Christmas word search
Twelve Christmas words are tucked into this grid, from Santa himself to the cookies he is definitely going to eat. A calm five minutes in the loudest week of the year.
Curated by 
Esme Rook
·
Updated August 2026
Play it right here
Drag across the letters to select a word. Words hide across, down and diagonally, forwards and backwards. Works with mouse and touch.
The words in the stocking
Santa, reindeer, sleigh, snowman, gifts, stocking, candle, holly, angel, star, cookies and bells. STAR is the trap in this one: four extremely common letters, so the grid is full of almost-stars that fizzle out at the third letter. Save it for last and let the rare letters (the W of SNOWMAN, the K of STOCKING) guide you first.
A December classroom favourite
Word searches earn their keep in the last week of term: they are quiet, they need zero explanation, and early finishers can flip the sheet and write their own list of December words for a neighbour. Print one per child and one solution sheet for you; the licensing page says classroom copies are free, every year.
Print it or play it
Same puzzle in three forms: the playable grid on this page, the printable PDF and the marked solution sheet. If the family competition gets serious, the solution page settles it. A week later the same table wants a different sheet: that one is the New Years word search, and it shares no words with this one.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Christmas word search free to print for a class party?
Yes. Print as many copies of the Christmas word search as you need, for a classroom, a family table, a church group or a care home, at no cost and with no attribution. It is free for personal and educational use. Selling it or re-uploading the PDF is not allowed: see the licensing policy.
What age is the Christmas word search for?
It is a family puzzle, easiest for ages 6 to 10 (US grades 1 to 4) but perfectly pleasant for adults over a mince pie. The 12x12 grid holds twelve festive words from four letters (STAR) up to eight (REINDEER), which keeps it quick enough for a party table.
Can we play the Christmas puzzle online?
Yes. The grid at the top of the page plays in the browser on any device, so you can hand a tablet to a child on a long December journey without a printer in sight. Drag across the letters to mark a word. The printable PDF is still one click away if you want paper.
Is there an answer key for the Christmas word search?
Yes. A separate solution PDF marks all twelve Christmas words on the same grid. Download it with the Solution button beside the puzzle. Because it is a separate sheet, you can hand out clean copies at a party and keep the answers folded in your pocket as the tie-breaker.
Seven Christmas word searches to print, one for each part of the day
The board on this page is the general one. Six more print from here, and each takes one piece of Christmas and gives it a whole grid: the stable, the table, the singing, the tree, the presents and the version of the holiday they keep in other countries. Every sheet has its own word list, its own size and its own solution page, and no word appears on two of them. Two word terms run together the way word searches have always set them, so pan de muerto style: fairy lights is FAIRYLIGHTS, secret santa is SECRETSANTA, Boxing Day is BOXINGDAY.
The 12x12 board on this page
The playable board above, printed exactly as it stands: twelve words that turn up every December, from the sleigh on the roof to the cookies left out for whoever is driving it.
The nativity: the rest of the stable
Twelve words from the stable on a 13x13 board, and pointedly not the four everybody can already name: the innkeeper who said no, the donkey, Gabriel, and the frankincense and myrrh that turned up with the third gift.
The food: things baked once a year
A 13x13 grid of everything that only exists in December: gingerbread, the fruitcake nobody admits to liking, panettone, shortbread, the mince pie and the clementine at the bottom of the stocking.
The carols: what the singing is made of
Twelve words about the singing rather than the songs, in a 12x12 grid: the carolers at the door, the hymn, the choir, the descant that climbs over the last verse and the wassail almost nobody has tasted.
The decorations: everything that goes up
What comes out of the loft, on a 13x13 board: tinsel, baubles, the wreath for the door, the mistletoe somebody hangs too high and the nutcracker that has never cracked a nut.
The giving: wrapping, lists and the chimney
The admin of Christmas in a 12x12 grid: the wrapping, the twine, the gift tag written in a hurry, the wish list, the secret santa at work and the chimney that explains the logistics.
The hard one, 14x14: Christmas somewhere else
The hardest sheet on the page, twelve words in a 14x14 grid using all eight directions: the Krampus who comes for the badly behaved, the Befana on her broom, Sinterklaas, Boxing Day and the Nochebuena that is the real night in Spanish.
