12 Days of Christmas Word Search in Large Print
PARTRIDGE, TURTLEDOVES, GOLDRINGS — the whole song, from the pear tree to the drummers, in large, easy-to-read letters.
5 puzzles · 88 words · 12 × 12 to 18 × 18 grids · Free to print and photocopy, with every answer key included as page two of its PDF.
Puzzle 1 — The twelve gifts
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Puzzle 2 — On the first day of Christmas
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Puzzle 3 — The twelve days of the season
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Puzzle 4 — Gentler 12×12 grid
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Puzzle 5 — Tougher 18×18 grid
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Make one with your own words. Grandchildren's names, this week's menu, the streets of a hometown: the free word search maker prints them in the same big letters, with an answer key.
More large print word searches
The song, one gift at a time
The first puzzle is the song itself: a PARTRIDGE in a PEARTREE, two TURTLEDOVES, three FRENCHHENS, four CALLINGBIRDS, five GOLDRINGS, and on up to the PIPERS and DRUMMERS. Each line is split into single words where a grid needs it, so geese a-laying becomes GEESE and LAYING. Add up every gift across all twelve verses and the true love hands over 364 of them.
The second puzzle is the counting — FIRST through TWELFTH — which is how the song was meant to be used. It was printed in England around 1780 in a children’s book called Mirth Without Mischief as a memory-and-forfeits game: each player added the next line, and anyone who slipped paid a FORFEIT. The tune most people sing, with its long hold on “five gold rings”, was arranged by Frederic Austin in 1909.
Twelve days, not one
The twelve days of Christmas begin on Christmas Day and run to Twelfth Night, the eve of Epiphany on January 6 (traditions differ on whether the count starts on the 25th or the 26th). The third puzzle walks through them: St Stephen’s Day on December 26, the feast Good King WENCESLAS looked out on; Holy Innocents on the 28th; New Year’s Eve and AULDLANGSYNE; the old LORDOFMISRULE and the MUMMERS; and the KINGCAKE and TWELFTHCAKE that close the season.
That makes this a natural set for the slow stretch after Christmas, when the decorations are still up and the activity calendar is thin. Between this page and the other Christmas puzzles on the site there are well over twelve sheets, so you can hand out one a day from Christmas to Epiphany.
Planning puzzles for a care home or senior center? The memory care activities page lays the whole year out as a printable monthly calendar, and activities for nursing home residents covers what works for a mixed group.
Which size should you print?
Every puzzle on this page fills one US Letter sheet. What changes is how many letters share it — fewer letters means each one prints larger. The gentler grid is the one to reach for if reading the page is the hard part; the tougher grid is for solvers who want a long hunt and find the standard size too quick.
Want a whole page at one size instead? The extra large print puzzles use 10×10 grids with our biggest letters, the jumbo and easy pages use 12×12, and the giant and hard pages pack 22–24 words into an 18×18 grid.
Frequently asked questions
How do I print these 12 days of christmas word searches?
Click "Download PDF" under any puzzle for a print-ready US Letter file (the answer key is included as page two), or click "Print" to send it straight to your printer. Both print well on A4 too. Print at 100% scale — avoid "fit to page", which can shrink the grid.
How large is the print in these puzzles?
Each 15 × 15 grid fills a full US Letter page, so the letters print in about 20-point type, about three-sixteenths of an inch tall. That is bigger than the 16- to 18-point type used in large-print books. This page also has a 12×12 grid at about 27-point and an 18×18 grid at about 14-point. Everything uses the Atkinson Hyperlegible typeface, designed by the Braille Institute for low-vision readers.
How hard are these puzzles?
Words run across, down and diagonally, but never backwards. There are 88 words to find across 5 puzzles, and every answer key is free with the PDFs.
Can I photocopy these puzzles for a group?
Yes — print and photocopy them freely for your family, classroom, library, activity group or care home. That is exactly what they are for.
What are the 12 gifts in the Twelve Days of Christmas?
A partridge in a pear tree, two turtle doves, three French hens, four calling birds, five gold rings, six geese a-laying, seven swans a-swimming, eight maids a-milking, nine ladies dancing, ten lords a-leaping, eleven pipers piping and twelve drummers drumming. Every one is hidden in the first puzzle.
How many puzzles are there, and what sizes?
Five: three 15×15 grids of 18 words each (the gifts, the counting, and the days of the season), a gentler 12×12 with the 12 shortest words across and down only, and a tougher 18×18 with the 22 longest words hidden in all eight directions.
Can I use these as a 12 days of Christmas activity for seniors?
Yes. Sing a verse, then find that day’s gift in the first puzzle, or print one Christmas sheet from the site for each of the twelve days. Every puzzle is free to print and photocopy for a care home or senior center, with the answer key on page two of each PDF.