Christmas Movie Word Search in Large Print
HOLIDAYINN, BINGCROSBY, ZUZUSPETALS — the Christmas films a lot of us grew up with, in big, clear letters.
5 puzzles · 86 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 — Classic Christmas films
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Puzzle 2 — Stars of the Christmas screen
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Puzzle 3 — Characters and famous moments
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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.
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The films everyone has seen at least once
Most families have a Christmas film that comes round every year, and for anyone over seventy it is usually one from the 1940s or 1950s. Holiday Inn (1942) is where Bing Crosby first sang White Christmas; It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) gave us Clarence, the angel second class; Miracle on 34th Street (1947) won Edmund Gwenn an Oscar for playing Kris Kringle. The first puzzle hides the titles, the second the stars, the third the characters and the moments people quote.
Some titles are too long to fit a grid whole, so the word list uses the part people remember: WONDERFULLIFE, MIRACLE for Miracle on 34th Street, BISHOPSWIFE for The Bishop’s Wife, CONNECTICUT for Christmas in Connecticut. The 18×18 grid has room for the full WHITECHRISTMAS, MEETMEINSTLOUIS and BELLSOFSTMARYS.
A reminiscence puzzle as much as a word search
This is the Christmas sheet most likely to start a conversation. Somebody finds ZUZUSPETALS or the LEGLAMP and the room is off — where they first saw it, who they saw it with, whether the picture house had a balcony. Read the word list aloud before you start; half the fun is people telling you which ones they know.
The films run from the 1940s to the early 2000s on purpose, so a grandparent and a grandchild can each find their own: REDRYDER and RALPHIE from A Christmas Story at one end, BUDDY from Elf and the POLAREXPRESS at the other. If a film session is on the activity calendar, print the puzzle for the same afternoon.
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 christmas movies 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 86 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.
Which Christmas movies are in these puzzles?
The classic films — It’s a Wonderful Life, Holiday Inn, Miracle on 34th Street, The Bishop’s Wife, Christmas in Connecticut, Scrooge, White Christmas, Meet Me in St. Louis and The Bells of St. Mary’s — alongside the TV specials Rudolph, the Grinch and A Charlie Brown Christmas, and later favorites such as A Christmas Story, Home Alone, Elf and The Polar Express.
How many puzzles are on this page, and how hard are they?
Five. Three standard 15×15 grids (films, stars, and characters) with 16 to 18 words each, running across, down and diagonally; a gentler 12×12 with 12 short words across and down only; and an 18×18 with 22 long titles and names hidden in all eight directions.
Is this a good activity for a care home film afternoon?
Yes. Hand the puzzle out before or after the film, read the word list aloud first, and let people talk about the ones they remember. The 12×12 sheet suits anyone who finds the standard grid hard to read.