59 Fun Facts About Holiday Traditions Trivia for Kids

Saint Nicholas, the 4th-century bishop behind Santa Claus, lived in which modern country?

Turkey is where Myra stood, the town he served as bishop, but his bones were later carried off to churches in Italy, which spread his fame across Europe.

The American name Santa Claus grew out of which European gift-bringer's name?

Sinterklaas, Sante Klaas in Dutch dialect, gave Santa his name, and Washington Irving's 1809 book helped make the saint popular in America.

What's A Visit from St. Nicholas better known as?

The Night Before Christmas first appeared anonymously in a Troy newspaper in 1823, and Clement Clarke Moore only claimed it years later, a claim still questioned.

Which reindeer was created in 1939 for a department store's free Christmas booklet?

Rudolph was dreamed up by Montgomery Ward copywriter Robert L. May, and the store gave away millions of copies before Gene Autry's recording of the song sold millions more.

According to tradition, what does a child who has been naughty all year find in their Christmas stocking?

A lump of coal is the naughty-child threat, while stockings recall a legend of Saint Nicholas tossing gold through a window for three poor sisters.

The custom of bringing a decorated Christmas tree indoors began in which part of Europe?

Germany and the Baltic states had the first trees, and a picture of Queen Victoria's family around one in the Illustrated London News later helped spread the fashion to America.

Candy canes are usually flavoured with what?

Peppermint canes come with a famous legend: a Cologne choirmaster in 1670 is said to have handed noisy children sugar sticks bent like shepherds' crooks.

Which fairy tale is often credited with inspiring the first gingerbread houses?

Hansel and Gretel, in the Grimms' telling, find a witch's house built of bread and roofed with cake; only later versions turned it into gingerbread.

What's usually inside a Christmas cracker?

A paper hat, a small gift and a joke replaced the sweet: Tom Smith first sold sweets wrapped with love mottoes, and his son Walter later added the paper crowns.

Where does the Elf on the Shelf fly each night while the children sleep?

To the North Pole to see Santa and report on the children, says the 2005 book, whose one rule is that touching the elf could make its magic go.

When is a four-candle Advent wreath's new candle lit?

Every Sunday of Advent brings a new candle, but Johann Wichern's first wreath in 1839 lit one every day, because the children he cared for in Hamburg kept asking when Christmas would come.

Poinsettias sold for Christmas only turn red after weeks of long daily periods of what?

Darkness does it, and poinsettias became a US Christmas staple after California's Ecke family sent free plants to TV shows.

In Japan, a 1970s advertising campaign made it a Christmas custom to eat dinner from which restaurant?

KFC turned one store manager's early-1970s push of fried chicken for Christmas into a nationwide 'Kentucky for Christmas' campaign in 1974.

The Dutch Saint Nicholas figure traditionally arrives each year by what?

Steamboat arrivals, supposedly from Spain, are said to have been dreamed up by Amsterdam teacher Jan Schenkman in an 1850 picture book about the saint and his servant.

In Italy, who flies on a broomstick on the night of January 5 to fill children's stockings?

La Befana is said to have given the Three Wise Men shelter for a night on their journey to find the newborn Jesus.

Ded Moroz, the Russian gift-bringer, has a name that translates as what?

Grandfather Frost was banned in the early Soviet years, then brought back in the 1930s to star at New Year, which replaced Christmas as the big holiday.

Which animal does Sweden's popular straw Christmas ornament, tied with red ribbons, depict?

A goat of straw, and since 1966 the town of Gävle has built a giant one each Christmas, an advertising idea meant to draw people into its shopping streets.

On which date is Boxing Day celebrated?

The day after Christmas is when servants who had worked on Christmas Day were given boxes of gifts or leftovers by their employers, in one theory of the name.

What are the points of a traditional star-shaped Mexican Christmas piñata said to stand for?

The seven deadly sins are the spikes, and the blindfolded player whacking the piñata is said to show faith beating temptation.

How many nights does Hanukkah last?

Eight nights recall the Talmud's one day of oil that lasted eight days, yet the First Book of Maccabees tells the Temple story with no oil miracle at all.

What is the name of the extra helper candle used to light the others on a Hanukkah menorah?

The shamash is also the one flame anyone may actually use, because Jewish law forbids putting the Hanukkah candles themselves to any practical use.

What is a dreidel?

A four-sided spinning top is used in a betting game, with players winning or losing chocolate coins called gelt.

Latkes, eaten at Hanukkah, are pancakes made mostly from which vegetable?

Potatoes are grated and fried in oil, a nod to the Temple lamp oil that is said to have burned far longer than it should have.

Kwanzaa runs for a week from late December and celebrates the culture of which group?

African Americans have celebrated it since 1966, when Maulana Karenga created it after the Watts riots to bring the community together.

Kwanzaa takes its name from a phrase meaning what?

First fruits, matunda ya kwanza, gave Kwanzaa its name, and the spelling gained another a so the name would have seven letters.

Diwali is often called the festival of what?

Lights from rows of small oil lamps called diyas fill homes and streets, and many families light them in honour of Lakshmi, goddess of prosperity.

On Diwali, many celebrate Rama's return to which kingdom after defeating the demon king Ravana?

Ayodhya welcomed him home after 14 years of forest exile, forced on him when his stepmother Kaikeyi demanded the throne for her own son.

Holi, the famous Hindu festival, is known for people throwing what at each other?

Coloured powder flies the day after Holika Dahan, a bonfire recalling the demoness Holika, who burned while trying to kill the boy Prahlad.

Chinese New Year is also known by what other name?

The Spring Festival sets off the world's biggest yearly migration, as hundreds of millions travel home for reunion dinners with family.

At Chinese New Year, what do elders usually tuck inside the red envelopes they give children?

Money goes inside, and the envelopes are red because red is tied to good luck in Chinese culture.

By legend, Chinese New Year customs began with villagers scaring off a monster called what?

The Nian shares its name with the Chinese word for year, and it was said to raid villages each time a new year began.

Chinese lion dances at New Year are meant to scare away what?

Evil spirits are the target, and at shops the lion also 'plucks the greens', grabbing a green vegetable and a red envelope for luck.

Mooncakes are eaten during which Chinese celebration?

The Mid-Autumn Festival's mooncakes carry a folk legend: rebels are said to have hidden secret messages inside them to launch an uprising against Mongol rule.

Nowruz, the Persian New Year, is celebrated at what point in the year?

The spring equinox brings Nowruz, and on its 13th day Iranian families leave home to picnic outdoors.

Songkran, famous for giant water fights in the streets, is the traditional New Year of which country?

Thailand's water fights stand for washing away bad luck before the new year, and families also use the holiday to honour their elders.

Eid al-Fitr celebrates the end of a month of fasting called what?

Ramadan traditionally ends when the new crescent moon is sighted, which starts the month of Shawwal and the Eid celebrations.

Which spiced buns are traditionally eaten on Good Friday in Britain?

Hot cross buns baked on Good Friday were once believed never to go mouldy, and some families hung one up at home as a charm.

Which famous home took over Washington's Easter egg roll after Congress banned children from rolling eggs on the Capitol lawn?

The White House held its first official egg roll in 1878, when President Rutherford B. Hayes let children roll eggs on the South Lawn.

Before pumpkins took over, Halloween lanterns were often carved out of what?

Turnips were carved first, until immigrants brought the custom to America, home of the pumpkin; one folktale ties the name to a trickster called Stingy Jack.

Trick-or-treating is often traced to guising, an old Halloween custom from which two countries?

Scotland and Ireland's guisers had to sing a song or recite a poem at each door before they earned their treat of fruit or nuts.

On which day of the week is Thanksgiving celebrated in the United States?

Thursday stays, though in 1939 President Roosevelt moved the holiday a week earlier to give stores more shopping days before Christmas.

Which cartoon cat became the first giant character balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade?

Felix floated in 1927, and balloons like him replaced the live bears, elephants and camels borrowed from a zoo for the first parades.

Which Roman god, pictured with a bow and arrows, is a famous symbol of Valentine's Day?

Cupid, the Roman form of the Greek god Eros, was said to fill anyone struck by his arrows with a longing they could not control.

Which plant is Saint Patrick said to have used to explain the Holy Trinity?

Since 2010 more than 300 landmarks around the world have been lit up green for the day.

On Mexico's Day of the Dead, families decorate altars with which bright orange flower?

Marigolds' bright petals and strong scent are believed to guide the souls of the dead home, so families lay them in paths to the altars.

On Groundhog Day, what does it mean if the groundhog sees its shadow?

Six more weeks of winter is the forecast in a custom immigrants from Europe brought to Pennsylvania, with groundhogs replacing the animals they watched back home.

Guy Fawkes Night, with its bonfires and fireworks, is held on which date in Britain?

November 5 marks the night in 1605 when Guy Fawkes was caught guarding gunpowder under Parliament, and Londoners lit bonfires to celebrate the king's survival.

What is hidden inside a Mardi Gras king cake?

A tiny baby figurine stands for Jesus, and whoever finds it in their slice must buy the next cake or host the next party.

Fourth of July fireworks celebrate the adoption of which founding document?

Congress actually voted for independence on July 2, but the Declaration was adopted two days later.

On December 31, which city drops a giant glittering ball as the clock strikes midnight?

New York began its ball drop in 1907, after city officials banned the fireworks the New York Times had been launching from its rooftop.

In Spain, people welcome the New Year by eating twelve of what, one for each stroke of midnight?

Grapes, one per chime, and one popular story says growers in Alicante spread the custom in 1909 to sell off a huge surplus harvest.

In Icelandic folklore, who is the giant Yule Cat said to eat at Christmas?

People with no new clothes are its targets, a threat once used to get work finished before Christmas, since those who finished got new clothes.

In Alpine folklore, what does Krampus use to punish badly behaved children on the night of December 5?

Birch rods are for swatting, and in some tellings Krampus also stuffs naughty children into a sack or basket to carry them off.

On Saint Lucy's Day in Sweden, the S-shaped buns called lussekatter are flavoured with which spice?

Saffron buns are carried by girls in white gowns, led by a Lucia wearing a crown of lit candles.

In the Christmas pickle tradition, what does the child who finds the pickle ornament get?

An extra present. In other tellings the finder gets a year of good luck, and the custom's supposed old-world roots are probably a myth.

Which composer wrote the music for The Nutcracker, the Christmas ballet featuring the Sugar Plum Fairy?

Tchaikovsky. He gave the Sugar Plum Fairy's dance to the celesta, a keyboard instrument that Parisian Auguste Mustel created in 1886.

Which Christmas carol was first sung on Christmas Eve 1818 in an Austrian village church?

Silent Night. Priest Joseph Mohr asked organist Franz Gruber for a tune with guitar accompaniment, possibly because flooding had damaged the church organ.

At Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, what do families traditionally dip apple slices in?

Honey. The sweet dip stands for the wish that the coming year will be a good and sweet one.

How does mistletoe, the Christmas kissing plant, get its water and nutrients?

From the tree it grows on. Mistletoe can still make some of its own food from sunlight, and birds spread its sticky seeds to new branches.