Christmas Word Search: 8 Free Printable Puzzles (Easy to Hard)
Eight different Christmas word searches in one free pack: two easy grids for young children, three medium puzzles for the whole family and three hard ones for adults and confident solvers. Every puzzle has its own answer key, a print button and a PDF download.
The PDFs are US Letter size and are real files you can save, email or print. Prefer to print straight from this page? Each puzzle below has its own Print button; choose “Save as PDF” in the print dialog to keep a copy. On A4 paper, set “fit to page” when you print.
What is in the pack
Most Christmas word searches online are one grid and one word list. This pack is eight puzzles that differ in word list, grid size, number of words and the directions the words can run, so you can give each person a puzzle that fits them instead of printing one sheet for everyone. The set runs from a 10 x 10 grid with ten short words up to a 20 x 20 grid with 25 words hidden in every direction.
Three of the puzzles follow themes you can build an activity around: Christmas treats, the nativity story and Christmas words from around the world. Two more are for older solvers, one built on carols and carol singing and one an all-round adult challenge. Use the table to pick a puzzle, or print the whole pack and let people choose.
| # | Puzzle | Level | Grid | Words | Best for | Get it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santa's Workshop | Easy | 10 x 10 | 10 | Ages 5 to 7 (kindergarten to 2nd grade) | |
| 2 | Christmas Morning | Easy | 12 x 12 | 12 | Ages 7 to 8 (2nd to 3rd grade) | |
| 3 | Winter Wonderland | Medium | 14 x 14 | 15 | Ages 8 to 10 and family games | |
| 4 | Christmas Treats | Medium | 15 x 15 | 16 | Party tables and family dinners | |
| 5 | The Nativity Story | Medium | 14 x 14 | 14 | Sunday school, church groups and religious education | |
| 6 | Christmas Around the World | Medium | 15 x 15 | 16 | Language, geography and culture lessons | |
| 7 | Carols and Songs | Hard | 16 x 16 | 20 | Teens, adults, choirs and carol-singing groups | |
| 8 | The Adult Challenge | Hard | 20 x 20 | 25 | Adults, office parties and confident puzzle fans |
The 8 puzzles
Every grid is fixed: it is the same each time you load the page, so you can print identical sheets for a whole class or party. Rows are counted from the top and columns from the left, and each answer key lists where every word starts and which way it runs.
Christmas Word Search 1: Santa's Workshop
A first word search: ten short words of 3 to 5 letters in a small 10 x 10 grid. Nothing runs backwards or upwards, so a young reader can scan each row left to right and each column from the top.
Name: ____________________ Date: ______________
Christmas Word Search 1: Santa's Workshop: answer key
- BELLS: row 2, column 3, across to the right
- CARD: row 6, column 6, across to the right
- ELF: row 7, column 1, diagonally down and to the right
- GIFT: row 3, column 10, down
- SANTA: row 2, column 7, down
- SLED: row 3, column 9, down
- SNOW: row 7, column 7, diagonally down and to the right
- STAR: row 4, column 5, diagonally down and to the right
- TOYS: row 7, column 4, diagonally down and to the right
- TREE: row 7, column 4, down
Christmas Word Search 2: Christmas Morning
The words are a little longer and the grid is bigger, but the directions are still forward-only. Good for children who have done one or two puzzles before.
Name: ____________________ Date: ______________
Christmas Word Search 2: Christmas Morning: answer key
- ANGEL: row 2, column 3, down
- CANDLE: row 1, column 6, diagonally down and to the right
- CAROL: row 1, column 7, diagonally down and to the right
- CHIMNEY: row 5, column 8, down
- COCOA: row 3, column 12, down
- COOKIES: row 2, column 5, down
- HOLLY: row 12, column 1, across to the right
- MITTENS: row 12, column 6, across to the right
- PRESENT: row 2, column 6, diagonally down and to the right
- SCARF: row 4, column 7, diagonally down and to the right
- STOCKING: row 9, column 2, across to the right
- WREATH: row 3, column 6, down
Christmas Word Search 3: Winter Wonderland
Fifteen cold-weather words. This is the first puzzle where words can run right to left, so solvers have to look in both directions along every row.
Name: ____________________ Date: ______________
Christmas Word Search 3: Winter Wonderland: answer key
- BLANKET: row 6, column 14, down
- BLIZZARD: row 4, column 10, diagonally down and to the left
- CHILLY: row 2, column 14, across to the left
- EVERGREEN: row 5, column 6, diagonally down and to the right
- FIREPLACE: row 1, column 2, down
- FROSTY: row 5, column 8, diagonally down and to the right
- ICICLE: row 14, column 11, across to the left
- PINECONE: row 1, column 12, down
- SKATES: row 2, column 8, across to the left
- SLEDDING: row 3, column 9, diagonally down and to the left
- SLEIGH: row 7, column 1, down
- SNOWBALL: row 13, column 4, across to the right
- SNOWFLAKE: row 12, column 5, across to the right
- SNOWMAN: row 1, column 9, across to the left
- WINTER: row 11, column 10, across to the left
Christmas Word Search 4: Christmas Treats
Sixteen foods, drinks and flavors, several of them long. Where a name is two words (candy cane, mince pie) the grid hides it as one run of letters, as in every word search.
Name: ____________________ Date: ______________
Christmas Word Search 4: Christmas Treats: answer key
- CANDY CANE: row 10, column 3, across to the right
- CHESTNUTS: row 1, column 6, diagonally down and to the right
- CHOCOLATE: row 15, column 12, across to the left
- CINNAMON: row 8, column 10, across to the left
- CRANBERRY: row 13, column 13, across to the left
- EGGNOG: row 1, column 12, across to the left
- FRUITCAKE: row 3, column 1, down
- GINGERBREAD: row 6, column 13, across to the left
- MARZIPAN: row 8, column 2, down
- MINCE PIE: row 3, column 15, across to the left
- NUTMEG: row 1, column 2, down
- PEPPERMINT: row 2, column 5, down
- PUDDING: row 9, column 9, across to the left
- SHORTBREAD: row 7, column 11, across to the left
- STUFFING: row 7, column 15, down
- TRUFFLES: row 14, column 13, across to the left
Christmas Word Search 5: The Nativity Story
Words from the Christmas story as it is told in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, from the shepherds and the manger to the three gifts of the wise men. Use it to open or close a lesson on the story.
Name: ____________________ Date: ______________
Christmas Word Search 5: The Nativity Story: answer key
- ANGEL: row 9, column 1, diagonally down and to the right
- BETHLEHEM: row 11, column 14, across to the left
- DONKEY: row 7, column 13, diagonally down and to the left
- FRANKINCENSE: row 3, column 12, diagonally down and to the left
- GABRIEL: row 1, column 11, down
- GOLD: row 3, column 1, across to the right
- JOSEPH: row 9, column 7, diagonally down and to the left
- MANGER: row 7, column 9, diagonally down and to the right
- MARY: row 7, column 1, diagonally down and to the right
- MYRRH: row 1, column 7, down
- SHEPHERD: row 4, column 1, across to the right
- STABLE: row 7, column 14, diagonally down and to the left
- STAR: row 1, column 8, diagonally down and to the right
- WISE MEN: row 6, column 3, across to the right
Christmas Word Search 6: Christmas Around the World
Foreign spellings are harder to spot than English words you know, so treat this one as medium to hard even though the directions match puzzle 4. After solving, see how many of the words students can match to a language or country (the notes below the pack give the answers).
Name: ____________________ Date: ______________
Christmas Word Search 6: Christmas Around the World: answer key
- ADVENT: row 3, column 9, across to the right
- BOXING DAY: row 8, column 10, across to the left
- JOULU: row 4, column 12, down
- JUL: row 4, column 4, diagonally down and to the right
- KERSTMIS: row 1, column 8, diagonally down and to the left
- NATALE: row 7, column 14, diagonally down and to the left
- NAVIDAD: row 7, column 13, down
- NICHOLAS: row 14, column 10, across to the left
- NOEL: row 3, column 5, across to the left
- PANETTONE: row 2, column 9, down
- PINATA: row 10, column 14, down
- POINSETTIA: row 12, column 4, across to the right
- POSADA: row 4, column 15, down
- STOLLEN: row 5, column 14, across to the left
- WEIHNACHTEN: row 4, column 2, diagonally down and to the right
- YULE: row 8, column 2, down
Christmas Word Search 7: Carols and Songs
Twenty words from carols and carol singing, hidden in all eight directions in a 16 x 16 grid. Short words such as ivy and joy are the easiest to lose.
Name: ____________________ Date: ______________
Christmas Word Search 7: Carols and Songs: answer key
- CAROLERS: row 3, column 2, down
- CHOIR: row 8, column 12, across to the left
- CHORUS: row 6, column 5, diagonally up and to the right
- DECK: row 13, column 10, diagonally up and to the right
- DRUMMER: row 8, column 1, diagonally down and to the right
- HALLS: row 2, column 10, down
- HARK: row 8, column 11, down
- HARMONY: row 9, column 16, diagonally down and to the left
- HERALD: row 7, column 4, up
- HOLLY: row 2, column 10, diagonally down and to the right
- IVY: row 8, column 6, diagonally down and to the right
- JINGLE: row 9, column 4, diagonally down and to the right
- JOY: row 1, column 14, diagonally down and to the right
- LULLABY: row 16, column 2, diagonally up and to the right
- MELODY: row 7, column 10, diagonally up and to the left
- SILENT: row 16, column 15, across to the left
- TRUMPET: row 12, column 16, across to the left
- VERSE: row 11, column 10, diagonally up and to the left
- WASSAIL: row 3, column 9, diagonally down and to the left
- WENCESLAS: row 11, column 15, diagonally up and to the left
Christmas Word Search 8: The Adult Challenge
The biggest grid in the pack: 25 words, up to 14 letters long, in a 20 x 20 grid with words running in every direction. Allow a good half hour.
Name: ____________________ Date: ______________
Christmas Word Search 8: The Adult Challenge: answer key
- ADVENT CALENDAR: row 5, column 16, down
- BAUBLES: row 14, column 11, across to the right
- CANDLELIGHT: row 1, column 17, diagonally down and to the left
- CELEBRATION: row 2, column 5, diagonally down and to the right
- CHIMNEYS: row 17, column 8, across to the right
- FESTIVITIES: row 8, column 7, down
- GARLAND: row 8, column 1, down
- GENEROSITY: row 3, column 17, across to the left
- GREETINGS: row 9, column 9, diagonally up and to the left
- HOLIDAYS: row 20, column 12, across to the right
- MIDNIGHT: row 3, column 4, down
- MISTLETOE: row 1, column 18, down
- NUTCRACKER: row 15, column 5, across to the right
- ORNAMENTS: row 5, column 6, diagonally down and to the right
- PARTRIDGE: row 18, column 4, diagonally up and to the right
- REINDEER: row 1, column 16, across to the left
- REUNION: row 16, column 3, diagonally up and to the right
- SEASONS: row 16, column 15, across to the left
- SNOWDRIFT: row 19, column 12, across to the left
- STOCKINGS: row 10, column 20, down
- TINSEL: row 5, column 12, across to the left
- TRADITIONS: row 11, column 15, up
- TURTLEDOVES: row 16, column 19, up
- WORKSHOP: row 5, column 14, down
- WRAPPING: row 12, column 2, across to the right
Choosing the right puzzle
Difficulty in a word search comes from four things: how many words there are, how long they are, how big the grid is, and which directions the words can run. The pack changes all four in steps.
- Easy (puzzles 1 and 2). Words run only left to right, top to bottom or diagonally down to the right, so a solver never has to read backwards. Puzzle 1 has ten words of 3 to 5 letters. Puzzle 2 has twelve words of 5 to 8 letters in a bigger grid.
- Medium (puzzles 3 to 6). Words can also run right to left and diagonally down to the left. The grids are 14 x 14 or 15 x 15 with 14 to 16 words, several of them 9 to 12 letters long. Puzzle 6 uses foreign spellings, which makes it harder than its size suggests.
- Hard (puzzles 7 and 8). Words run in all eight directions, including upwards and backwards, and puzzle 8 adds a 20 x 20 grid and 25 words, one of them 14 letters long.
The age ranges in the table are only a guide. A child who loves puzzles may enjoy puzzle 3 at seven, while an adult who rarely does word searches may want to start at puzzle 4.
Using the pack in the classroom
- Early finishers. Print a few copies of puzzles 2 and 3 and keep them in a folder for students who finish the main task.
- Spelling and vocabulary. Ask students to find a word, then write it in a sentence or draw it. Finding a word shows recognition; writing it shows recall.
- Differentiation. Give a class the same theme at different levels: puzzle 2 for students who need support, puzzle 4 for the middle group and puzzle 7 for the most confident.
- Language and geography. Use puzzle 6 as a starter for a lesson on how Christmas is celebrated in different places. The notes below list the language of each word.
- Religious education. Puzzle 5 collects the vocabulary of the nativity story. Pair it with the story itself, then ask students to explain two of the words in their own sentences.
- Supply or substitute lessons. The full-pack PDF gives you eight ready sheets and a key in one file.
Teachers who need their own words, for example this week's spelling list with a Christmas title, can build one with the word search maker for teachers.
At home, at a party or at the office
- Quiet time. Puzzles 1 to 3 suit a child who needs a calm activity while presents are wrapped or dinner is cooked.
- Family race. Print puzzle 3 or 4 for everyone at the table and see who finds the most words in ten minutes. Mixed ages work if younger children get the easy puzzle and a head start.
- Table activity. Puzzle 4 (treats) fits a dessert table, and puzzle 7 suits a carol evening: hand it out and ask each person to hum the carol each word reminds them of.
- Office or club. Puzzle 8 is built for a break-room challenge. Set a timer, give a small prize for the first correct grid and check against the answer key.
- Advent routine. Print one puzzle for each of the first eight days of December and work through the pack as a daily activity.
Notes for puzzle 6: Christmas around the world
The words in puzzle 6 are names for Christmas in other languages, plus some traditions and foods. Here is what each one is.
- Navidad: Christmas in Spanish. Noel: Christmas in French (written Noël). Natale: Italian. Weihnachten: German. Kerstmis: Dutch. Joulu: Finnish. Jul: Christmas in Danish, Norwegian and Swedish.
- Yule: an old English name for the Christmas season, still used in phrases such as Yuletide.
- Posada: a Spanish word for an inn, and the name of a Christmas tradition in Mexico and other Latin American countries in which people re-enact Mary and Joseph's search for lodging in the days before Christmas.
- Pinata: a hollow figure filled with sweets that children take turns to break open, often part of a posada.
- Poinsettia: a red-leafed plant native to Mexico and now a common Christmas decoration.
- Advent: the season of preparation before Christmas.
- Panettone: an Italian sweet bread baked at Christmas. Stollen: a German fruit bread, also eaten at Christmas.
- Boxing Day: 26 December, a public holiday in the United Kingdom and several other countries.
- Nicholas: the saint whose legend is behind Santa Claus.
Words worth talking about
- Wassail: a traditional toast to good health, and the name of a warm spiced drink and of the old custom of going from house to house singing.
- Frankincense and myrrh: aromatic resins from trees, valued for perfume and incense; in the nativity story they are two of the three gifts brought to the child.
- Marzipan: a sweet paste of ground almonds and sugar, shaped into small fruits and figures at Christmas in many countries.
- Nutcracker: a tool for cracking nuts, and a painted wooden figure in the shape of a soldier that is displayed at Christmas.
- Partridge and turtledoves: the first two gifts in the song The Twelve Days of Christmas.
- Wenceslas: the king in the carol Good King Wenceslas, which is sung around St Stephen's Day, 26 December.
How these puzzles were made and checked
Each puzzle was generated once by a program and then saved, so the grids never change. A second, separate check then searches every grid in all eight directions to confirm that each listed word appears exactly once, in the place and direction the answer key gives. If you print the same puzzle today and next week, you will get the same sheet, which is handy when you need a class set or a replacement page.
If you want a fresh arrangement of the same words, or your own words, use the generator below.
Make your own Christmas word search
The generator below is already loaded with ten Christmas words. Change the words, pick a grid size and difficulty, add a title and a subtitle such as a class name, then print it or save it as a PDF. “New layout, same words” gives a different grid from the same list.
- Are these Christmas word searches free to print?
- Yes. All eight puzzles, their answer keys and the PDFs are free to print for home, classroom, library and group use. There is no sign-up and no watermark.
- Does every puzzle have an answer key?
- Yes. Each puzzle has a Show answers button that highlights the words on screen, an answer key you can print on its own page, and a row-and-column position for every word. There is also a PDF of all eight answer keys.
- How do I save a Christmas word search as a PDF?
- Download one of the ready-made PDFs from the table above. Or press Print this puzzle and choose Save as PDF as the printer in your browser’s print dialog.
- Which puzzle is best for kindergarten and first grade?
- Puzzle 1, Santa’s Workshop, has ten short words in a 10 x 10 grid and nothing hidden backwards. Puzzle 2 is a good next step.
- Is there a hard Christmas word search for adults?
- Yes. Puzzle 8 has 25 words in a 20 x 20 grid with words in all eight directions, and puzzle 7 is a 16 x 16 carol puzzle with 20 words.
- Can I change the words?
- Not in the eight fixed puzzles, but the generator further down the page lets you type your own words or start from the Christmas list and edit it.
- Are the puzzles the same every time?
- Yes. The eight grids are fixed, so every copy you print is identical, which makes it easy to print a class set.
- Which puzzle works for a religious education or Sunday school lesson?
- Puzzle 5, The Nativity Story, uses words from the Christmas story such as Bethlehem, manger, shepherd, angel, Gabriel, frankincense and myrrh.