and its web
In the tale, spiders decorate a poor family's tree overnight and the webs turn to silver and gold — so spider ornaments mean good luck.
Q5.What is the name of the nine-night Mexican celebration that reenacts Mary and Joseph's search for lodging?Tap to reveal
Answer: Las Posadas
"Posada" means "inn" or "lodging"; processions run each night from December 16 to 24.
Q6."Feliz Navidad" means "Merry Christmas" in which language?Tap to reveal
Answer: Spanish
José Feliciano's 1970 bilingual song made the phrase famous far beyond the Spanish-speaking world.
Q7.In Alpine folklore, which horned companion of St. Nicholas punishes badly behaved children in early December?Tap to reveal
Answer: Krampus
Krampus Night (Krampusnacht) is still marked on December 5 in parts of Austria and Bavaria with costumed parades.
Q8.Many Orthodox churches celebrate Christmas on which date?Tap to reveal
Answer: January 7
They follow the Julian calendar for feast days, which currently runs 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar.
Q9.In which season does Christmas Day fall in Australia?Tap to reveal
Answer: Summer
December is midsummer in the Southern Hemisphere, so beach cricket and barbecues replace snow.
Q10.What is the German word for the traditional outdoor Christmas market?Tap to reveal
Answer: Weihnachtsmarkt
Some German Christmas markets, like Dresden's Striezelmarkt, date back to the 15th century.
Christmas food and treats — the tastiest round to print
Finish with food. These questions pair perfectly with dessert — read them out while the pudding is actually on the table. If you saved this page as a PDF, this round fits neatly on the last sheet.
Q1.Which British dessert is traditionally doused in brandy and set alight before serving?Tap to reveal
Answer: Christmas pudding
Also called plum pudding, it's traditionally made weeks ahead on "Stir-up Sunday" so the flavors mature.
Q2.What were mince pies originally filled with?Tap to reveal
Answer: Actual minced meat, mixed with fruit and spices
The meat gradually disappeared from recipes; the name "mincemeat" stuck for the all-fruit filling.
Q3.Panettone, the tall, dome-shaped Christmas sweet bread, comes from which country?Tap to reveal
Answer: Italy
It originated in Milan and is traditionally studded with candied fruit and raisins.
Q4.The French bûche de Noël is a cake made to look like what?Tap to reveal
Answer: A Yule log
It's a rolled sponge cake frosted to resemble bark, honoring the old custom of burning a Yule log at Christmas.
Q5.Which fairy tale is credited with popularizing decorated gingerbread houses?Tap to reveal
Answer: "Hansel and Gretel"
After the Brothers Grimm published the tale of a witch's edible house, German bakers began crafting gingerbread versions.
Q6.The red parts of a poinsettia are not flower petals — what are they?Tap to reveal
Answer: Modified leaves called bracts
The actual flowers are the tiny yellow structures at the center of the red bracts.
Q7.The poinsettia plant is native to which country?Tap to reveal
Answer: Mexico
It's named after Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first US minister to Mexico, who sent cuttings home in the 1820s.
Q8.What three gifts did the Magi bring to the infant Jesus, according to the Gospel of Matthew?Tap to reveal
Answer: Gold, frankincense, and myrrh
The Bible names three gifts but never says how many wise men there were.
Q9.Frankincense and myrrh are both harvested from what?Tap to reveal
Answer: Tree resin
Both are dried sap tapped from trees of the Burseraceae family, prized for incense and perfume since antiquity.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I print this Christmas trivia as a quiz sheet?
Press Ctrl+P on Windows or Cmd+P on Mac. The page prints cleanly with questions and answers in order — print one copy with answers for the host and read questions aloud, or fold the answer column back for players.
Can I get these Christmas trivia questions and answers as a PDF?
Yes — in your browser's print dialog, change the destination printer to "Save as PDF." You'll get the full 40-question set as a single file you can share, email, or open on a tablet at the party.
How many questions should a family Christmas trivia game have?
About 20-30 for a mixed-age group — roughly 30-40 minutes of play. Use two of the four rounds on this page for a short game, or all 40 questions for a full trivia night.
Is this Christmas trivia suitable for kids?
Rounds one and two (traditions, movies and songs) work well for ages 10+. The around-the-world and food rounds are tougher — use them as team questions so adults and kids can collaborate.
Can I play this Christmas quiz online instead of printing it?
Yes — the interactive quiz widget on this page lets you play online free with automatic scoring, and the Trivio.NET app adds live multiplayer so far-away relatives can join the same game.
