40 Christmas Trivia Questions and Answers for Families

1. How many reindeer pull Santa's sleigh in the famous 1823 poem A Visit from St. Nicholas?

2. What helps a snowshoe hare's oversized hind feet stay on top of soft snow?

3. Which winter bird has feathers covering its feet like natural snowshoes?

4. Unlike many cold-climate mammals, what do muskoxen do all winter?

5. What happens to a black bear's heart rate during its long winter rest?

6. Which tiny insects are important pollinators of cacao flowers?

7. Long before chocolate bars existed, chocolate was enjoyed as a drink by which ancient peoples?

8. Ginger, the spice in gingerbread, comes from which part of the ginger plant?

9. Which is the tallest kind of penguin in the world?

10. What name did Christmas-cracker inventor Tom Smith first give his snapping paper novelties?

11. Polar bears have huge front paws. What are they especially good for?

12. If Santa's workshop really sat at the North Pole, it would be floating above which ocean?

13. What is a polar bear's favorite food?

14. What do snowshoe hares commonly eat when winter hides leaves and grass?

15. What does a pine cone hold for the pine tree?

16. The Spanish word farol, the root of New Mexico's holiday term farolito, means what?

17. Newborn harp seal pups on the Arctic ice have fluffy fur of which color?

18. Which big white owl lives in the Arctic and hunts in daylight?

19. Which emperor penguin parent keeps the egg warm on its feet through the freezing Antarctic winter?

20. Why do ice cubes float in a glass of water?

21. Which dog breed from Siberia is famous for pulling sleds across the snow?

22. Popcorn for stringing on the tree pops because the water inside each kernel turns into what?

23. Most of the sugar in holiday cookies comes from sugarcane or from which root vegetable?

24. The teddy bear, a favorite gift under the tree, was named after which U.S. president?

25. Which animal is the largest member of the deer family, bigger than any reindeer?

26. Penguins can't fly. What do they use their flippers for instead?

27. The narwhal, an Arctic whale with a long spiral horn, actually has a horn that is really what?

28. Which Arctic people traditionally built igloos from blocks of snow?

29. Which star stays almost still in the night sky because it sits nearly above the North Pole?

30. Which is colder, the North Pole or the South Pole?

31. Which dark, sticky syrup gives many gingerbread recipes their rich brown color?

32. In the Northern Hemisphere, the shortest day of the year falls on or around which December date?

33. In which season are polar bear cubs born, snug inside a snow den?

34. Marshmallows for hot cocoa are named after a plant whose root was once used to make them. Where does it grow?

35. Many Mexican and Mexican American families make which corn-dough dish, wrapped in husks, at Christmas time?

36. Walruses use their long tusks to help haul themselves out of the water onto what?

37. A candle flame needs which gas from the air to keep burning?

38. What color are the berries on a sprig of mistletoe?

39. How did the snowshoe hare get its name?

40. What happens to a reindeer's antlers every year?