Free printables · ages 3 to 8
Christmas activity sheets
Word searches, picture bingo, mazes and a few quiet ones for the sofa, with pictures from our own Christmas book.
There are seven sheets, with two levels where it matters: a picture word search for children who can't read yet and a bigger one for those who can, a wide maze for small hands and a twisty one for big ones. They all print in black and white, in US Letter or A4, and every answer key is in the PDF, which we found we needed too.
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Free Christmas activity sheets
Print at 100%, not "fit to page", so the bingo boards come out the size they should. Each PDF keeps its answers after the puzzle (on I spy, upside down at the bottom), so small eyes don't land on them first.
Picture word search
Six words in big letters, each with its picture, so a child who can't read yet matches the shapes. Every word runs across or down. The answers are on page 2.
Ages 4 to 5 · 2 pages · PDF
Christmas word search
Twelve words in a 12 by 12 grid, from SANTA to GINGERBREAD. They run across, down and on a slant, never backwards, and page 2 shows where.
Ages 6 to 8 · 2 pages · PDF
Picture bingo
Eight different boards, two to a page, with pictures instead of numbers (half of them from our book), then 16 calling cards to cut out and pull from a bowl.
Ages 3 to 8 · 5 pages · PDF
Two Christmas mazes
Dancer has to find the sleigh (wide paths, ages 4 to 5), then Santa has a longer way to the little glass box (ages 6 to 8). Both solutions are on page 3.
Ages 4 to 8 · 3 pages · PDF
I spy Christmas
Twenty pictures from our book, all jumbled up. Count each kind, color a box for every one, and the answers are upside down at the bottom.
Ages 3 to 6 · 1 page · PDF
Dot to dot
Two pages: join the dots to find a candy cane, then Santa's balloon, whose ropes and basket are already waiting underneath.
Ages 4 to 6 · 2 pages · PDF
Trace the Christmas words
Six words to trace, from star to sleigh, each beside a picture, with a line next to it to write the word once more.
Ages 4 to 6 · 1 page · PDF
Free for home and classroom use. To pass them on, please share the link to this page and not the file.
Which one first?
Which sheet for which age
Ages are only a guess, and a five year old who loves mazes will do the big one anyway.
Ages 3 to 4
- Picture bingoNobody has to read. They only have to shout out what they see.
- I spyThey count up to six with a finger and color a box for each one.
- Dot to dotPut your hand over theirs for the first few numbers, then let go.
Ages 4 to 5
- The picture word searchThey match the letters to the word under each picture, so it works before reading does.
- Tracing wordsSix short words, from star to sleigh, in big dotted letters.
- Dancer's mazeThe paths are about an inch wide, and there are only two dead ends.
Ages 6 to 8
- The big word searchTwelve words, and some of them hide on a slant.
- Santa's mazeIt's the long way round to the little glass box, 78 squares from start to finish.
- Bingo callerThey read the cards out loud and run the whole game, which they will enjoy far too much.
The one the whole table can play
How to play Christmas picture bingo
- Print the bingo PDF. Pages 1 to 4 have two boards each, so cut along the dotted line. Page 5 is the calling cards: cut them out, fold them and drop them in a bowl (a hat works, and so does a clean sock).
- Give every player a board and something to cover the pictures with: cereal, buttons, scraps of paper. A three year old who still puts things in their mouth can color the square with a crayon instead.
- The caller pulls out a card, says it out loud and holds it up. Everyone who has that picture covers it.
- Three in a row wins, across, down or corner to corner, and the winner gets to shout something festive. We like "Ho ho ho!" For a longer game, keep going until a whole board is covered.
Why eight different boards
No two players get the same board, and no two boards share more than six pictures, so the whole table can't win on the same call. With more than eight children, play in teams of two or three to a board.
For teachers and room parents
A class Christmas party, sorted
About 40 minutes for a class of 24, and nothing to buy except a box of cereal for the bingo.
As they come in · 10 minutes
A word search on every desk: the picture one for children who aren't reading yet, the big one for those who are. Keep page 2 for yourself.
Picture bingo · 15 minutes
Eight teams of three, a board each. Two games of three in a row, then one to a full board.
Quiet tables · 10 minutes
I spy, dot to dot and tracing words for anyone who needs to sit down for a bit.
Home time · 5 minutes
A maze each for the book bag. The answers stay with you, obviously.
What to print for 24 children
- Picture bingo: one copy (5 pages), for eight teams
- A word search: 24 copies of page 1, in the level that fits
- I spy and dot to dot: 8 of each for the quiet tables
- Mazes: 24 copies of page 1 or 2
Or print from one file: the activity pack has every sheet in one PDF. Ask for the pack.
Our own book
The Christmas Secret
A Christmas Eve picture book with a read-along · ages 3 to 7 · out on October 20
The candy cane, the sleigh, the little glass box and the gingerbread man with the blue buttons on these sheets were all painted for The Christmas Secret, our Christmas Eve picture book. In the story, gingerbread people help load the presents into Santa's balloon, and the girl telling it can hardly believe it herself:
The gingerbread people smelled freshly baked! But who brought them to life? And how was I talking to a warm cookie with blue buttons?
Questions
Grown-ups ask
What are good Christmas activities for preschoolers?
Ones that don't need reading and don't take long. Picture bingo is the favorite, because a three year old only has to say what they see. I spy has them counting to six with a finger, the dot to dots go up to 22 and 27, and the picture word search works before reading does: they match the letters to the word under each picture. Ten minutes is plenty. Then let them color.
What can we do at a classroom Christmas party?
Picture bingo in teams is the easiest win: eight different boards, three children to a board, and a bowl of calling cards. Add a word search on the desks while everyone arrives, and I spy or dot to dot for a quiet table. Here's our 40 minute plan for a class of 24, with what to print.
How do you play Christmas picture bingo?
Everyone gets a board of nine pictures. The caller pulls a card from a bowl, says what's on it and shows it, and anyone with that picture covers it with a piece of cereal or a button. The first to get three in a row, across, down or corner to corner, wins. For a longer game, play until a whole board is covered. There's more in how to play.
Are the answer keys included?
Yes, in the same PDF. The word searches have theirs on page 2, the mazes on page 3, and the I spy answers are printed upside down at the bottom of the sheet, so a child can check by turning the page round. If you'd rather keep the answers to yourself, print page 1 only.
Can I print these for my class?
Yes, as many as you like. They're free for home and classroom use. If you want to pass them on to another teacher, please share the link to this page rather than the file.
Why are the sheets black and white?
So your child can color them, and so they're kind to your printer. The pictures from our book print in soft grays and the drawn ones as outlines, and both take crayon nicely.
Can these go in a Christmas Eve box?
They're made for it. Roll a maze or the picture word search round a pencil, tie it with ribbon, and it buys you a quiet half hour while the hot chocolate cools. Our Christmas Eve box ideas page lists what else goes in, age by age, and our Christmas Eve page walks you through the night itself, from Santa's plate to the floury boot prints by the tree.
More Christmas
Or see all of them on one page, from the weeks before Christmas to the night itself.
Christmas EvePlan the evening together, print a card for Santa's plate and his boot prints, and find every Christmas page in the order it happens.
24 Doors, the advent calendar by emailOne door by email every morning from December 1 to 24: a riddle, something to make, a kind mission, and now and then an animal that steps into your room.
Christmas scavenger huntRhyming clues from one of Santa's elves for Christmas morning and Christmas Eve, and Santa's own candy cane hunt from our book, which ends at the bookshelf.
Letter to Santa and wish listDraw it, trace it or write it: a letter to Santa for every age, a wish list, and Santa's real addresses.
A letter from SantaSanta writes back, in his own handwriting: your child's name, two good things they did this year, and notes for Christmas morning.
How many sleeps until Christmas?Count the sleeps with the little glass box from our story, and print a paper chain that loses a link every night.
Christmas Eve box ideasWhat goes in the box at every age from 1 to 8, with box labels, name tags and a key for Father Christmas to print.
Book advent calendarHow to make one on any budget, with 24 numbered tags to print and 24 picture books by age.
Christmas picture booksTwelve new ones for 2026 and 24 classics by age, with how long each one takes to read aloud.
Santa's reindeer namesLearn all eight in order with our rhyme, print the poster, and find out what real reindeer are like.
Reindeer foodOats and seeds in a bowl, never glitter, with our own poem and bag toppers and tags with your child's name.
Santa's nice listA certificate for kind things only, signed by Santa, and 24 kind things to do in December.
Christmas gift tagsEveryone's names fit on one sheet of tags in the pictures of our book, and Santa's own tags come signed.
Christmas elf namesSpin up an elf name from a first letter and a birthday month, and make it official with a badge or an elf ID card.
The candy cane storyCandy canes were plain white until about 1900. Read what happened next and the legends, then print blank canes to stripe your own way.