Sinterklaas quiz with answers: 40 questions in four rounds
Forty questions with answers about songs, sweets, the history of Sinterklaas and the Sinterklaasjournaal, plus tips for playing the quiz.
A Sinterklaas quiz is an easy way to keep pakjesavond (Sinterklaas gift night) or the Sinterklaas party at your club going a bit longer. Below are forty questions with answers in four rounds: songs, tradition and history, sweets and the Saint today. The song round works with children, the rest is mainly for adults.
How to play the quiz
- Teams of three to five. Mix young and old, so there’s always someone who knows the answers to the song questions.
- One answer sheet per round. After each round the teams swap sheets and check each other’s answers.
- One point per correct answer. In the song round, an extra point if the team sings the line too.
- A prize. A chocolate letter for the winning team always works.
Round 1: songs
Finish the line. Everyone can play this round, including the children.
- Zie ginds komt de stoomboot uit Spanje weer … (Look, the steamboat from Spain is coming again …) Answer: aan (arrives)
- Hij brengt ons Sint Nicolaas, ik zie hem al … (He brings us Saint Nicholas, I can already see him …) Answer: staan (standing)
- Sinterklaas kapoentje, gooi wat in mijn … (Sinterklaas, little rascal, throw something in my …) Answer: schoentje (little shoe)
- Gooi wat in mijn laarsje, dank je … (Throw something in my little boot, thank you …) Answer: Sinterklaasje (little Sinterklaas)
- Hoor, wie klopt daar, kinderen? Hoor, wie klopt daar … (Listen, who’s knocking there, children? Listen, who’s knocking there …) Answer: zacht (softly)
- Zie de maan schijnt door de bomen, makkers, staakt uw wild … (Look, the moon is shining through the trees, friends, stop your wild …) Answer: geraas (din)
- Sinterklaas, goedheiligman, trek je beste … an (Sinterklaas, good holy man, put on your best …) Answer: tabberd (robe)
- Hoor de wind waait door de bomen, hier in huis zijn wij zo … (Listen, the wind blows through the trees, here in the house we are so …) Answer: blij (happy)
- Sinterklaasje, kom maar binnen met je … (Sinterklaas, do come in with your …) Answer: knecht (servant)
- Which song contains the line “Op zijn paardje, o zo snel” (On his little horse, oh so fast), which the Saint’s current horse takes its name from? Answer: Hoor de wind waait door de bomen
Round 2: tradition and history
About the real Saint Nicholas and how the festival came about.
- Which city was Saint Nicholas bishop of? Answer: Myra
- In which country is that city today? Answer: Turkey
- To which Italian city were his relics moved in 1087? Answer: Bari
- What’s the Saint’s tall bishop’s hat called? Answer: Mitre
- What’s the curved staff he holds in his hand called? Answer: Crosier
- Of which Dutch city is Saint Nicholas the patron saint? Answer: Amsterdam
- Which profession at sea is he also the patron saint of? Answer: Sailors
- What do children traditionally put in their shoe for the horse? Answer: A carrot (or hay)
- Which teacher wrote the 1850 book Sint Nikolaas en zijn knecht (Saint Nicholas and his servant), which contains the song Zie ginds komt de stoomboot? Answer: Jan Schenkman
- According to the legend, Saint Nicholas secretly gave money to three poor sisters. What did he throw through the window? Answer: Gold coins (or bags of gold)
Round 3: sweets
A round you can play with a bowl of sweets on the table.
- Which is smaller, rounder and crunchier: a pepernoot or a kruidnoot (both small spiced biscuits)? Answer: A kruidnoot
- Which spice gives real pepernoten and taai-taai (traditional spiced biscuits) their typical flavour? Answer: Aniseed
- Which two main ingredients is marzipan made from? Answer: Almonds and sugar
- What is a banketletter (a letter-shaped pastry) filled with? Answer: Almond paste
- What’s speculaas called in Belgium? Answer: Speculoos
- Name two spices found in speculaas spice mix. Answer: For example cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, cardamom
- Which sweet is a soft, sweet little slab of sugar set in a mould, often pink or white? Answer: Borstplaat
- Which sweet do you traditionally get your own initial in? Answer: A chocolate letter
- Which biscuit comes in the shape of a little figure and is chewy to eat? Answer: Taai-taai
- Which chocolate sweet in gold foil refers to the gold in the legend of the three sisters? Answer: Chocolate coins
Round 4: the Saint today and around the world
From the Sinterklaasjournaal (the children’s TV series about Sinterklaas) to the neighbouring countries.
- On which evening is pakjesavond (Sinterklaas gift night) in the Netherlands? Answer: 5 December
- On which date is Saint Nicholas’s name day? Answer: 6 December
- When do most children in Belgium get their presents? Answer: On the morning of 6 December
- What do German children put outside the door on Nikolaustag? Answer: A boot or shoe
- Which American festive figure takes his name from Sinterklaas? Answer: Santa Claus
- In which year was the first Sinterklaasjournaal broadcast? Answer: 2001
- Who presented the Sinterklaasjournaal for more than twenty years? Answer: Dieuwertje Blok
- What has the Saint’s horse been called since 2019? Answer: Ozosnel
- What was the horse called before that? Answer: Amerigo
- Which steamboat do you see every year in the Sinterklaasjournaal? Answer: Pakjesboot 12
More for pakjesavond
Want to play a present game after the quiz? In the Sinterklaas games for adults you’ll find the rules of the dice game and a story for the present-passing game. If children are playing too, look at the games for children.
Organising a Sinterklaas party for your club or company? We provide a programme for the children at your venue, with Piet gym and a Piet diploma.
Frequently asked questions
How many questions do you need for a Sinterklaas quiz?
For an evening with family or colleagues, three or four rounds of ten questions are enough. Including checking the answers, that takes about three quarters of an hour. With children around, keep it shorter: one or two rounds, mainly the song round.
Is this quiz suitable for children?
The song round and the sweets round are. The history round and the round on the Saint around the world are better for adults. Be careful if there are children who still believe: it’s best to skip the questions about the real Saint Nicholas of Myra.
How do you make a Sinterklaas quiz personal?
Add a round about the group itself. Who wrote the best poem this year, who always unwraps last, whose surprise was the biggest last year? That round always gets the most laughs.
Sinterklaas party with your club?
We provide Piet gym, a scavenger hunt and a Piet diploma for the children at your venue. Tell us the date and the number of children and we’ll send a proposal.
View the Sinterklaas party
