Christmas quiz 2026

Christmas quiz questions and answers

30 of 121 questions; play or print to get the rest. Tap a question’s answer line to see it.

1. On Christmas Day 1986, what did Den Watts hand his wife Angie in EastEnders?

   1. Adoption papers
   2. Divorce papers
   3. A one-way ticket to Spain
   4. The deeds to the Queen Vic
   Show the answer

   B. Divorce papers In the back room of the Queen Vic, Den handed Angie a letter from his solicitor saying that her husband had filed a petition for divorce.

2. In which year did John Lewis run its first Christmas TV advert?

   1. 2004
   2. 2011
   3. 2007
   4. 2009
   Show the answer

   C. 2007 The first advert, 'Shadows', showed presents stacked so their shadows formed a woman and her dog.

3. Which actor played Ebenezer Scrooge opposite the Muppets in The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)?

   1. Michael Gambon
   2. Michael Caine
   3. Patrick Stewart
   4. Anthony Hopkins
   Show the answer

   B. Michael Caine Brian Henson directed the film, which was shot at Shepperton Studios near London.

4. Tom Smith's Christmas crackers grew out of a French sweet he came across in Paris. What was it called?

   1. The bon-bon
   2. The praline
   3. The macaron
   4. The nougat
   Show the answer

   A. The bon-bon Bon-bons sold well at Christmas, so Smith slipped small love mottoes inside the wrappers to lift sales through the year.

5. Counting every repeat in every verse, how many gifts are given in total in The Twelve Days of Christmas?

   1. 78
   2. 365
   3. 364
   4. 144
   Show the answer

   C. 364 Each verse repeats all the earlier gifts, so the twelve days deliver 364 presents in all, one fewer than the number of days in a year.

6. Which charity launched Christmas Jumper Day, the December fundraiser where schools and offices wear their daftest knitwear?

   1. Barnardo's
   2. Oxfam
   3. Save the Children
   4. Comic Relief
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   C. Save the Children The first Christmas Jumper Day was held on 14 December 2012.

7. What do Scots call their New Year's Eve celebration on 31 December?

   1. Hogmanay
   2. Burns Night
   3. Samhain
   4. Beltane
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   A. Hogmanay The celebration's origins reach back to ancient winter solstice festivities and Viking midwinter festivals.

8. Which of Father Christmas's reindeer is famous for having a glowing red nose?

   1. Rudolph
   2. Dasher
   3. Blitzen
   4. Prancer
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   A. Rudolph Rudolph was dreamed up in 1939 by Robert L. May, who wrote a Christmas booklet for a big American store.

9. In The Muppet Christmas Carol, which Muppet narrates the story as author Charles Dickens?

   1. The Great Gonzo
   2. Fozzie Bear
   3. Rizzo the Rat
   4. Kermit the Frog
   Show the answer

   A. The Great Gonzo Gonzo is helped by a hungry rat named Rizzo, while Kermit the Frog plays Bob Cratchit and Miss Piggy plays his wife.

10. Stir-up Sunday, when families traditionally mix their Christmas pudding, is the last Sunday before which church season?

    1. Eastertide
    2. Advent
    3. Whitsuntide
    4. Lent
    Show the answer

    B. Advent The name comes from the day's old prayer, which begins 'Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord'.

11. In the Rudolph story, what special job does Rudolph do on Christmas Eve?

    1. Guiding the sleigh
    2. Feeding the elves
    3. Checking the naughty list
    4. Wrapping the presents
    Show the answer

    A. Guiding the sleigh Rudolph is usually shown as the ninth and youngest of Father Christmas's reindeer.

12. The Snowman was first broadcast in December 1982 on which British channel?

    1. BBC One
    2. Channel 4
    3. BBC Two
    4. ITV
    Show the answer

    B. Channel 4 The film is based on Raymond Briggs's picture book, published in 1978, and was nominated for an Oscar.

13. Parliament's 17th-century ban on celebrating Christmas ended with the restoration of which king in 1660?

    1. James II
    2. William III
    3. Charles I
    4. Charles II
    Show the answer

    D. Charles II During the ban, New Model Army soldiers patrolled London streets and seized food being cooked for Christmas.

14. Which television character had the 1993 UK Christmas number one with a single carrying his own name?

    1. Orville the Duck
    2. Mr Blobby
    3. Bob the Builder
    4. Basil Brush
    Show the answer

    B. Mr Blobby The chart listed both the artist and the title simply as Mr Blobby.

15. What is traditionally stirred into the Christmas pudding mix to bring luck to whoever finds it?

    1. A silver coin
    2. A seashell
    3. A glass bead
    4. An acorn
    Show the answer

    A. A silver coin Everyone takes a turn at stirring the pudding and makes a wish for the year ahead.

16. In the Nativity story, which three gifts did the wise men bring for Jesus?

    1. Silk, spices and silver
    2. Bread, honey and wine
    3. Gold, frankincense and myrrh
    4. Gold, silver and bronze
    Show the answer

    C. Gold, frankincense and myrrh Matthew's Gospel says the wise men opened their treasures when they found the child with his mother Mary.

17. In 1958, Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean became a territory of which country?

    1. Indonesia
    2. The United Kingdom
    3. New Zealand
    4. Australia
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    D. Australia Captain William Mynors named the island after sighting it on Christmas Day 1643.

18. Wham!'s 'Last Christmas' first reached UK number one how many years after its 1984 release?

    1. 33
    2. 36
    3. 30
    4. 25
    Show the answer

    B. 36 It finally reached number one in January 2021 after 9.2 million streams in a week.

19. Which civil servant, the V&A's founding director, sent the first commercial Christmas card in 1843?

    1. Rowland Hill
    2. Henry Cole
    3. Anthony Trollope
    4. Charles Dickens
    Show the answer

    B. Henry Cole A thousand copies were printed, offered at a shilling apiece, and the venture was a commercial flop.

20. In which year did the Royal Institution's Christmas Lectures for young people begin?

    1. 1825
    2. 1851
    3. 1876
    4. 1799
    Show the answer

    A. 1825 Michael Faraday gave his first Christmas Lecture in 1827, on chemistry, and presented 19 series in all - more than anyone else.

21. Which group took 'Mary's Boy Child – Oh My Lord' to the UK Christmas number one spot in 1978?

    1. Boney M
    2. ABBA
    3. Brotherhood of Man
    4. The Three Degrees
    Show the answer

    A. Boney M Harry Belafonte had taken Mary's Boy Child to the Christmas top spot back in 1957.

22. In 1947, which country began sending London a Christmas tree to stand in Trafalgar Square each December?

    1. Norway
    2. Sweden
    3. Finland
    4. Denmark
    Show the answer

    A. Norway The tree is usually a Norwegian spruce more than 20 metres tall, decorated in traditional Norwegian style with vertical strings of lights.

23. Which band spent Christmas 1977 at number one in the UK with 'Mull of Kintyre'?

    1. Wings
    2. Smokie
    3. Hot Chocolate
    4. 10cc
    Show the answer

    A. Wings The single was listed as a double A-side with Girls' School.

24. In 2022, which act became the first in UK chart history to claim five Christmas number ones?

    1. Spice Girls
    2. LadBaby
    3. Cliff Richard
    4. The Beatles
    Show the answer

    B. LadBaby Food Aid in 2022 completed a run of five consecutive festive wins that began in 2018.

25. In the song Jingle Bells, how many horses pull the open sleigh?

    1. Two
    2. Eight
    3. One
    4. Four
    Show the answer

    C. One Jingle Bells was first published in 1857 under the title The One Horse Open Sleigh.

26. In which year did Coca-Cola's 'Holidays Are Coming' Christmas truck advert first appear on screens?

    1. 1985
    2. 1990
    3. 2000
    4. 1995
    Show the answer

    D. 1995 The original advert, made by agency W.B. Doner, used three 40-foot trucks strung with more than 30,000 bulbs each.

27. Mince pies once held real meat. Which meat goes into the pie recipe in Gervase Markham's 1615 book The English Huswife?

    1. Rabbit
    2. Goose
    3. Venison
    4. Mutton
    Show the answer

    D. Mutton By the twentieth century the only trace of meat left in a mince pie was the suet.

28. Holly comes as separate male and female trees. Which bear the red berries?

    1. Only grafted trees
    2. Male trees
    3. Both equally
    4. Female trees
    Show the answer

    D. Female trees The Woodland Trust notes holly is dioecious, and its berries can stay on the tree right through winter.

29. Who made his first full appearance as the Doctor in the 2005 special 'The Christmas Invasion'?

    1. Peter Capaldi
    2. Christopher Eccleston
    3. Matt Smith
    4. David Tennant
    Show the answer

    D. David Tennant It was the first specially produced Christmas special in Doctor Who's history, broadcast on BBC One on 25 December 2005.

30. In The Snowman, who do the boy and the Snowman meet after flying to the North Pole?

    1. Father Christmas
    2. Jack Frost
    3. The Easter Bunny
    4. The Snow Queen
    Show the answer

    A. Father Christmas Father Christmas gives the boy a scarf with a snowman pattern, and the boy finds it again the next morning.

Running the quiz

• Teams of two to five keep everyone talking. Mix ages so the kids’ questions and the hard ones both get answered.
• One round per category works well: traditions, christmas no.1s, telly & films, general knowledge, for kids.
• Read it twice, then give a short time to answer before you show the answer.
• Paper version? Print the question sheet for each team and keep the answer sheet for the host.

Questions

How do I run a Christmas quiz at home?

Put Host a quiz on the telly or a laptop, split into teams and pick a round. Read each question out, tap Show the answer and give the point. Up to eight teams; the scores stay on this device.

Can I print the quiz?

Yes. The printable page gives a question sheet and a separate answer sheet. Pick a round and how many questions, then print on A4.

Is there a round for children?

Yes. The kids’ round has easy questions for children aged about 8 to 12.

Are the answers right?

Every answer is checked before it goes on the site. If you think one is wrong, write to [email protected] and we will look at it the same day.

Is it free?

Yes, with no sign-up.