Thanksgiving Trivia Questions (2026): 75 Questions for the Whole Table

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Thanksgiving trivia questions (2026): a round of trivia fills the gap between the turkey and the pie better than almost anything. Here are 75 Thanksgiving trivia questions with answers, sorted into history, food, parades and football, kids and quick word puzzles, so you can pick the rounds that fit your table. After the questions, we share three easy formats and two boxed trivia games for when the list runs out.

Three ways to run Thanksgiving trivia

• Teams by table. The kids’ table plays the adults’ table. Read one question to each side and keep score on a napkin.
• Pass the pie. Whoever answers correctly earns the first slice, then reads the next question.
• Bonus round. Save the word scrambles for the end and let the trailing team double its points.

Thanksgiving history trivia (20 questions)

Pilgrims, the Wampanoag, presidents and the long road to a national holiday. These suit older kids and adults.

1. In what year did the Plymouth harvest feast, often called the first Thanksgiving, take place? Answer: 1621.
2. Which Native American people joined the Pilgrims at that 1621 feast? Answer: The Wampanoag.
3. Who was the Wampanoag leader at the 1621 feast? Answer: Massasoit, also known as Ousamequin.
4. What was the name of the ship that carried the Pilgrims across the Atlantic? Answer: The Mayflower.
5. In what year did the Mayflower reach Cape Cod? Answer: 1620.
6. Which Patuxet man, who spoke English, taught the Pilgrims how to plant corn? Answer: Tisquantum, better known as Squanto.
7. About how many days did the 1621 celebration last? Answer: Three days.
8. Which president proclaimed a national day of Thanksgiving in 1863, during the Civil War? Answer: Abraham Lincoln.
9. Which magazine editor wrote letters for about 17 years urging a national Thanksgiving holiday? Answer: Sarah Josepha Hale.
10. Sarah Josepha Hale also wrote which famous nursery rhyme? Answer: “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”
11. Which president moved Thanksgiving a week earlier in 1939, a change people nicknamed “Franksgiving”? Answer: Franklin D. Roosevelt.
12. In what year did Congress fix Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November? Answer: 1941.
13. Which president issued the first Thanksgiving proclamation of the new nation in 1789? Answer: George Washington.
14. What agreement did the Pilgrim men sign aboard their ship in 1620? Answer: The Mayflower Compact.
15. Plymouth Colony was in which present-day state? Answer: Massachusetts.
16. Which country celebrates its Thanksgiving on the second Monday of October? Answer: Canada.
17. Which Plymouth governor wrote the history known as Of Plymouth Plantation? Answer: William Bradford.
18. According to a letter from the colony, the Wampanoag guests brought five of which animal to the feast? Answer: Deer.
19. Which colonist wrote one of the only two firsthand accounts of the 1621 feast? Answer: Edward Winslow.
20. Which bird did Benjamin Franklin call “a much more respectable bird” than the bald eagle in a letter to his daughter? Answer: The turkey.

Thanksgiving food trivia (15 questions)

Turkey facts, side dish origins and a few famous kitchen mishaps. Read these while the food is on the table.

1. What is the most common main dish at an American Thanksgiving dinner? Answer: Turkey.
2. What is an adult male turkey called? Answer: A tom, or gobbler.
3. What is an adult female turkey called? Answer: A hen.
4. What is a baby turkey called? Answer: A poult.
5. What is the fleshy flap that hangs over a turkey’s beak called? Answer: The snood.
6. Which state raises the most turkeys in the United States? Answer: Minnesota.
7. Cranberries grow in wet, sandy beds called what? Answer: Bogs.
8. Which casserole, created in 1955 by Campbell’s test kitchen cook Dorcas Reilly, is topped with crispy fried onions? Answer: Green bean casserole.
9. What do many Southern cooks call stuffing that is baked in a dish instead of inside the bird? Answer: Dressing.
10. Which amino acid in turkey often gets the blame for after-dinner naps? Answer: Tryptophan.
11. Which company sold canned jellied cranberry sauce across the country starting in 1941? Answer: Ocean Spray.
12. Which orange vegetable is often baked with marshmallows on top? Answer: Sweet potatoes.
13. Which company created the TV dinner in 1953 after ordering far too much Thanksgiving turkey? Answer: Swanson.
14. Which brand has run a Turkey Talk-Line for nervous cooks since 1981? Answer: Butterball.
15. Can wild turkeys fly? Answer: Yes, in short bursts. Farm-raised turkeys are usually too heavy.

Parade, football and TV trivia (15 questions)

For the crowd that watches balloons in the morning and football in the afternoon.

1. Which department store hosts the famous Thanksgiving parade in New York City? Answer: Macy’s.
2. In what year was the first Macy’s Thanksgiving parade held? Answer: 1924.
3. Which cartoon cat became the parade’s first giant balloon in 1927? Answer: Felix the Cat.
4. Who traditionally arrives at the very end of the Macy’s parade? Answer: Santa Claus.
5. Which NFL team has hosted a Thanksgiving game nearly every year since 1934? Answer: The Detroit Lions.
6. Which NFL team has hosted a Thanksgiving game nearly every year since 1966? Answer: The Dallas Cowboys.
7. What do we call it when the president spares a turkey at the White House? Answer: A turkey pardon.
8. Which president made the turkey pardon an official yearly ceremony in 1989? Answer: George H. W. Bush.
9. What is the day after Thanksgiving called by shoppers? Answer: Black Friday.
10. What is the Monday after Thanksgiving called by online shoppers? Answer: Cyber Monday.
11. Which Peanuts special first aired on TV in 1973? Answer: A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.
12. In that special, which beagle helps serve toast, popcorn and jelly beans? Answer: Snoopy.
13. Which 1987 comedy stars Steve Martin and John Candy trying to get home for Thanksgiving? Answer: Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
14. The National Dog Show that airs after the parade is hosted by the kennel club of which city? Answer: Philadelphia.
15. What is the scientific name for a turkey’s wishbone? Answer: The furcula.

Thanksgiving trivia for kids (13 questions)

Short, friendly questions for younger guests. Let them shout out answers or hold up fingers for numbers.

1. How many toes does a turkey have on each foot? Answer: Four.
2. What sound does a male turkey make? Answer: A gobble.
3. What do we call the horn-shaped basket overflowing with fruit and vegetables? Answer: A cornucopia.
4. Two people pull on which bone to make a wish? Answer: The wishbone.
5. Which small red fruit is cooked into a tart sauce for turkey? Answer: Cranberries.
6. In which month is Thanksgiving in the United States? Answer: November.
7. On which day of the week is American Thanksgiving always held? Answer: Thursday.
8. Is a pumpkin a fruit or a vegetable? Answer: A fruit, because it holds seeds.
9. Can a male turkey’s head change color? Answer: Yes. It can shift between red, white and blue when the bird is excited.
10. Which beagle has appeared as a Macy’s parade balloon more times than any other character? Answer: Snoopy.
11. Did the 1621 feast include pumpkin pie? Answer: Almost certainly not. The colonists had no ovens for baking pies.
12. What do you call a group of turkeys? Answer: A flock, or a rafter.
13. What do you call the multicolored corn used for fall decorations? Answer: Flint corn, often called Indian corn.

Thanksgiving word scrambles and quick fun (12 questions)

Fast puzzles that everyone can try at once. The first person to call out the answer wins the point.

1. Unscramble this word: YEKRUT Answer: Turkey.
2. Unscramble this word: GNIFFUTS Answer: Stuffing.
3. Unscramble this word: YRREBNARC Answer: Cranberry.
4. Unscramble this word: KINPMUP Answer: Pumpkin.
5. Unscramble this word: MIRGLIP Answer: Pilgrim.
6. Which Massachusetts town calls its celebration “America’s Hometown Thanksgiving”? Answer: Plymouth.
7. American Thanksgiving always falls between which two dates? Answer: November 22 and November 28.
8. Finish the line: “Over the river and through the …” Answer: Wood.
9. Who wrote the poem that begins “Over the river and through the wood”? Answer: Lydia Maria Child.
10. What do we call a Thanksgiving-style meal shared with friends instead of family? Answer: Friendsgiving.
11. Which sauce is made from turkey drippings, flour and stock? Answer: Gravy.
12. When two people pull the wishbone, who gets the wish? Answer: The person left holding the bigger piece.

How to keep score without slowing dinner

Give each team a pen and a paper plate. One point per correct answer, two points for history questions if the group skews older, and a bonus point for the funniest wrong answer. Play to 15 points or until dessert comes out, whichever happens first. If one team runs away with it, switch to the word scrambles, which tend to level the field.

If the bonus point gets the biggest laughs, flip the game around with our questions for Wrong Answers Only, where only wrong answers score.

When the list runs out

Wits & Wagers is the easiest boxed game to add because players bet on answers instead of needing them. Our how to play Wits & Wagers guide covers the betting board. For a classic, Trivial Pursuit Family Edition splits cards for kids and adults so everyone gets a fair question. Music fans will love Hitster, which plays songs through its app while teams guess when each hit came out.

For more holiday game ideas, see our best Thanksgiving party games, card games to play on Thanksgiving and best trivia game gifts.

Thanksgiving trivia questions and answers

How many Thanksgiving trivia questions should we play?

Twenty to thirty questions fill about 20 minutes. Pick one or two sections rather than reading all 75 at once.

What is a good Thanksgiving trivia question for kids?

Try “What do you call a baby turkey?” The answer is a poult, and most kids are delighted to learn it.

Was the 1621 feast really the first Thanksgiving?

It is the best-known early harvest celebration, but days of thanksgiving were common long before it, and Lincoln’s 1863 proclamation made it a national holiday.