Winter Holidays Around the World Jeopardy
Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Christmas abroad, Lunar New Year, festivals of light and the solstice on one December board. Free to copy and played with phone buzzers.
6 categories · 30 clues · Final Jeopardy · everyone buzzes in from their phone
Copies all 30 clues into an editor of your own. Free, no account needed.
Every clue on this board
This page is public, so anyone can read the answers — copy the board and swap a few clues before game day.
Hanukkah
- $200
Hanukkah is celebrated for this many nights.
What is eight?
- $400
Children play for chocolate coins with this four-sided spinning top marked with Hebrew letters.
What is a dreidel?
- $600
These fried potato pancakes are a Hanukkah favorite because they are cooked in oil.
What are latkes?
- $800
This helper candle, set apart from the others on the menorah, is used to light the rest.
What is the shamash?
- $1,000
Hanukkah remembers the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem after a revolt led by this family of Jewish rebels.
Who are the Maccabees?
Kwanzaa
- $200
Kwanzaa lasts this many days, from December 26 to January 1.
What is seven?
- $400
The name Kwanzaa comes from a phrase meaning first fruits in this East African language.
What is Swahili?
- $600
This professor created Kwanzaa in 1966 to celebrate African American culture and heritage.
Who is Maulana Karenga?
- $800
The candles of the kinara come in these three colors.
What are red, black and green?
- $1,000
Kwanzaa's seven principles, including unity and self-determination, go by this Swahili name.
What is the Nguzo Saba?
Christmas Customs Abroad
- $200
Christmas falls in this season in Australia, so many families celebrate with a barbecue or a trip to the beach.
What is summer?
- $400
In this country, children leave out shoes for Sinterklaas, who arrives by steamboat in November.
What is the Netherlands?
- $600
From December 16 to 24, Mexican communities hold this nightly procession reenacting Mary and Joseph's search for lodging.
What is Las Posadas?
- $800
In Italian folklore, this kindly old witch brings gifts to children on the night of January 5.
Who is La Befana?
- $1,000
Since an ad campaign in the 1970s, a bucket of fried chicken has become a popular Christmas dinner in this Asian country.
What is Japan?
Lunar New Year
- $200
At Lunar New Year, elders give children money tucked into envelopes of this lucky color.
What is red?
- $400
The Chinese zodiac cycles through this many animals.
What is twelve?
- $600
In the legend of the Great Race, this clever animal finished first by riding on the ox's back.
What is the rat?
- $800
In Vietnam, Lunar New Year is known by this short name.
What is Tết?
- $1,000
In Korea, Lunar New Year is known by this name.
What is Seollal?
Festivals of Light
- $200
This evergreen ring holds candles that are lit one by one on the Sundays leading up to Christmas.
What is an Advent wreath?
- $400
Widely celebrated in Sweden on December 13, this saint's day features a girl in a white gown and a crown of candles.
What is St. Lucia Day?
- $600
Lunar New Year celebrations end on the 15th day of the first month with this festival.
What is the Lantern Festival?
- $800
In the Philippines, the Christmas season is lit up by these star-shaped lanterns.
What are parols?
- $1,000
Every December this French city holds the Fête des Lumières, when residents set candles along their windowsills.
What is Lyon?
The Winter Solstice
- $200
In the Northern Hemisphere, the winter solstice is the day with the fewest hours of this.
What is daylight?
- $400
In the Northern Hemisphere, the winter solstice falls in this month.
What is December?
- $600
Ancient Romans honored the god Saturn in December with this festival of feasting and gift-giving.
What is Saturnalia?
- $800
Families in Iran stay up on this night, the longest of the year, eating pomegranates and reading the poetry of Hafez.
What is Yalda Night?
- $1,000
At dawn around the winter solstice, sunlight enters a roof-box and lights the inner chamber of this ancient Irish tomb.
What is Newgrange?
Final Jeopardy — Solstice Celebrations
Held on the winter solstice, this Chinese festival whose name means the arrival of winter is marked with family meals of dumplings or sweet rice balls.
What is the Dongzhi Festival?
How to run this board
The last days before winter break call for something everyone in the room can join, and this board is built for that. No single holiday gets the whole game: categories cover Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Christmas customs from Mexico to Japan, Lunar New Year, festivals of light, and the winter solstice that sits underneath so many of them.
It works best when students who celebrate one of these holidays get a moment to add what the clue leaves out. The Winter Solstice column ties the board together at the end, so save it for last: many of these celebrations are about light returning to the darkest time of year.
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