40 Thanksgiving Trivia Questions for Adults (With Answers)

By Cedar & Ledger

Thanksgiving trivia is an easy way to keep the table talking after the meal. These 40 questions are a notch harder than the kids' versions: history, food science, turkey facts and harvest traditions from around the world. Answers are at the end of each round so the host can read and score as you go.

How to play

1. Split the table into teams of 2 to 4.
2. The host reads 10 questions per round. Teams write their answers.
3. 1 point per right answer, 2 points for the bonus.
4. Highest score after 4 rounds picks the first slice of pie.

Round 1: History

1. In what year did the harvest feast often called the "first Thanksgiving" take place?
2. Which Native nation, led by Ousamequin (Massasoit), attended that 1621 feast?
3. How many days did the 1621 celebration last, according to the colonists' own account?
4. Which president proclaimed a national Thanksgiving in 1863?
5. Which magazine editor lobbied presidents for years to make Thanksgiving national?
6. In 1939 one president moved Thanksgiving a week earlier to lengthen the shopping season. Who?
7. What did people nickname that earlier date?
8. In what year did Congress fix Thanksgiving as the fourth Thursday of November?
9. Which Patuxet man, who spoke English, helped the Plymouth colonists plant corn?
10. In which month is Canadian Thanksgiving?

Answers: 1. 1621. 2. The Wampanoag. 3. Three days. 4. Abraham Lincoln. 5. Sarah Josepha Hale. 6. Franklin D. Roosevelt. 7. "Franksgiving." 8. 1941. 9. Tisquantum (Squanto). 10. October (second Monday).

Round 2: Food

1. What are the three crops many Native peoples grew together, known as the Three Sisters?
2. Cranberries are harvested by flooding which kind of field?
3. Why do fresh cranberries bounce?
4. What is stuffing usually called when it's baked in a separate dish?
5. Which state grows the most cranberries in the US?
6. Which state raises the most turkeys?
7. Pumpkins are botanically classified as what: fruit or vegetable?
8. Pecan pie is closely tied to which region of the US?
9. What is the wishbone's scientific name?
10. Green bean casserole is typically topped with what crunchy ingredient?

Answers: 11. Corn, beans and squash. 12. A bog. 13. They have small air pockets inside. 14. Dressing. 15. Wisconsin. 16. Minnesota. 17. Fruit (a berry, botanically). 18. The South. 19. The furcula. 20. Fried onions.

Round 3: Turkeys

1. What is a male turkey called?
2. What is a female turkey called?
3. What is a baby turkey called?
4. What is the fleshy flap that hangs over a turkey's beak?
5. Where do wild turkeys sleep at night?
6. About how fast can a wild turkey run?
7. Which founding father called the turkey "a much more respectable bird" than the bald eagle?
8. Only which turkeys gobble: males or females?
9. What is the hairlike tuft on a tom's chest called?
10. Can domestic, farm-raised broad-breasted turkeys fly?

Answers: 21. A tom or gobbler. 22. A hen. 23. A poult. 24. The snood. 25. Up in trees. 26. About 20 to 25 mph. 27. Benjamin Franklin. 28. Males. 29. A beard. 30. No, they are too heavy (wild turkeys can fly short distances).

Round 4: Harvest around the world

1. Which country celebrates Labor Thanksgiving Day on November 23?
2. What is Korea's autumn harvest holiday called?
3. Mooncakes are eaten at which festival?
4. Sukkot is a harvest festival in which faith?
5. What is Germany's harvest thanksgiving festival called?
6. Kwanzaa's name comes from a Swahili phrase meaning what?
7. Which West African country, founded partly by freed Americans, has its own Thanksgiving Day in November?
8. Pongal, a South Indian harvest festival, is named after a dish made with what grain?
9. What do we call the full moon closest to the autumn equinox?
10. Bonus (2 points): Which island in the Caribbean marks a Thanksgiving Day on October 25 for the 1983 intervention?

Answers: 31. Japan. 32. Chuseok. 33. The Mid-Autumn Festival. 34. Judaism. 35. Erntedankfest. 36. "First fruits." 37. Liberia. 38. Rice. 39. The harvest moon. 40. Grenada.

Make it a full game night

Pair trivia with something active between rounds: charades, a Left Right pass game, or a quick round of Would You Rather. Our Thanksgiving games for the family guide has 15 no-prep ideas, and the kids' Thanksgiving trivia works if the table is mixed ages.

Want it printed and ready? The Thanksgiving Family Games Pack has 50 more multiple-choice questions with answer keys and team sheets, 36 charades cards, a Left Right story and Would You Rather questions.

Made with AI assistance and reviewed before publishing.

Related template: Thanksgiving Family Games Pack. Also see: the thanksgiving bingo printable template · Thanksgiving Table Talk & Gratitude Game

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