Thanksgiving Trivia Quiz

Thanksgiving Trivia Games can be a fun way to bring the whole family together on Thanksgiving Day, or they can be an educational tool that will also get kids out from under foot. Below you'll find a list of 10 Thanksgiving Trivia Questions, followed by their answers. Here are a few suggestions for how to play Thanksgiving Trivia Games with these questions:

*Play a Thanksgiving Trivia Game the day before or the morning of Thanksgiving, using it to determine who gets what job on Thanksgiving Day. For example, the player with the highest score gets an easy job like dishing out the cranberry sauce, and the player with the lowest score gets to mash the potatoes.

*Ask the questions to a group and give prizes for correct answers. If playing with children, make sure every child gets a prize, even if it's a consolation prize.

*Write the questions on index cards with varying points and play a sort of Thanksgiving Jeopardy.

*Hand out a couple of questions, or the whole quiz, to each child. Then send them off to search your set of encyclopedias, bug the extended family and search the Internet.

Thanksgiving Trivia Questions:

1- The pilgrims' famous first Thanksgiving happened in the year

a)1621

b)1989

c)1776

d)1492

2- The first Thanksgiving celebration lasted

a) one day

b) three days

c) one week

d) three weeks

3- A male turkey is called

a) a Tim

b) a Tom

c) a Turk

d) a Rooster

4- The average price per pound of a frozen turkey is

a) $5

b) 75¢

c) $1

d) $3.50

5- Every year at Thanksgiving the National Turkey Federation gives the President of the United States a live turkey. Originally these were offered for Thanksgiving Dinner at the White House, but since 1989, the turkey has been given an official pardon by the President and sent to a petting zoo in Virginia. The first President to unofficially pardon the annual turkey was

a) Harry Truman

b) Abraham Lincoln

c) George Washington

d) John F. Kennedy

6- Until 1941, Thanksgiving was held on a different date each year. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a bill that established it as the fourth Thursday in November. Why did he do that?

a) Historians had discovered that was the approximate date of the pilgrims Thanksgiving.

b) To extend the Christmas shopping season.

c) To accommodate requests from turkey farmers.

d) To make sure it did not conflict with any Jewish holidays.

7- In what year did hot air balloons first appear in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade?

a) 1924

b) 1950

c) 1927

d) 1910

8- Approximately how many pounds of cranberries are used in the United States each year?

a) 650 million

b) 65 million

c) 6 million

d) 6 billion

9- Which founding father wanted the turkey to be the national bird of the United States?

a) Thomas Jefferson

b) John Hancock

c) George Washington

d) Benjamin Franklin

10- With which Native American tribe did the pilgrims share the first Thanksgiving?

a) Iroquois

b) Wampanoag

c) Lakota

d) Pequot

Answer Key:

1-a

2-b

3-b

4-c

5-d

6-b

7-c

8-a

9-d

10-b

Sources:

http://www.chiff.com/a/turkey_census.htm

http://www.didyouknow.cd/thanksgiving.htm

http://www.macys.com/campaign/parade/parade.jsp

http://www.snopes.com/holidays/thanksgiving/pardon.asp