50 Christmas Trivia Questions and Answers for Students

1. In the short form Xmas, the X stands for the first letter of Christ's name in which language?

2. Epiphany, celebrated on January 6, takes its name from a Greek word meaning what?

3. On the December solstice, the Sun is directly overhead at noon along which line of latitude?

4. In 1885, Wilson Bentley of Vermont took the first photograph of a single snowflake. What did he attach his camera to?

5. A snowflake starts to grow inside a cloud around what?

6. What name do scientists give the branching, tree-like kind of snow crystal?

7. In which half of the world does the December solstice bring the year's least daylight?

8. What causes December to be winter in Canada but summer in Australia?

9. Which winter item becomes a word meaning ‘cares deeply’ when its first letter is removed?

10. Around Christmas, how much direct sunlight does the North Pole get each day?

11. Reindeer are the only deer species in which which animals normally grow antlers?

12. What do wild reindeer mostly eat in winter, digging through the snow with their hooves to reach it?

13. The bright red parts of a poinsettia are not petals. What are they?

14. Mistletoe is a partial parasite. Where does it grow to take water and nutrients?

15. Which group of immigrants helped spread the Christmas tree tradition in the United States in the 1800s?

16. Near 23°F (-5°C), snow crystals often grow into which form?

17. At posada parties in Mexico, children take turns trying to break what?

18. In the Netherlands, Sinterklaas arrives each November by steamboat, supposedly from which country?

19. Using the code A=1, B=2 and so on, a decoration tag reads 19-20-1-18. Which decoration does it spell?

20. St. Nicholas Day, when children in many European countries find treats in their shoes, falls on which date?

21. The name Lucia is linked to which Latin word meaning light?

22. Why are freshly baked panettone loaves often cooled upside down?

23. A typical snowflake may take roughly how long to fall from its cloud to the ground?

24. During deep hibernation, an Arctic ground squirrel's body temperature can do what?

25. Each year on Australia's Christmas Island, millions of which animals march from the forest to the sea to breed?

26. Unlike the South Pole, which sits on a continent, the North Pole sits on what?

27. Where did Thomas Edison display an early outdoor strand of electric lights during the Christmas season of 1880?

28. Why can you see your breath on a cold winter morning?

29. Road crews spread salt on icy streets in winter. What does the salt do?

30. According to the U.S. National Weather Service, a blizzard is defined by strong winds plus what?

31. When water vapor turns straight into ice crystals, as it does when frost forms, scientists call the change what?

32. Fresh, fluffy snow is a good insulator mainly because it contains lots of what?

33. Which U.S. state has a town named Santa Claus, whose post office receives letters from children every December?

34. Rain that falls as liquid but freezes into a glaze of ice the moment it touches cold roads and trees is called what?

35. Protected Lübeck marzipan must contain at least what percentage of raw marzipan mixture?

36. German rules require Elisenlebkuchen to contain at least what percentage of almonds, hazelnuts or walnuts?

37. Which 1840 British postal change, which made mailing cheap, helped Christmas cards take off a few years later?

38. On cold, dry, sunny days, snow can turn straight into water vapor without melting first. What is this change called?

39. Which of these trees is NOT an evergreen that keeps its needles through winter?

40. In Mexico, poinsettias are known by a name that translates as what?

41. In Germany, the Christmas markets held throughout Advent are called by which name?

42. Which famous nurse and founder of the American Red Cross was born on Christmas Day 1821?

43. In Iceland, the holiday book flood tradition means many people spend Christmas Eve doing what?

44. In much of Latin America and Spain, Three Kings Day, when many children receive gifts, falls on which date?

45. Before modern ornaments, early German Christmas trees were often decorated with which edible items?

46. What is qiviut?

47. Polar bears and penguins never meet in the wild. Why not?

48. Christmas trees became fashionable in Britain after an 1848 picture showed the decorated tree of which royal couple?

49. Saint Nicholas, whose stories inspired Santa Claus, served as a bishop in the city of Myra. In which century did he live?

50. Evergreen Christmas trees take in which gas from the air to make their food by photosynthesis?