Party ideas
How to Host a Birthday Trivia Game from a Book
A trivia game from a book needs one reader, a few teams and about half an hour. These steps work with any of the Ellis Gray birthday trivia books. If you haven't chosen a book yet, the gift guide helps you match the book to the birthday.
Before the party
- Pick a reader. Choose someone who enjoys the spotlight and won't play. They hold the book and the answer key.
- Choose the rounds. You don't need every question. Two or three rounds of 10 questions each is plenty for a party. Music and TV rounds tend to get everyone talking.
- Print or copy the score sheet if your book has one, and have pens ready.
During the game
- Mix the teams. Teams that mix ages and families work well: one person remembers the answer, another enjoys the story behind it.
- Read each question twice, including all the choices, then give the room a moment.
- Reveal the answer and pause. The best part is the story that follows, so let it run.
- Keep score lightly. One point per correct answer. It's fine if the birthday person wins.
- Stop while it's fun. Twenty to thirty minutes is usually enough.
Making it work for everyone
- Where a book uses multiple-choice questions, nobody has to recall an exact date; a good guess still has a chance.
- There's no clock. If a question sparks a memory, follow it.
- Seat anyone who finds reading or hearing harder close to the reader. If print size matters, check the print size table.
Want to try it first?
Run a practice round with one of our free 10-question quizzes: the 80th birthday quiz or the 90th birthday quiz.
