Easter
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8correct to beat the crowd
This Easter trivia quiz has 158 free questions with answers and covers the whole holiday, not just the eggs. The 158 questions run from easy ones any child can answer, such as what an egg hunt is, what Peeps are and which country the Easter Bunny came from, up to harder ones on Holy Week, the date rules set at Nicaea, Faberge eggs and Easter customs from Poland, Greece, Sweden, Bermuda and Australia. Because the questions are sorted from gentle to tough, it works as Easter trivia for kids at the start and Easter trivia for adults by the end. Teachers can pull the first twenty for a classroom round; families can play the whole thing at the table after Sunday lunch; pub quiz hosts will find the back half hard enough to separate the field. Every answer is checked against a cited source and comes with a short explanation, so you learn why hot cross buns are marked, why Greek eggs are red and how Easter Island got its name. Play free and share your score.
30 of 158 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In Germany's Franconia, what is dressed with Easter eggs in the Osterbrunnen tradition?
Wells and fountains
Wells and fountains are decorated with painted eggs and greenery; the custom began in the early 20th century in Franconian Switzerland, and displays stay up from Good Friday until about two weeks after Easter.
Q 02The tradition of the Easter Bunny originated in which country?
Germany
The earliest known reference is from 1678, in a Latin treatise on Easter eggs by the physician Georg Franck von Franckenau in south-west Germany.
Q 03Easter Sunday falls on the first Sunday after what lunar event?
Full Moon
Easter is the first Sunday after the Paschal full moon, the ecclesiastical full moon falling on or after 21 March, which is why the date can shift by up to five weeks from year to year.
Q 04In many cultures, what do Easter eggs symbolize?
Rebirth
Easter eggs symbolize rebirth and new life breaking out of a sealed shell; decorated ostrich eggs were placed in Sumerian and Egyptian graves some 5,000 years ago.
Q 05What is the name for the seven days leading up to Easter Sunday?
Holy Week
In Western churches it is the sixth and last week of the pre-Easter fast, and its final three days are known as the Easter Triduum.
Q 06Which sweet, spiced fruit bread is traditionally eaten on Good Friday in the UK?
Hot Cross Bun
Hot Cross Buns are sweet, spiced buns containing currants or raisins, and are traditionally eaten on Good Friday in various Commonwealth countries.
Q 07On which day of the week before Easter is the Last Supper commemorated?
Maundy Thursday
Maundy Thursday takes its name from the Latin 'mandatum', the new commandment Jesus gave at the Last Supper to love one another, and many churches re-enact his washing of the disciples' feet.
Q 08Which major U.S. city is famous for its elaborate Easter Parade, often featuring festive bonnets?
New York City
The annual Easter Parade in New York City, particularly on Fifth Avenue, is a long-standing tradition known for its creative hats and spring fashion.
Q 09In John's Gospel, who first saw the risen Jesus, at first mistaking him for the gardener?
Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene recognised him only when he spoke her name and she answered 'Rabbouni', meaning teacher; later tradition honoured her as the 'Apostle to the Apostles'.
Q 10"Easter" is believed to derive from Eostre, a spring goddess of what ancient culture?
Germanic
Many linguists believe the word "Easter" comes from "Eostre" or "Ostara," a Germanic goddess of spring and dawn, whose feast was celebrated around the vernal equinox.
Q 11What popular Easter activity involves searching for hidden decorated eggs?
Egg hunt
Easter egg hunts are a widespread tradition where children search for hidden decorated eggs, often filled with candy or small toys.
Q 12What period of fasting and repentance precedes Easter in the Christian calendar?
Lent
Lent begins on Ash Wednesday in Western churches, and its 40 days echo the time Jesus spent fasting in the wilderness before his public ministry.
Q 13How many marzipan balls traditionally top a British simnel cake?
11
The 11 balls stand for the apostles minus Judas; occasionally a twelfth is added for Jesus, and the cake also has a layer of marzipan baked through its middle.
Q 21Which U.S. president started the annual White House Easter Egg Roll tradition?
Rutherford B. Hayes
Children had rolled eggs on the Capitol grounds until Congress banned it in 1876 to protect the lawn; Hayes opened the White House grounds instead in 1878.
Q 22Which marshmallow candy shaped like chicks and bunnies is a popular US Easter treat?
Peeps
Peeps are marshmallow candies, typically shaped as chicks or bunnies, that are particularly popular during the Easter season in the United States.
Q 23What is the traditional Easter greeting in many Christian denominations, and its response?
"Christ is risen!" / "He is risen indeed!"
Q 14On Easter Monday in Poland, the Śmigus-dyngus custom has people dousing one another with what?
Water
Some scholars trace the soaking to Jerusalem, where water was supposedly used to break up crowds gathering to discuss the resurrection.
Q 15Cadbury Creme Eggs went on sale in 1963 under which sister brand's name, before being renamed in 1971?
Fry's
Fry's Creme Eggs became Cadbury's Creme Eggs in 1971; the fondant centre is made to mimic the white and yolk of a soft-boiled egg, and Fry's had been a Cadbury sister brand since the firms merged in 1919.
Q 16What is the name of the day on which Jesus was crucified?
Good Friday
It is also called Great Friday or Holy Friday, and in some Eastern churches the Friday of the Passion of the Lord.
Q 17Many sources trace the Christian custom of decorated Easter eggs to early Christians of which region?
Mesopotamia
Sociologist Kenneth Thompson traces the custom from Persia into the Greek churches of Mesopotamia and on through Orthodoxy to Russia and Siberia.
Q 18Which tall, sweet yeast cake is a traditional Easter bake in Poland and Ukraine?
Babka
Babka is 'little grandmother', supposedly for its skirt-like fluted shape; the braided Jewish babka is a cousin, and the French baba au rhum is thought to descend from it.
Q 19In what year did the Council of Nicaea establish a method for determining the date of Easter?
325 AD
The First Council of Nicaea met in 325 AD, convened by Constantine; it also settled the dispute over Christ's divine nature and produced the first form of the Nicene Creed.
Q 20Which feast falls on the Thursday 40 days after Easter Sunday?
Ascension Day
Ascension Day falls 40 days after Easter, always a Thursday, commemorating Jesus being taken up into heaven before his disciples; Corpus Christi comes later, on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday.
The greeting "Christ is risen!" / "He is risen indeed!" echoes the angel's words at the empty tomb, and 'risen indeed' matches the disciples' report in Luke 24:34.
Q 24What is the main liturgical color for Easter Sunday in many Christian churches?
White
Some churches, including many Lutheran synods, use gold in place of white for Easter, while purple or violet is worn through the preceding fast.
Q 25In Sweden and Finland, children go door to door before Easter dressed as which figures?
Witches
The custom grows out of an old Swedish legend that witches flew on brooms to Blåkulla on the Thursday before Easter, so doors and chimney dampers were once secured against them.
Q 26What is the day between Good Friday and Easter Sunday called, when Christians remember Jesus's body lying in the tomb?
Holy Saturday
Holy Saturday is the final day before Easter; its night-time vigil, kept after dark, is traditionally the first celebration of the resurrection, so Easter begins in darkness.
Q 27Which biblical garden is associated with Jesus's arrest before his crucifixion?
Gethsemane
Gethsemane sits at the foot of the Mount of Olives, and four different denominations each claim a nearby spot as the exact place where Jesus prayed on the night of his arrest.
Q 28What city is home to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre?
Jerusalem
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City of Jerusalem is venerated as the site of Jesus's crucifixion, burial, and resurrection.
Q 29What type of meat is a traditional main course for Easter dinner in many Western countries?
Lamb
The choice mirrors the Passover meal, and in Christian symbolism the Paschal Lamb represents the sacrifice of Jesus for humanity's sins.
Q 30What is the name of the Easter-eve liturgy that begins in darkness with the kindling of a new fire?
Paschal Vigil
The Paschal Vigil, also called the Easter Vigil, is regarded as the most important liturgy of the Christian year and the first official celebration of the resurrection.