Winter Trivia Board Showdown: The “What Is…” Game Everyone Loves

Looking for a fun way to beat the winter blahs?

This Winter Trivia Board Showdown turns any cold, cozy night into a game-show-style battle of brains.

Players pick a category, choose a point value, and race to answer questions about snow, holidays, winter animals, and more. The harder the question, the bigger the points!

It’s perfect for family game night, classroom parties, youth groups, senior activities, or a snow day when everyone’s stuck inside. Just print, set up the board, split into teams, and let the friendly competition begin.

Grab your buzzers (or a spoon and a pot lid!) and see who will be crowned the Winter Trivia Champion.

winter games, trivia game show for kids, teens, adults

Contents

Objective of the Game

The objective is for players to answer questions in the form of a question (e.g., “What is…?” or “Who is…?”) to earn “money.”

Supplies Needed for This Winter Game

The Winter Trivia Game Printables – Grab them below! (Click the blue “download” button.)
The answer key is at the end of this article

How to Play This Winter Trivia Board Showdown

1. Put up the sign that shows the categories and dollar amounts so that everyone can see it. Lower numbers ($100) are easier, while the highest ($500) are the most challenging.

2. Assign a host who will read the clues. Decide if you want to play as “players” or as “teams.” If you play as a teams, the team has 60 seconds to discuss with their team members before answering the question.

3. One player or team chooses a category and points. The host reads the clue, and the players race to buzz in first.

4. Players answer in the form of a question.

Example: “The fruit is known as the king of fruits.” Correct Answer: “What is a mango?”

5. If the answer is correct, the player earns the points/money and selects the next clue. If it’s incorrect, the points are deducted from the player’s score.

6. Continue keeping score and answering questions until they are done or you’ve reached a pre-determined time limit. The winner is the player with the most points/money at the end.

Cute Prizes for All Ages

Some hosts choose to give fun prizes for the winners. This makes the game even more exciting while encouraging friendly competition.

Here are a few fun ideas:

Gift cards
Kids reward coupons (extra electronics time, later bedtime, choosing dinner, etc.)
Winner picks something off of your family winter bucket list!
Privileges to turn on the twinkle lights for the next week
Winner picks the next Winter movie night
A free pass on chores the next day
Gum
Fun free bookmarks to color

Free Printable Winter Trivia Board Game

Grab the free printables below:

Winter Trivia Game Board PDFDownload

Winter Trivia Board Answer Key

The answers are here:

	Winter Weather	Winter Animals
$100	Blizzard	Hibernation
$200	Northern hemisphere	White
$300	The winter solstice	The Emperor Penguin
$400	6 sides	Mushrooms
$500	January	The male penguin rests the egg on his feet and covers it with a fold of warm skin.

	Winter Entertainment	Winter Holidays
$100	A silk hat	Cupid
$200	Sid	Mardis Gras
$300	Bobsledding	9
$400	Idina Menzel	Kwanzaa
$500	William Shakespeare	Germany

Fun Winter Trivia Game Variations

There are many ways to vary the difficulty, excitement, and length of this game. Try one below!

Make It More Challenging

To make the game harder for teams, shorten the discussion time to 30 seconds or 15 seconds before a player on the team must answer.

Add a “Daily Double”

Allow a player to wager any amount (or do double) before seeing the question. Only they can answer.

One Last “Final Jeopardy” Question

On the final question, have players wager some or all of their points before seeing the question.

Give Time Limits to Individuals

Have players write down their responses within a time limit.

What’s Next?

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