New Year's quiz for your company or team outing

By Roy de Bie · Published on June 28, 2026 · 4 min read

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.