🦃 Thanksgiving trivia for kids: the family round
Every answer checked 31 October 2026. Free, no sign-up, nothing to download.
Ten Thanksgiving questions for each age at the table: the little ones get turkeys and cranberries, the middle ones the parade and the presidents, the big ones the 1941 law and where the potato came from. Every answer was checked against the National Archives, the White House Historical Association, the Park Service, the USDA, the FDA or the Library of Congress.
🐣 Little round: ages 6–8 (grades K–2)
- 1.What color are ripe cranberries?
- A blue
- B yellow
- C red
- 2.Which of these is a safe place to thaw a frozen turkey?
- A on the kitchen counter
- B outside in the sun
- C in the refrigerator
- 3.What tool tells a cook when the turkey is cooked enough to be safe?
- A a ruler
- B a food thermometer
- C a timer clock
- 4.What do we call a grown-up boy turkey?
- A a hen
- B a tom
- C a cub
- 5.The first big New York City Thanksgiving parade had animals from where?
- A a farm show
- B a zoo
- C a pet shop
- 6.Each year near Thanksgiving, the president "pardons" which animal?
- A a turkey
- B a goose
- C a pig
- 7.What do we call a grown-up girl turkey?
- A a tom
- B a hen
- C a doe
- 8.Where do sweet potatoes grow?
- A in the ocean
- B under the ground
- C on tall trees
- 9.Where do wild turkeys sleep at night?
- A up in trees
- B in ponds
- C in holes underground
- 10.In the United States, Thanksgiving is on which day of the week?
- A Monday
- B Thursday
- C Sunday
🔑 Show the answers
- C: red. Each tart berry can hold up to 35 tiny black seeds. Source: USDA Agricultural Research Service
- C: in the refrigerator. Food should never be thawed at room temperature. Source: U.S. Food and Drug Administration
- B: a food thermometer. Cooks check the thigh, the wing and the thickest part of the breast. Source: U.S. Food and Drug Administration
- B: a tom. A young boy turkey has its own name too: a jake. Source: National Park Service
- B: a zoo. That first parade was in 1924, and the animals came from the Central Park Zoo. Source: Library of Congress
- A: a turkey. The pardoned turkey does not become dinner. It gets to keep living. Source: White House Historical Association
- B: a hen. Boy turkeys are the ones that gobble. Source: National Park Service
- B: under the ground. A sweet potato is a root, so farmers dig it up. Source: USDA Risk Management Agency
- A: up in trees. In snowstorms they hold on to strong branches in thick pine trees. Source: Smithsonian's National Zoo
- B: Thursday. By law it is the fourth Thursday in November. Source: National Archives
🦊 Middle round: ages 9–11 (grades 3–5)
- 1.Why do cranberries float when a cranberry bed is flooded?
- A they are full of oil
- B they are covered in wax
- C they hold tiny pockets of air
- 2.What is a baby turkey called?
- A a kid
- B a poult
- C a fawn
- 3.In 1939, which president moved Thanksgiving one week earlier?
- A Woodrow Wilson
- B Franklin D. Roosevelt
- C Abraham Lincoln
- 4.The potato we eat is a swollen underground part. What is it called?
- A a pod
- B a tuber
- C a bulb
- 5.White House Thanksgiving meals have served cranberries from which famous place?
- A Death Valley
- B Cape Cod
- C the Grand Canyon
- 6.A cooked turkey is safe to eat when the inside reaches what temperature?
- A 165°F
- B 100°F
- C 125°F
- 7.In what year was the first big New York City Thanksgiving parade?
- A 1924
- B 1952
- C 1899
- 8.Pumpkins belong to which plant family?
- A the gourd family
- B the grass family
- C the rose family
- 9.Which president named the first Thanksgiving under the new U.S. Constitution, in 1789?
- A George Washington
- B Thomas Jefferson
- C Abraham Lincoln
- 10.Leftovers should go into the fridge within how many hours after the meal?
- A eight hours
- B twelve hours
- C two hours
🔑 Show the answers
- C: they hold tiny pockets of air. Farmers flood the beds so the berries rise to the top and can be gathered. Source: USDA Forest Service
- B: a poult. Baby turkeys can also simply be called chicks. Source: National Park Service
- B: Franklin D. Roosevelt. That year the last Thursday of November fell on the very last day of the month. Source: National Archives
- B: a tuber. Tubers grow from special underground stems of the potato plant. Source: Natural History Museum, London
- B: Cape Cod. Cape Cod is a hook-shaped piece of land in Massachusetts. Source: White House Historical Association
- A: 165°F. Stuffing should reach 165°F too. Source: U.S. Food and Drug Administration
- A: 1924. It was held on Thanksgiving Day, November 27, 1924. Source: Library of Congress
- A: the gourd family. Pumpkins grow above the ground in warm seasons across most of the United States. Source: USDA Risk Management Agency
- A: George Washington. He picked Thursday, November 26, 1789. Source: National Archives
- C: two hours. That rule counts for pumpkin pie as well. Source: U.S. Food and Drug Administration
🦉 Big round: ages 12 and up (grades 6 and up)
- 1.Potatoes began about nine million years ago when ancestors of which plant mixed with another group?
- A the onion
- B the tomato
- C the carrot
- 2.In what year did a federal law fix Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday in November?
- A 1789
- B 1941
- C 1863
- 3.After the 1939 date change, for how many years did the U.S. have two different Thanksgiving days?
- A twenty years
- B ten years
- C two years
- 4.Horace Vose, the "Poultry King" who sent turkeys to presidents for years, lived in which state?
- A Rhode Island
- B Vermont
- C Ohio
- 5.A pumpkin's orange color comes from pigments rich in which substance?
- A chlorophyll
- B caffeine
- C beta-carotene
- 6.What is the fleshy flap that drapes over a male turkey's bill called?
- A the snood
- B the beard
- C the comb
- 7.Wild turkeys rarely fly far, but how fast can they fly?
- A up to about 5 miles per hour
- B up to about 54 miles per hour
- C up to about 154 miles per hour
- 8.The cranberry got its name because its flower looks like the head of which bird?
- A a crane
- B a robin
- C a parrot
- 9.Giant balloons first joined the big New York City Thanksgiving parade in which year?
- A 1960
- B 1924
- C 1927
- 10.Cranberries belong to the heath family along with which other berry?
- A blueberries
- B strawberries
- C raspberries
🔑 Show the answers
- B: the tomato. The other group, called Etuberosum, gave potatoes a gene for growing underground stems. Source: Natural History Museum, London
- B: 1941. The law was a joint resolution of Congress, H.J. Res. 41. Source: White House Historical Association
- C: two years. Some states kept the last Thursday while others followed the earlier date. Source: National Archives
- A: Rhode Island. He supplied White House holiday turkeys from 1873 until 1913. Source: White House Historical Association
- C: beta-carotene. Pumpkin goes into pies, breads, soups and custards. Source: USDA Risk Management Agency
- A: the snood. The wattle is a different part: the bib that hangs below the chin. Source: National Park Service
- B: up to about 54 miles per hour. They seldom fly more than 100 yards at a time, and they can even swim. Source: Smithsonian's National Zoo
- A: a crane. The cranberry's scientific name is Vaccinium macrocarpon. Source: USDA Forest Service
- C: 1927. That was the parade's fourth year; today the balloons are filled with helium. Source: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
- A: blueberries. The American cranberry is a woody vine native to northeastern North America. Source: USDA Agricultural Research Service
For the host
Play it between dinner and pie: one band per course, or one phone passed round the table. It is about the harvest, the food and how the holiday got its date, so it fits every family at the table.
- Read each question and its three answers aloud, or press ▶ Play and Peabody reads them; a tap shows the answer, a line about it and where it comes from.
- On a phone, pass it round: one question per team, a star for each right answer. On a laptop or a TV, press 📺 Big screen.
- On paper, print the cards, one answer sheet per team and the key on its own page.
Where these questions come from
Each question was written by Peabody in its own words and checked against one page, named under its answer. The pages we used for these rounds:
- USDA Agricultural Research Service
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration
- National Park Service
- Library of Congress
- White House Historical Association
- USDA Risk Management Agency
- Smithsonian's National Zoo
- National Archives
- USDA Forest Service
- Natural History Museum, London
- National Archives
- White House Historical Association
- Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum