Word searches, or word finds, are great boredom busters for all ages! Check out these free Christmas word search printables to help get in the festive mood.
These word finds are relaxing and fun. They are a great way to take a break from digital technology and are a really simple way to engage in a little brain activity. You can keep them in your handbag for those moments when the kids need a bit of distracting (waiting rooms, anyone?!). Or pack them in the car when you’re heading away on holiday. And they are a great way to celebrate upcoming holidays. We often rely on food and decorations to set the scene, but activities like these can really get you in the holiday spirit too!
One thing that I always find a bit of a challenge is finding activities that suit a range of ages. Word finds are perfect for this! You can set up the younger kids with easier ones, the older kids with more difficult ones, and it will keep everyone busy at the same time.
Word finds are a great activity
- Just like sudokus and crosswords, word searches are good for keeping the brain active. The brain has to look for clues in order to find the words. (And I like to pop in a few false starts too! So watch out for these).
- Any activity off screens is a bonus! And sometimes kids just need a ‘bridging’ activity when screen time is up to help them think of other activities they can do. If your kids suffer from “time to get off tantrums”, try this little trick out and see how it goes for your family.
- Word finds come in all shapes and sizes! They are just as much fun for young kids as they are for older kids. You just need to step up the difficulty.
Christmas word search printables
Today I want to share with you these super fun word finds I’ve made to celebrate Christmas! Simply click on one of the links below, print out the word find and get searching!
10 word Christmas word find (suitable for ages 5-8 years old)
15 word Christmas word find (suitable for ages 9-12 years old)
20 word Christmas word find (suitable for teens and above)
Create your own word search
And you can easily make your own word finds too! Here is a template you can use yourself and it’s really easy. This is what I’ve used to create the grid. You can just follow these quick and easy steps below. Or for more detailed instructions check out my post on DIY word finds.
- First, brainstorm a list of words you want to use. I use ten words for 5-8 years old, fifteen words for 9-12 years old and twenty words for teens (and adults!).
- Next, open this template and save a copy to your own computer. Then you can open your saved copy, and close my template so you don’t get confused between the two.
- From your own copy, pick the table that you want to use (there is one for each age group).
- Start by putting in the words from your list. These can be up, down, across, diagonal, backwards. Any direction you like. This is how you make it as easy or hard as you want. I reckon the hardest words to find go diagonally backwards! As you enter the words make sure to list them below the table also, so you remember which ones you need to look for.
- Then fill in the rest of the blank spaces with random letters.
- You can either leave it like that, or if you want to get rid of the black lines you can select the table properties and choose ‘0 pt’ for the table border.
- And that’s it! Print it out and challenge your kids to a race.
Once the kids get the hang of them, they may even want to make their own word finds for each other.
Looking for more? Grab my free Easter word find printables here!