42 Mother's and Father's Day trivia questions

Questions for a family brunch, a church breakfast or a class making cards: how Anna Jarvis and Sonora Smart Dodd started the two days, the carnation and the simnel cake, and how other countries keep them. Each answer links to its source. Play them on the screen, or print a player sheet and the answer key.

42 questions · Mother's and Father's Day trivia questions · answers included

Updated 31 Oct 2026

Questions 1–20

1
Who organized the 1908 service honoring her mother in Grafton?

easy

Answer
Anna Jarvis.
Source: Library of Congress https://guides.loc.gov/chronicling-america-mothers-day
2
In which US state is Grafton, the site of that service?

medium

Answer
West Virginia.
Source: Library of Congress https://guides.loc.gov/chronicling-america-mothers-day
3
On which Sunday in May is US Mother's Day observed?

easy

Answer
The second Sunday.
Source: Library of Congress https://guides.loc.gov/chronicling-america-mothers-day
4
Which president issued the 1914 Mother's Day proclamation?

medium

Answer
Woodrow Wilson.
Source: Library of Congress https://guides.loc.gov/chronicling-america-mothers-day
5
What was Anna Jarvis's mother's name?

hard

Answer
Ann Marie Reeves Jarvis.
Source: Library of Congress https://guides.loc.gov/chronicling-america-mothers-day
6
Who campaigned for a Father's Day celebration after hearing about Mother's Day?

medium

Answer
Sonora Smart Dodd.
Source: Library of Congress https://blogs.loc.gov/families/2022/06/homemade-gifts-for-fathers-day/
7
In which Washington city did Dodd live?

medium

Answer
Spokane.
Source: Library of Congress https://blogs.loc.gov/families/2022/06/homemade-gifts-for-fathers-day/
8
In which church was the first official Mother's Day service held?

hard

Answer
St. Andrew's Methodist Church, in Grafton.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother%27s_Day_(United_States)?oldid=1361819882
9
Besides the United States, which country has kept Mother's Day on the second Sunday in May since 1914?

easy

Answer
Canada.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother%27s_Day_(United_States)?oldid=1361819882
10
Which Philadelphia merchant helped Anna Jarvis establish Mother's Day?

hard

Answer
John Wanamaker, of the Wanamaker's store.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother%27s_Day_(United_States)?oldid=1361819882
11
Which flower did Anna Jarvis choose as the emblem of Mother's Day?

easy

Answer
The carnation, her mother's favorite.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother%27s_Day_(United_States)?oldid=1361819882
12
What did Anna Jarvis want the white carnation to represent?

medium

Answer
The purity of a mother's love.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother%27s_Day_(United_States)?oldid=1361819882
13
How many carnations did Anna Jarvis hand out at the first celebration?

hard

Answer
500.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother%27s_Day_(United_States)?oldid=1361819882
14
In the custom the florists started, which color of carnation is worn for a mother who is living?

medium

Answer
Pink, and white for a mother who has died.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother%27s_Day_(United_States)?oldid=1361819882
15
In 1913, the House of Representatives asked federal officials to wear what for Mother's Day?

medium

Answer
A white carnation.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother%27s_Day_(United_States)?oldid=1361819882
16
Why is it Mother's Day and not Mothers' Day, in Anna Jarvis's words?

medium

Answer
For each family to honor its own mother.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother%27s_Day_(United_States)?oldid=1361819882
17
What did Anna Jarvis think buying a greeting card showed?

medium

Answer
Being too lazy to write a personal letter.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother%27s_Day_(United_States)?oldid=1361819882
18
Mother's Day is the most popular day of the year in the United States to do what?

easy

Answer
To dine out at a restaurant.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother%27s_Day_(United_States)?oldid=1361819882
19
Who led a "Mother's Day for Peace" in New York City in 1872?

hard

Answer
Julia Ward Howe.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother%27s_Day_(United_States)?oldid=1361819882
20
In which Michigan town was a Mother's Day observance held in 1877?

hard

Answer
Albion.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother%27s_Day_(United_States)?oldid=1361819882

Questions 21–40

21
Which famous song did Julia Ward Howe write?

medium

Answer
The Battle Hymn of the Republic.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_Ward_Howe?oldid=1380715772
22
In 1925, Anna Jarvis was arrested at a meeting of the American War Mothers. What had angered her?

medium

Answer
Their selling of carnations to raise money, one more sign of the commercialization of Mother's Day.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother%27s_Day?oldid=1382047152
23
Anna Jarvis was the ninth of how many children?

hard

Answer
Eleven.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Jarvis?oldid=1354626300
24
In Mexico, does Mother's Day fall on a Sunday or on a fixed date?

medium

Answer
10 May, a fixed date.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother%27s_Day?oldid=1378539938
25
In Japan, which flower is most often given on Mother's Day?

medium

Answer
Carnations, often red.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother%27s_Day?oldid=1378539938
26
For how many days is Mother's Day celebrated in Ethiopia?

hard

Answer
Three, with a feast called Antrosht.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother%27s_Day?oldid=1378539938
27
In the United Kingdom and Ireland, Mothering Sunday falls on which Sunday in Lent?

medium

Answer
The fourth.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mothering_Sunday?oldid=1373440146
28
Which cake is traditionally baked for Mothering Sunday?

medium

Answer
Simnel cake.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mothering_Sunday?oldid=1373440146
29
On which Sunday in June is Father's Day in the United States?

easy

Answer
The third Sunday.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father%27s_Day_(United_States)?oldid=1373484061
30
Where was the first Father's Day celebrated, in 1910?

medium

Answer
The Spokane YMCA.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father%27s_Day_(United_States)?oldid=1373484061
31
Sonora Smart Dodd's father raised how many children on his own?

medium

Answer
Six.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father%27s_Day_(United_States)?oldid=1373484061
32
Which date did Sonora Smart Dodd first suggest for Father's Day?

hard

Answer
June 5, her father's birthday.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father%27s_Day_(United_States)?oldid=1373484061
33
The first Father's Day was put off to the third Sunday of June. What did the pastors need more of?

medium

Answer
Time to prepare their sermons.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father%27s_Day_(United_States)?oldid=1373484061
34
Which president issued the first presidential proclamation honoring fathers, in 1966?

hard

Answer
Lyndon B. Johnson.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father%27s_Day_(United_States)?oldid=1373484061
35
Which president made Father's Day a permanent national holiday, in 1972?

medium

Answer
Richard Nixon.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father%27s_Day_(United_States)?oldid=1373484061
36
In which West Virginia town was a Father's Day service held in 1908, two years before Spokane's?

hard

Answer
Fairmont.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father%27s_Day_(United_States)?oldid=1373484061
37
Which spelling did Sonora Smart Dodd use on her first petition?

hard

Answer
Fathers' Day, for all fathers.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father%27s_Day_(United_States)?oldid=1373484061
38
Which disaster moved Grace Golden Clayton to ask for Fairmont's 1908 Father's Day service?

hard

Answer
The Monongah mining disaster of December 1907; its official death toll was 362.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monongah_mining_disaster?oldid=1363876316
39
In the Catholic countries of Europe, Father's Day falls on the feast of which saint?

medium

Answer
Saint Joseph, on 19 March.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father%27s_Day?oldid=1378539999
40
In Germany, Father's Day falls on which holiday?

hard

Answer
Ascension Day, a Thursday.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father%27s_Day?oldid=1378539999

Questions 41–42

41
In Thailand, which flower do people traditionally give their fathers?

hard

Answer
A canna flower.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father%27s_Day?oldid=1378539999
42
Thailand's Mother's Day, 12 August, is the birthday of which queen?

hard

Answer
Queen Sirikit.
Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father%27s_Day?oldid=1378539999

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