Large Print Christmas Around the World Word Search

Six countries, Mexico, Italy, Sweden, Germany, England and France, sit beside customs that travel with the season: a piñata, a pot of tamales, Las Posadas, Advent, the outdoor Christmas markets and a box of crackers. It suits a group whose families came from many places. Each country can open a story about where a parent or grandparent grew up, or a trip someone once took.

This edition hides the first 12 of the theme’s 20 words in an 11×11 grid, never backwards. How our large print puzzles work.

All 20 words in this theme: Mexico, Italy, Sweden, Germany, England, France, Pinata, Tamales, Posadas, Advent, Markets, Crackers, Panettone, Stollen, Befana, Saint Lucia, Boxing Day, Poinsettia, Sinterklaas, Lebkuchen.

• Las Posadas lasts nine nights, from December 16 to 24, recalling Mary and Joseph’s search for a place to stay.
• Christmas crackers were invented in London by a candy maker, Tom Smith, in the 1840s.
• The poinsettia is named for Joel Poinsett, the first U.S. minister to Mexico, who sent plants home in the 1820s.

• Did your family keep a Christmas custom from another country?
• Have you ever spent Christmas away from home? Where?
• Have you tasted panettone, stollen or tamales at Christmas?
• Which tradition here would you like to try this year?
• What Christmas foods did your grandparents make?

Activity tip: Bring a world map or a globe and put a small sticker on each country as people find it in the grid. It makes a nice talking point for anyone with family overseas.