Create a Holiday Word Find

What You Need:

• Plain white paper
• Ruler
• Pencil
• Fine-tipped black marker or pen

What You Do:

1. Invite your child to think of several words that have to do with the holiday season, such as "ornament,"  "snow" or grandma's "cookies." Offer him a sheet of scrap paper and pencil to write down his ideas.
2. To make the word finding area he'll start out by making a square using the ruler and pencil. A 7-by-7 inch square filled with lines a half-inch apart creates a perfect grid for a word search.
3. After drawing the outside square for the grid he'll next use the ruler to measure and mark dots at every half-inch onto the perimeter of the square. Then it's as simple as drawing the straight lines with pen.
4. Once the grid has been created, have him write some or all of the words he thought up into the grid. He can have them connected or floating alone within the word search; going horizontally, vertically, or diagonally!
5. Encourage your child to fill in the rest of the word find using random letters.
6. Now he can write the words he selected along the bottom of the paper so others can look for them in his holiday word search.
7. Help your child make copies of his finished word find for others to enjoy during your next holiday gathering. (He can offer a fun prize to the person that finds all his hidden words first!)

This activity is so easy to personalize and include words meaningful to the people who'll be playing; they can even be mailed out as part of a unique holiday card.