Holiday Triples Puzzle
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In this winter holiday-themed word puzzle, you must carefully arrange the letter trio cards to spell a variety of Christmas related words. Can you solve this Christmas challenge from Erich Friedman?
This puzzle is just one of many word triple puzzles that I have created for my own classroom and am sharing with you!
Be sure to check out my entire collection of free printable word puzzles.
You also might be interested in the winter version of this puzzle called Winter Triples.
Looking for more Christmas activities and puzzles for your classroom? Here’s just a few examples of the other holiday activities I have created.
Puzzle Instructions
Combine the letter trios to spell out some words associated with Christmas. Each trio of letters will be used exactly once.
For example, RIB and BON can be combined to form RIBBON. What other Christmas themed words will you be able to find?
Puzzle Inspiration
This “Holiday Triples” puzzle was published by Erich Friedman in 2013 as part of a holiday puzzles collection. I knew it would make the perfect interactive puzzle for my math classroom! I discovered this puzzle and ended up creating my own holiday-inspired Halloween Triples Puzzle and Thanksgiving Triples Puzzle.
Back in April, I also shared a math-word version of this triples puzzle that can be used year-round!
Prepping the Puzzle
I printed the letter trio pages on green colored paper and it through my laminator before cutting the pieces apart.
I put ceramic disc magnets on the back of each word card so the puzzle could hang on my dry erase board. This is completely optional. For my Halloween and Thanksgiving versions of this puzzle, I just put the cards in ziplock bags and had students take the cards to their table to work on the puzzle.
Using the Puzzle in the Classroom
I am currently this puzzle as my puzzle of the week. My students have been really engaged with it. Since we have done the same puzzle for different holidays, I had a bunch of students jump right in and solve it since they already knew how the puzzle worked.
Free Download of Holiday Triples Puzzle
This puzzle is available to download in two formats: PDF and publisher.
PDF Version (Non-Editable)
Click here to DownloadHoliday Triples Puzzle (PDF)
1996 downloads – 42.76 KB
Publisher Version (Editable – Requires Microsoft Publish to Edit)
Click here to Download
Holiday Triples Puzzle (Editable Publisher File ZIP)
1299 downloads – 49.47 KB
Puzzle Solutions
Puzzle solutions are available on a password-protected solution page. I do not openly post the puzzle answer keys because one of my goals as a resource creator is to craft learning experiences for students that are non-google-able. I want teachers to be able to use these puzzles in their classrooms without the solutions being found easily on the Internet.
Please email me at sarah@mathequalslove.net for the password to the answer key database featuring all of my printable puzzles and math worksheets. I frequently have students emailing me for the answer key, so please specify in your email what school you teach at and what subjects you teach. If you do not provide these details, I will not be able to send you the password.
Not a teacher? Go ahead and send me an email as well. Just let me know what you are using the puzzles for. I am continually in awe of how many people are using these puzzles with scouting groups, with senior adults battling dementia, or as fun activities in their workplace. Just give me enough details so I know you are not a student looking for answers to the puzzle that was assigned as their homework!
