🎤 How to host a kids' trivia night
Make teams of mixed ages, play three rounds of ten questions with three choices each, keep score where everyone can see it, and stop while everyone still wants more. That is the whole plan; the rest of this guide is how to do each part well.
Before you start (ten minutes)
- Count the players and make teams of two to four, mixing ages so every team has a strong reader.
- Let each team pick a name. If nobody can agree, use the team name generator.
- Pick three themes. A good night has one everyone knows (animals), one surprise (food or weather) and one for the older players (US states).
- Make the round: Peabody's round maker gives ten questions for each age, or print a ready round with answer sheets.
- Put the scoreboard on a screen, or draw columns on a sheet of paper.
Running the rounds (thirty minutes)
Read each question twice, then the three answers. Give teams twenty seconds and let them whisper. Reveal the answer and its reason before moving on: the reason is where the learning is.
After each round of ten, read the scores out loud. A short break between rounds, a snack or a stretch, keeps the younger players with you.
- A right answer is one point. Keep it simple; bonus points cause arguments.
- No phones for looking things up, except the host's.
- The host's answer is final, but a team may ask to hear the reason again.
The last round and the finish (five minutes)
Make the last round worth double: it keeps the team in last place hoping. Announce the winner, then the team with the best name, then the team that tried hardest. Everyone gets a moment.
If the players are under seven
- Use pictures and sounds: point at an animal and ask what it says.
- Let them answer by pointing at one of three pictures or cards.
- Play for ten minutes, not forty-five, and let everyone win something.
Make it a habit
A trivia night once a month is something children look forward to. Let a different child host each time; hosting a round is as much fun as playing, and reading questions aloud is good practice. Peabody reads every question aloud, so a host who is still learning to read can host too.