New Year's quiz for your company or team outing
A New Year's quiz is a great way to start the work year together: you look back, you laugh, and everyone joins in. Below: what a New Year's quiz is exactly, sample questions with answers, and tips for hosting one at your company or team outing.
By Roy de Bie · Published on June 28, 2026 · All articles
What is a New Year's quiz?
A New Year's quiz is a quiz to ring in the new year together, with questions about New Year's Eve, a look back at the past year, and regular trivia. At work it is an easy way to get your team or department going again in January.
Why a New Year's quiz at work?
- A relaxed, shared start to the work year.
- Everyone joins in, and new colleagues get to know each other right away.
- You look back and ahead together, in a lighthearted way.
- It can be short: an hour is enough for a cheerful kickoff.
Sample questions about New Year's Eve (with answers)
- On what date does the new year start? January 1
- What do the Dutch call the last day of the year? oudjaarsdag (the evening is called oudjaarsavond)
- Which treat is a traditional part of Dutch New Year's Eve? oliebollen (Dutch doughnuts)
- In which world city does an illuminated ball drop on Times Square at midnight? New York
- Which song is sung in many places around midnight? Auld Lang Syne
Traditions and the calendar
- The month of January is named after which Roman god who looks both forward and back? Janus
- How many days does a regular year have? 365 (a leap year has 366)
- How many days does February have in a leap year? 29
- On what date is Epiphany (Three Kings' Day), shortly after New Year's? January 6
- How many months are there in a year? 12
Some general knowledge on the side
- What is the capital of the Netherlands? Amsterdam
- How many seconds are there in a minute? 60
- What color do you get when you mix blue and yellow? green
- How many is a dozen? 12
Make it personal: a look back at your own year
Want to make it truly about your year? Have someone come up with a handful of questions about the past work year and read them out, for example: in which month did a new colleague join, or which project did we wrap up fastest? A personal round is guaranteed to get the most laughs.
Tips for a successful New Year's quiz
- Split colleagues into teams, for example by department.
- Alternate trivia with a music or estimation round to keep up the pace.
- Add a personal look-back round about your own year.
- Hand out a small prize to the winning team.
- The penalty wheel is optional: fun among friends, better kept tame at a formal outing.
How to run a New Year's quiz with Kwishetwel
With Kwishetwel you host the quiz on a big screen and your colleagues play along on their phones: they scan the QR code or type the join code, pick a name, and are in right away. No app and no account for players. Points, the timer and the scoreboard run automatically, you pick rounds from a ready-made library (in Dutch for now), and you can wrap up with the penalty wheel. Read more about a pub quiz for your company outing.
Further reading: pub quiz questions for a company outing and fun penalties for the penalty wheel.