Thanksgiving Trivia Questions and Answers: Free Printable Quiz

How to run a Thanksgiving trivia quiz

The quiz maker draws from 54 questions in six categories: the 1621 harvest gathering and the Wampanoag, how Thanksgiving became a holiday, food and science, food safety, turkeys and nature, and parades and traditions. Pick a category and a difficulty, choose how many questions you want, and press Make quiz. The same quiz code always rebuilds the same quiz.

Host mode shows one question at a time. Read it aloud, give people time to answer, then press Reveal answer. Next question moves on and Previous goes back. Print quiz and key gives a quiz sheet with answer lines and the answer key on its own page; Print quiz only is for handing out copies.

• Kids: 13 questions
• Family: 25 questions
• Hard: 16 questions

How the history questions are written

The surviving first-hand account of the 1621 harvest gathering at Plymouth is a single letter by Edward Winslow, so the questions stick to what it and later historians say. The gathering was between English colonists and the Wampanoag, whose homeland the colonists settled. The label “First Thanksgiving” came later, and the story told in many classrooms leaves out most of what the Wampanoag experienced before and after 1621.

For that reason, there is a question about the National Day of Mourning that United American Indians of New England has held in Plymouth every Thanksgiving Day since 1970. It is included as a Native perspective on the holiday, not as a statement about everyone’s view. To learn more, start with the sources listed below.

Food safety questions

Food safety answers come from USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service guidance, the same numbers used on this site’s turkey calculator. Check the linked pages for the full tables before you cook.

Playing with kids and mixed ages

For a mixed group, choose All levels, or run a Kids round first and finish with Hard. Teams of two or three keep people talking. Use host mode on a screen at the table, or print the quiz for the kids table and keep the key for the host.

• Keep one person as host and another as scorekeeper.
• Decide how to handle partial answers before you start.
• Read the answer aloud so everyone hears the fact, not just the winner.

Thanksgiving trivia questions and answers: the 1621 harvest gathering and the wampanoag

These 15 questions are in the quiz maker. Each is marked Kids, Family or Hard.

• [Kids] In which U.S. state is Plymouth, where English colonists settled in 1620? Answer: Massachusetts.
• [Kids] What was the name of the ship that carried the English colonists known as Pilgrims to Plymouth in 1620? Answer: The Mayflower.
• [Kids] Which Native nation lived in the Plymouth area long before 1620 and took part in the 1621 harvest gathering? Answer: The Wampanoag.
• [Kids] Which grain, also called maize, was a staple crop for Native farmers in New England? Answer: Corn.
• [Family] Which colonist wrote the main surviving first-hand account of the 1621 harvest gathering? Answer: Edward Winslow, in a letter printed in 1622.
• [Family] Which Wampanoag leader came to the 1621 gathering with a group of men? Answer: Massasoit (also known as Ousamequin).
• [Family] According to Winslow’s letter, how many days did the 1621 gathering last? Answer: Three days.
• [Family] Does Winslow’s letter name turkey as part of the 1621 meal? Answer: No. It says “fowl,” which historians think likely included waterfowl such as ducks and geese.
• [Family] Many Native farmers in the Northeast planted three crops together, called the Three Sisters. What are they? Answer: Corn, beans and squash.
• [Family] Since 1970, what observance has been held each Thanksgiving Day at Cole’s Hill in Plymouth, organized by United American Indians of New England? Answer: The National Day of Mourning, a day of remembrance and protest for many Native people.
• [Hard] Roughly how many Wampanoag men does Winslow say came with Massasoit? Answer: About ninety.
• [Hard] What food does Winslow say Wampanoag hunters brought to the gathering? Answer: Five deer.
• [Hard] The 1621 event was not called the “First Thanksgiving” at the time. About when did that label appear? Answer: Not until 1841, more than 200 years later, according to Plimoth Patuxet historians.
• [Hard] What was the name of the Wampanoag village on the site where Plymouth was founded? Answer: Patuxet.
• [Hard] By the time Europeans arrived, about how long had corn, beans and squash been planted together in the Northeast? Answer: At least 300 years.

Thanksgiving trivia questions and answers: how thanksgiving became a holiday

These 12 questions are in the quiz maker. Each is marked Kids, Family or Hard.

• [Kids] On which day of the week is U.S. Thanksgiving always held? Answer: Thursday.
• [Kids] In which country is Thanksgiving held on the second Monday in October? Answer: Canada.
• [Kids] In which season is U.S. Thanksgiving? Answer: Autumn (fall).
• [Family] Which president issued a proclamation in 1863 setting aside the last Thursday of November as a day of thanksgiving? Answer: Abraham Lincoln.
• [Family] Which magazine editor campaigned for a national Thanksgiving day and wrote to Lincoln in September 1863? Answer: Sarah Josepha Hale.
• [Family] George Washington named a day of thanksgiving in a 1789 proclamation. Which day of the week was it? Answer: Thursday, November 26, 1789.
• [Family] According to federal law, Thanksgiving Day is which Thursday in November? Answer: The fourth Thursday.
• [Family] Between which two dates can U.S. Thanksgiving fall? Answer: November 22 and November 28.
• [Family] On which date is U.S. Thanksgiving in 2026? Answer: Thursday, November 26, 2026.
• [Family] Did Benjamin Franklin formally propose the turkey as the national bird? Answer: No. In a 1784 letter to his daughter he called the turkey “a much more respectable bird” than the bald eagle, but he made no formal proposal.
• [Hard] Congress set the holiday on the fourth Thursday in 1941 instead of the last Thursday. Why does that matter? Answer: Some Novembers have five Thursdays. The fourth Thursday always falls between November 22 and 28.
• [Hard] The formal annual presidential turkey pardon ceremony is generally traced to which president, in 1989? Answer: George H. W. Bush.

Thanksgiving trivia questions and answers: food and science

These 9 questions are in the quiz maker. Each is marked Kids, Family or Hard.

• [Kids] What tart red fruit, grown in bogs, is often made into a sauce for Thanksgiving? Answer: The cranberry.
• [Kids] Which orange squash is baked into a traditional Thanksgiving pie? Answer: Pumpkin.
• [Kids] What do you call the curved, horn-shaped basket overflowing with fruits and vegetables, a symbol of harvest? Answer: A cornucopia.
• [Family] Why do cranberries float when a bog is flooded for harvest? Answer: The berries hold air, so they rise to the surface.
• [Family] Which U.S. state is the leading pumpkin producer? Answer: Illinois.
• [Family] Most “yams” sold in U.S. grocery stores are actually which vegetable? Answer: Sweet potatoes.
• [Family] Does a turkey dinner make people sleepy because of the tryptophan in turkey? Answer: Probably not. Turkey has about as much tryptophan as chicken. A big meal or alcohol is a more likely cause.
• [Hard] Pumpkins and winter squash belong to which plant genus? Answer: Cucurbita.
• [Hard] Sweet potatoes belong to which plant family, unrelated to true yams? Answer: The morning glory family.

Thanksgiving trivia questions and answers: food safety

These 9 questions are in the quiz maker. Each is marked Kids, Family or Hard.

• [Family] How much turkey should you buy per person, according to USDA? Answer: About 1 pound per person.
• [Family] What minimum internal temperature must a whole turkey and its stuffing reach? Answer: 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
• [Family] How long does USDA suggest thawing a turkey in the refrigerator? Answer: About 24 hours for every 4 to 5 pounds.
• [Family] How long can cooked turkey and sides sit out before they should be refrigerated? Answer: No more than 2 hours (1 hour if it is above 90 degrees Fahrenheit).
• [Family] Does USDA recommend washing a raw turkey before cooking? Answer: No. Washing can spread bacteria around the kitchen.
• [Family] How many days can cooked turkey and leftovers be kept in the refrigerator? Answer: Three to four days.
• [Hard] Where should you place a food thermometer to check a whole turkey? Answer: The innermost part of the thigh and wing and the thickest part of the breast.
• [Hard] At what oven temperature or higher does USDA say to roast a turkey? Answer: 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
• [Hard] When thawing a turkey in cold water, how often should the water be changed? Answer: Every 30 minutes.

Thanksgiving trivia questions and answers: turkeys and nature

These 6 questions are in the quiz maker. Each is marked Kids, Family or Hard.

• [Kids] What sound does a male turkey make? Answer: A gobble.
• [Kids] What is a baby turkey called? Answer: A poult.
• [Kids] What bone from a turkey do two people pull apart to make a wish? Answer: The wishbone.
• [Family] Which turkeys can fly: wild turkeys or the farm-raised turkeys bred for size? Answer: Wild turkeys can fly. Farm-raised turkeys are generally too heavy.
• [Hard] Where do wild turkeys sleep at night? Answer: In trees.
• [Hard] About how fast can a wild turkey fly in a short burst? Answer: Up to about 54 miles per hour.

Thanksgiving trivia questions and answers: parades and traditions

These 3 questions are in the quiz maker. Each is marked Kids, Family or Hard.

• [Family] In which year did the first large New York City Thanksgiving-season parade take place? Answer: 1924.
• [Hard] What live attraction marched in the early New York parades before balloons replaced it? Answer: Animals from the Central Park Zoo.
• [Hard] The first New York parade was billed as what kind of parade? Answer: A Christmas parade, not a Thanksgiving parade.