Ninety minutes is enough for a good Christmas quiz, and the evening comes together around one tiebreaker: how many gifts are given in total in “The Twelve Days of Christmas”? The answer is 364. Everything else is five rounds of eight questions, and you can take the questions straight from our Christmas trivia set. Here is the night in the order it happens.
0:00 – Teams and picture sheets
Let people form teams, choose a name, and take a picture sheet before anything else. Print 12 images: ornaments teams must name, Christmas cookies from different countries, or drawn scenes from famous Christmas films. Teams work on the sheet all night and hand it in at the break.
0:05 – Round 1, Christmas songs
Start with songs everyone has heard a thousand times. Our set asks about the first gift in “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” what “O Tannenbaum” means, and the best-selling single of all time (Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas,” according to Guinness World Records). For a twist, play the first few seconds of a carol and ask for the title.
0:15 – Round 2, Christmas movies
Home Alone, Elf, It’s a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Story, How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Ask for character names, famous lines (“You’ll shoot your eye out”), and details such as the name of the Grinch’s dog (Max).
0:25 – Round 3, traditions around the world
Which country gave us the Christmas tree custom (Germany), who sends London’s Trafalgar Square tree every year (Norway, since 1947), where poinsettias are native (Mexico), and what Boxing Day is. The guide to Christmas traditions around the world has plenty more.
0:35 – Break
Collect the picture sheets, mark them, and post scores. This is when the bar or kitchen gets busy; let it.
0:45 – Round 4, the picture round
Read out the answers to the picture sheet, then use the slot for a lighter round of your own: a Christmas jumper contest, carol-lyric gaps, or a “who said it” round of movie quotes.
0:55 – Round 5, Christmas for adults (double points)
Finish with the harder history: the year Christmas became a US federal holiday (1870), who is usually credited with writing “’Twas the Night Before Christmas” (Clement Clarke Moore), and which company’s 1930s ads helped fix Santa’s modern look (Coca-Cola). Double points keep every team in the race.
1:15 – Tiebreaker and prizes
Ask for a number; closest wins.
- How many gifts are given in total in “The Twelve Days of Christmas”? 364
- In what year did Christmas become a US federal holiday? 1870
- In what year did Oslo first send London its Christmas tree? 1947
A box of chocolates or a silly trophy is plenty. General advice on timing and scoring is in how to host a trivia night.
Adjusting it
At the office: keep to three rounds and 30 minutes, mix departments in every team, and use multiple choice so nobody feels put on the spot.
With family: pair children with adults, read the movie round first, and let younger players shout out the easy song answers for a bonus point. Keep a few general questions from today’s quiz in reserve for anyone who has had enough of Christmas.