Bring calm, screen-free fun to the festive season with three open-count I-Spy challenges, a matching game and a create-your-own puzzle.
From the bookshelf
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A festive search-and-find activity for curious kids
Christmas brings plenty of excitement, but families also need activities that help children slow down and focus. This printable pack turns familiar festive objects into observation games that can be used at home, during classroom quiet time, while travelling or when children are waiting for the next celebration to begin.
The three main I-Spy pages use an open-count format. Children look for every gift, bell, candy cane, stocking, star and other target, then write the number they found. The key does not prescribe a total or restrict the search to one colour, so children can concentrate on recognising shapes and checking their own count.
What is included?
- A grown-up guide with five ways to support careful searching.
- Christmas Morning I-Spy with festive gifts, bells, candy canes, stockings and stars.
- North Pole Workshop I-Spy featuring mittens, trees, ornaments, gifts and bells.
- Snowy Night I-Spy with snowmen and other winter favourites.
- A visual matching activity with six festive pairs.
- A blank grid and search key for creating an original I-Spy puzzle.
- A Christmas I-Spy Super Sleuth certificate.
How to approach an I-Spy page
Read the target strip together before searching. Some children like to circle objects as they find them, while others prefer to make a small pencil mark beside the key. Encourage the child to scan in a pattern: from left to right across each row, from top to bottom or by dividing the picture into smaller sections.
After a child records an answer, invite them to count that object again. This is not about catching a mistake. It teaches a useful checking habit and demonstrates that careful counters sometimes revise their first answer. If two counts differ, search together for the object that may have been skipped or counted twice.
Observation and early learning
Search-and-find activities ask children to hold a visual target in mind, distinguish it from similar objects and ignore distractions. At the same time, children practise one-to-one counting, number recording and positional language. Questions such as “Which bell is above a gift?” or “Can you find a stocking beside a tree?” add useful vocabulary without turning play into a formal lesson.
The matching page provides a gentler follow-up. Children draw lines between identical objects, then choose several pictures for a short festive story. The create-your-own page changes the child from puzzle solver to puzzle designer. They decide which objects to draw, repeat them across the grid and prepare a key for a sibling, friend or adult to solve.
Adjusting the difficulty
For younger children, cover part of the page and search one section at a time. Focus on only two targets before adding more. Developing counters can work independently and explain their scanning strategy. Older children can use a timer, compare two pages or create a puzzle with similar-looking objects that require closer attention.
There is no need to complete every page in one session. One successful search can be enough. Save the remaining activities for another quiet moment so the pack continues to feel fresh and enjoyable.
Printing and activity guidance
- Print at Actual Size or 100% on US Letter paper.
- Use standard quality for everyday play or high quality for sharper small icons.
- Choose pencil for answers that children may wish to check and change.
- Place completed pages in reusable sleeves for repeated searches.
- Adult supervision is recommended for scissors and art materials.
Keep the festive adventure going
Children can extend the pack by drawing a Christmas room, snowy garden or North Pole workshop filled with their own repeating objects. This resource also pairs naturally with LittleFunLab Christmas search-and-find books and the Journal’s holiday activity ideas.
Usage note: This printable is supplied for personal, family or classroom activity use.
How to use this free resource
Use these visual guides to practise careful scanning, record each child’s own total and extend the activity by creating a brand-new festive I-Spy puzzle.
