Free printable · Large print
Large print Christmas word search
Sixteen words for the season, from garland and poinsettia to the nutcracker, the carolers and the reindeer, in a 12 by 12 grid printed in big letters for easy reading at the kitchen table.
Words read across, down and diagonally, left to right. The letters you never circle spell a familiar holiday line once the last word is found.
Prints on US letter paper: the puzzle page, then the answer key on its own page (2 pages in all). In the print
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Solving tips
Look for the rare letters first: a Z, Q, J, X or K is easy to spot in big print. Then circle the long words, which cross more of the grid. Every letter belongs to a word or to the hidden saying, so the uncircled letters left at the end are the saying, in order.
In this grid, 3 words read across, 6 words down and 7 words diagonally, and none read backward. The longest is Silver bells and the shortest is Wreath, which hides best: look for it last.
About the words
Decorating with a Christmas tree grew out of German custom and spread widely in the 1800s. An 1848 engraving of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert beside a decorated tree helped make it fashionable in Britain and America. Christmas became a federal holiday in the United States in 1870.
- Candy cane
- The peppermint-flavored candy cane is a white stick with red stripes and a curved top. Stories about its beginnings are mostly legend, but striped canes show up on American Christmas cards by the early 1900s.
- Carolers
- The word carol once meant a song that people danced to. Singing from house to house at Christmas goes back many centuries in England, and the habit crossed the Atlantic with settlers.
- Evergreen
- Evergreens keep their needles all year, so people in cold climates have long brought boughs indoors in winter. Spruce, fir and pine are the common choices for Christmas trees.
- Garland
- Garlands are long ropes of greenery, popcorn, paper or beads, draped across mantels, doorways and banisters. Evergreen ones have been used in winter celebrations for many centuries.
- Mistletoe
- Mistletoe is an evergreen plant that grows on tree branches. The custom of kissing beneath a hanging sprig was well established in England by the 1700s.
- Nativity
- A nativity scene shows the birth of Jesus, with figures such as Mary, Joseph, shepherds and animals. Francis of Assisi staged a living nativity in the Italian town of Greccio in 1223.
- Nutcracker
- The soldier-shaped wooden nutcracker comes from the Ore Mountains of Germany. Tchaikovsky’s 1892 ballet, based on a story by E. T. A. Hoffmann, made the figure famous at Christmas.
- Ornament
- Glass ornaments became popular after glassblowers in Lauscha, Germany, began making them in the 1800s. Before that, trees were often hung with apples, nuts, paper and cookies.
- Poinsettia
- The poinsettia is native to Mexico. Joel Poinsett, the first United States minister to Mexico, sent plants home to South Carolina in the 1820s. The colorful red parts are leaves, not petals.
- Reindeer
- Reindeer and caribou are the same species. Unusually among deer, both males and females grow antlers. The names of Santa’s eight reindeer come from an 1823 poem, “A Visit from St. Nicholas.”
- Silver bells
- The song “Silver Bells” was written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans, and Bob Hope and Marilyn Maxwell sang it in the 1951 film The Lemon Drop Kid.
- Sleigh
- A sleigh is a carriage that glides on runners instead of wheels. The song “Jingle Bells,” published by James Lord Pierpont in 1857, was first called “One Horse Open Sleigh.”
- Snow globes
- A snow globe is a glass dome filled with water and tiny flakes, shaken to start a snowfall. Erwin Perzy of Vienna, Austria, is credited with developing the first in the early 1900s.
- Stocking
- Children hang stockings by the fireplace on Christmas Eve to be filled with small gifts, fruit and candy. The custom is often linked to old stories about Saint Nicholas.
- Tinsel
- Tinsel began in Germany as thin strips of real silver, made to catch the light of candles on a tree. It was later made from lighter metal foil and then plastic.
- Wreath
- A wreath is a ring of evergreen boughs, usually hung on a door. The circle has no beginning or end, so many cultures have used it to stand for lasting life.
The hidden saying (no peeking until you have found every word): The line comes from the carol “Deck the Halls.” The tune is an old Welsh melody, and the familiar English words, including this one, were written by Thomas Oliphant in 1862. “Tis” is a short form of “it is.”
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