60 family trivia questions with answers, for kids, teens and grown-ups
We wrote these for our own game nights, where the players run from “just learned to read” to “remembers the Moon landing”. Every question has one clear answer, so nobody needs a ruling. Read them out loud, or put them on the TV.
Kids (about ages 6 to 10)
Animals
- What is the largest animal that has ever lived? Answer: The blue whale
- How many legs does a spider have? Answer: Eight
- What is a baby kangaroo called? Answer: A joey
- Which animal is the tallest in the world? Answer: The giraffe
- Which bird is famous for copying words people say? Answer: The parrot
Space and science
- Which planet is called the Red Planet? Answer: Mars
- What do bees make? Answer: Honey
- What is the closest star to Earth? Answer: The Sun
- What do you call water when it freezes? Answer: Ice
- How many days are in a leap year? Answer: 366
Around the world and food
- Which country is shaped like a boot? Answer: Italy
- What is the biggest ocean on Earth? Answer: The Pacific Ocean
- Raisins are dried versions of which fruit? Answer: Grapes
- French fries are made from which vegetable? Answer: Potatoes
- How many continents are there? Answer: Seven
Stories, words and shapes
- In the fairy tale, what does Cinderella leave behind at the ball? Answer: A glass slipper
- In The Three Little Pigs, what is the strongest house made of? Answer: Bricks
- How many letters are in the English alphabet? Answer: 26
- What do you call a shape with eight sides? Answer: An octagon
- What color do you get when you mix blue and yellow? Answer: Green
Teens (about ages 11 to 16)
Science
- Which gas do plants take in from the air? Answer: Carbon dioxide
- What is the hardest natural material on Earth? Answer: Diamond
- Which part of a cell is known as its powerhouse? Answer: The mitochondria
- What is the chemical symbol for gold? Answer: Au
- How many bones are in an adult human body? Answer: 206
Geography
- What is the capital of Canada? Answer: Ottawa
- What is the longest river in Africa? Answer: The Nile
- What is the smallest country in the world? Answer: Vatican City
- Which country has the most people? Answer: India
- The Sahara Desert is on which continent? Answer: Africa
Tech, games and sports
- What does www stand for in a web address? Answer: World Wide Web
- Which company created Mario? Answer: Nintendo
- In what year did the first iPhone go on sale? Answer: 2007
- How many players does a soccer team have on the field at once? Answer: Eleven
- Which is the largest planet in our solar system? Answer: Jupiter
Math and words
- What is the square root of 144? Answer: 12
- What do you call a word that reads the same backward, like racecar? Answer: A palindrome
- How many sides does a hexagon have? Answer: Six
- What is 15 percent of 200? Answer: 30
- What is the plural of cactus (the textbook answer)? Answer: Cacti
Grown-ups
History
- In what year did people first walk on the Moon? Answer: 1969
- Who was the first President of the United States? Answer: George Washington
- In what year did the Berlin Wall fall? Answer: 1989
- Which ship sank on its first voyage in 1912? Answer: The Titanic
- Which of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World is still standing? Answer: The Great Pyramid of Giza
Books, art and music
- Which band was nicknamed the Fab Four? Answer: The Beatles
- Who painted the Mona Lisa? Answer: Leonardo da Vinci
- Who wrote Pride and Prejudice? Answer: Jane Austen
- Which fictional detective lives at 221B Baker Street? Answer: Sherlock Holmes
- In which city is the Golden Gate Bridge? Answer: San Francisco
Food and drink
- Which spice comes from the dried threads of a crocus flower? Answer: Saffron
- Marzipan is made mostly from which nut? Answer: Almonds
- Which country grows the most coffee? Answer: Brazil
- Real Champagne has to come from a region in which country? Answer: France
- What is the main ingredient in hummus? Answer: Chickpeas
Brain teasers
- How many minutes are in a day? Answer: 1,440
- Which is the only US state made up entirely of islands? Answer: Hawaii
- Which element has the chemical symbol Fe? Answer: Iron
- At what temperature does water freeze in Fahrenheit? Answer: 32 degrees
- Which planet spins on its side? Answer: Uranus
How to run it with no screen
- Pick a quizmaster. They don't play, they just read.
- Split into teams of 2 to 4, mixing ages.
- Each team writes its answer on paper. One point per right answer.
- Ask kids' questions to the team's youngest player first. If they get it alone, it's worth double.
Ten questions a round, three rounds, and a snack break in the middle is about an hour.
How to play them on the TV
Trivia Board is our free Jeopardy-style game. The board goes on the TV, everyone buzzes in from their phone, and the score keeps itself. It takes 1 to 8 players, or up to 8 teams sharing a phone each, and a game runs about 20 minutes. It's in person only, since everyone races to buzz.
It comes with 580+ clues across 24 categories, from Animal Kingdom to The 90s. To use the questions above, turn any five of them into your own category:
- Go to hangtime.games/make and name your category, like “Kids' Corner” or “Grown-Up Brain Teasers”.
- Rewrite each question as a statement, Jeopardy-style. “Which planet is called the Red Planet?” becomes “This planet is called the Red Planet.” The answer is Mars.
- Put them in order, easiest first, so the 200 clue is one everyone can get.
- Save it and you get a short code. Type it into the Trivia Board lobby, then add a few built-in categories to fill the board.
It's free and nobody needs an account. Players join at hangtime.games/play with the room code. For more on clue writing, see how to make your own Jeopardy game, and for a whole evening plan, how to host a family Jeopardy night.
Write a round about your family
The best trivia question you'll ask all night is one only your family can answer. “What was the name of our first pet?” “Which city did Grandma and Grandpa live in when Mom was born?” “Who got lost at the zoo in 2019?” Five of those make a perfect custom category.
Write a category in a few minutes, free, then play it on Trivia Board with buzzers on everyone's phone.
Write your categoryNo group handy? Try Wordy Birdy solo, free, in 10 seconds →Questions
What are good trivia questions for a family?
Mix easy questions the youngest player can answer (animals, colors, fairy tales) with harder ones for adults (history, food, books). Grouping questions by age keeps everyone in the game.
How do you make family trivia fair for kids and adults?
Either give each age group its own set of questions, or play in mixed teams so a kid and an adult answer together. Let the youngest player pick first.
How many questions do you need for a family trivia night?
About 30 to 40 questions fills an hour. One game of Trivia Board with 3 to 6 categories is 15 to 30 clues and takes about 20 minutes.
Can I put my own trivia questions on the TV?
Yes. Write a category of five clues at hangtime.games/make, free and with no account, then add its code in the Trivia Board lobby.