How it works
Pick a level
Easy for early readers. Hard hides words in all eight directions, including backwards.
Download or print
One clean US Letter page, with the answer key on page two. Nothing to sign up for.
Grab a pencil
Or solve on screen: tap the first and last letter of each word you find.
About this puzzle
Big, bold letters and fewer, longer words: an easier-on-the-eyes nativity word search. The Christmas story as Luke and Matthew tell it: Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem, a babe in swaddling clothes in a manger, shepherds keeping watch over their flocks and wise men bringing gold and myrrh. A Nativity word search for Advent, Christmas programs and children’s church.
The large print edition uses an 11×11 grid that fills a letter-size page, and words only run across, down or diagonally down.
All 20 words in this theme: Jesus, Mary, Joseph, Bethlehem, Manger, Inn, Shepherds, Angels, Gabriel, Star, Wise Men, Gold, Myrrh, Nazareth, Herod, Swaddling, Flocks, Glory, Emmanuel, Babe.
Talk about it
Questions to share while solving, for activity groups, memory care or a visit with family:
- Did you ever take part in a Christmas pageant? Which part did you play?
- Does your family set out a nativity scene? Who unpacks it each year?
- Which Christmas carol about the nativity is your favorite?
- Did your church have a Christmas Eve service you remember?
- What is your earliest memory of Christmas?
Activity tip: Sing or play “Silent Night” or “O Little Town of Bethlehem” while people solve, and read Luke 2:8–14 when everyone has finished.
Questions
How big are the letters?
The grid fills most of a letter-size page, with letters about one and a half times the size of a regular (Medium) word search, and the word list is printed in large type too.
Are these suitable for memory care or activity groups?
Yes. Words only run left to right, top to bottom or diagonally down, so the puzzles are relaxing rather than tricky. Print as many copies as your group needs.
Is there a harder version?
Every theme also has a regular print edition with Easy, Medium and Hard levels.