How to run the quiz
- Split into teams of 2–5 people. Each team needs a sheet of paper and a pen.
- Read out each question with its three answers, A, B and C. Each team writes down one letter.
- 1 point for each right answer. After the round, read out the answers and add up the points.
- Play one round between unwrapping the gifts. It works the same around one table and on a video call.
Play together live
One screen shows the questions – a TV, a projector or a screen shared on a video call – and everyone answers on their own phone, joining with a short code or the QR code. A right answer scores, a fast one scores more, and after each question the screen shows who leads. No accounts, nothing to install.
Christmas quiz with answers
Team: ____________________ Points: ____ / 15
Round 1: Christmas around the world
- In Japan, which takeaway is a Christmas meal for many families?
- Which country sends London the Christmas tree for Trafalgar Square every year?
- In Iceland, how many Yule Lads come down from the mountains before Christmas?
- Mexico’s Las Posadas recall Mary and Joseph looking for shelter. For how many nights?
- Who fills Italian children’s stockings on the night before 6 January?
Round 2: Christmas in Britain and America
- Besides the bang, what is inside a Christmas cracker?
- Which dessert is set alight with brandy before it is served in Britain?
- What is 26 December called in Britain, Canada and Australia?
- Where is New York’s best-known Christmas tree lit every year?
- Who gives the Christmas message on British TV on 25 December?
Round 3: Santa, reindeer, songs and films
- How many reindeer pull the sleigh in the 1823 poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas”?
- In which city is “Home Alone” set?
- “Silent Night” was first sung in 1818 in which country?
- Who wrote “A Christmas Carol”, the story of Ebenezer Scrooge?
- Who composed the music of the ballet “The Nutcracker”?
Answer key – for the host
- B – Fried chicken from KFC – A 1970s advertising campaign caught on: many Japanese families order their Christmas bucket of chicken weeks ahead.
- A – Norway – Oslo has sent one every year since 1947, as thanks for Britain’s help in the Second World War.
- C – 13 – One a night from 12 December. Children leave a shoe on the windowsill for a small gift.
- A – 9 – From 16 to 24 December, with candles and songs – and often a piñata at the end.
- B – La Befana – La Befana is an old woman on a broomstick who comes on the eve of Epiphany, with coal for the naughty ones.
- A – A paper crown, a joke and a small gift – Two people pull it until it snaps. The paper crown is worn at Christmas dinner and the joke is read out loud.
- B – Christmas pudding – Warm brandy is poured over the pudding and lit, often with a sprig of holly on top.
- C – Boxing Day – A public holiday. The name is usually linked to the boxes of gifts once given to servants and tradespeople.
- B – Rockefeller Center – A giant spruce goes up at Rockefeller Center in Manhattan, above the ice rink, and its lighting is shown on TV.
- C – The monarch – The Royal Christmas Message began on radio in 1932 with George V and moved to TV in 1957.
- B – 8 – Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen. Rudolph came later, in a 1939 story.
- A – Chicago – Kevin is left in the family’s house in a suburb of Chicago. In the sequel he ends up in New York.
- C – Austria – In Oberndorf near Salzburg, with words by Joseph Mohr and music by Franz Xaver Gruber.
- B – Charles Dickens – Published in 1843: Scrooge is visited by the ghost of his partner Jacob Marley, then by three spirits.
- A – Tchaikovsky – Pyotr Tchaikovsky. It was first staged in St Petersburg in 1892 and is danced every December around the world.
Also useful
Something for a shared screen or the TV: Christmas emoji quiz: guess the film, the song and the tradition.
More on santa.haus
- Christmas bingoa card of its own on each phone, a caller that draws the words, or up to 40 different cards to print.
- PuzzlesA word search, two crosswords, six mazes and the memory game – on the screen or on paper.
- Party gamesCharades, “Who am I?” and fifteen one-minute games – played in teams on one phone.
- Advent calendarMake one online and send it: a door a day until Christmas Eve.
- Online Christmas cardPick a picture, write your wishes and send the card as a link. Free, no account.
- Christmas printablesColoring pages, cards, gift wrapping and decorations to cut out – print them at home, free.
Drawing names for gifts too? Secret Santa on santa.haus.