Christmas Word Game Sheets: a Scramble and 2 Pencil Games: how it works
Here is a Christmas word game for every table, from the kids' corner to the grandparents. The tool makes a Christmas word scramble with an answer key, to print or to play on screen. Below it are two pencil games that need only paper: how many words can you make from MERRY CHRISTMAS, and a Christmas A to Z. All 274 words are listed under the tool.
Make a Christmas word scramble
The tool makes a scramble worksheet and its answer key from the Christmas list, to print or to play on screen. You can also type your own words, such as the names of the guests. The list has three levels. Easy is 65 words of 4 to 6 letters, such as Holly and Fudge. Medium is 65 longer words, such as Mistletoe and Marshmallow. Hard is 58 two-word phrases, such as Yule log and Rocking horse. Three sheets are ready to print: Easy, Medium and Hard, with one answer key for all three. On the Hard sheet each word of a phrase is scrambled on its own.
Read the full guide
Two pencil games: MERRY CHRISTMAS and A to Z
How many words can you make? Print the MERRY CHRISTMAS sheet or write the phrase across a blank page. Players get five minutes to write words of three letters or more, using each letter only as often as the phrase has it: M twice, R three times, S twice. No names, and not merry or Christmas. Score 1 point for 3 letters, 2 for 4, 3 for 5, 5 for 6 and 8 for 7 or more. If two players wrote the same word, both cross it out. Our 60 checked answers run from Ham to Asymmetric. Christmas A to Z: on the A to Z sheet, write one Christmas word for each letter in five minutes. Score 1 point a word, or 2 if nobody else wrote it. The sample answers cover all 26 letters.
Free Christmas word games printable on plain paper
Each sheet is a black-and-white page that fits Letter or A4. Open it, choose Print in your browser and run one copy per player. For the five minutes, use a kitchen timer or the clock on a phone. The list under the tool shows all 274 words and phrases in five groups, with the points beside each MERRY CHRISTMAS answer.
Tips
- Give kids the Easy scramble and adults the Hard one at the same table, and the race is fair.
- For teams, pair a strong speller with a young reader: one sheet, one pencil.
- MERRY CHRISTMAS has no O, N, D, L or U, so forget endings such as -ing and -ed. Hunt for -s, -y and -er: hearts, starry, trimmer.
- Q, X and Z decide a close A to Z game. Agree before you start whether Xmas counts, and whether a stretch such as Quilt or Zest scores.
- At the end, swap sheets and read the answer key aloud, so nobody marks their own spelling.
Questions and answers
Are these Christmas word games printable free of charge?
Yes. All eight sheets open as plain pages with no sign-up: three scrambles, the MERRY CHRISTMAS sheet, the A to Z sheet and three answer keys. Print as many copies as the party, the class or the church hall needs. The word list is original, so copy from it into games of your own.
How many words can you make from MERRY CHRISTMAS?
Our checked list has 60, worth 288 points on the scoring table, and it is a sample, not the full set. It runs from three-letter words such as Ham and Icy to Chemistry, Symmetric and the ten-letter Asymmetric.
What ages are these games for?
The Easy scramble and the A to Z sheet suit readers of about seven and up. The Medium and Hard scrambles suit ages ten to adult. MERRY CHRISTMAS works at any age, because long words score well and short ones still count. Every word is clean, and none is a brand, a film or a song title.
How do we settle a word nobody is sure about?
Choose one dictionary before you start, and let the host look words up only after time is called. A word counts if it has its own entry, is spelled right and is not a name. Decide early whether a plural counts as a second word. In a scramble, give the point for any real word made from the same letters, such as Silent for Tinsel.
Can we play without a printer?
Yes. For MERRY CHRISTMAS and A to Z, each player needs only blank paper: write the phrase across the top, or the alphabet down the margin. For a scramble, the host copies the jumbled letters onto a whiteboard, and players write the answers. The tool also has an on-screen play mode for anyone holding a phone.