A pencil trail reaches the cookies, takes a wrong turn, and ends beside the couch. Santa is still waiting at the other end of the page. An eraser leaves room to try the other hallway.
Download 12 free Christmas mazes for kids, with four puzzles at each level: easy for ages 3–5, medium for ages 6–8, and hard for ages 9–12. The PDFs include original Idunn illustrations and separate answer keys. Start with wide paths or choose a longer route through Santa’s workshop. Jump to: printable mazes · answer keys · choose a level · solving tips · a book for a 5-year-old · make your own · classroom and stocking stuffers
Where can I print free Christmas mazes for kids?
Choose a level below and print its four mazes. For a mix of games, the Christmas activity pages include other things to do around the table.
| Level | Suggested ages | What changes | Start with |
|---|---|---|---|
| Easy | 3–5 | Wide paths, short routes, and a few simple choices | Cookies for Santa |
| Medium | 6–8 | More dead ends and one pictured item to collect | The elf’s missing ribbon |
| Hard | 9–12 | Denser routes, a bridge, or a choice of entrances | Sleigh across the rooftops |
The ages are Idunn’s starting suggestions; use the quick level check to choose.
Easy Christmas mazes for preschoolers: ages 3–5
The easy set has room for a finger or crayon to follow the path. Read the mission aloud and point out the start and finish.
| Maze | Mission |
|---|---|
| E1 · Cookies for Santa | Bring the plate of cookies from the kitchen to Santa by the fireplace. |
| E2 · The snowman’s hat | Take the hat from the porch to the snowman in the yard. |
| E3 · Reindeer at the barn | Help the reindeer follow the snowy path to its barn. |
| E4 · Sled to the hill | Guide the toy sled from the front door to the little hill. |
If the pencil keeps bumping into a wall, let your child finish with a finger. You can draw the line they point out.
Medium Christmas mazes: ages 6–8
Each medium maze adds a stop along the way. The picture in the instructions shows what to collect before reaching the finish; your child can circle it when the route passes through it.
| Maze | Mission |
|---|---|
| M1 · The elf’s missing ribbon | Pick up the ribbon, then bring the elf to the wrapping table. |
| M2 · Light up the house | Collect the missing bulb before taking the string of lights to the house. |
| M3 · Mail to the North Pole | Collect the letter and bring it to the North Pole mailbox. |
| M4 · Finish the snowman | Pick up the carrot before reaching the snowman. |
Read the whole mission together first, including what to collect.
Hard Christmas mazes: ages 9–12
Two hard pages introduce bridges; the other two ask your child to choose an entrance. Read the rule box together before starting.
| Maze | Mission and extra rule |
|---|---|
| H1 · Sleigh across the rooftops | Reach the last chimney. At the bridge, follow your path straight across or underneath. |
| H2 · North Pole express | Bring the train to the station; the crossing tracks pass over and under each other. |
| H3 · The workshop entrance | Choose door A or B: only one leads to the finished toy. |
| H4 · Home through the lights | Choose gate A or B to reach the front porch through the neighborhood. |
At a bridge, the two paths cross at different heights. Keep following the same path through the crossing; turns happen at open junctions.
Where are the Christmas maze answer keys?
All 12 solutions are in a separate answer file, labeled E1–E4, M1–M4, and H1–H4 to match the puzzle pages. The medium answers show the required stop; the hard answers identify the correct entrance or show how the route crosses a bridge. Print the puzzles at full size on US Letter or A4, one per sheet, single-sided. Keep the answer pages aside. Check that all four edges of the maze appear in the print preview.
For a small hint, cover most of the answer key with scrap paper and reveal just the junction where your child got stuck. Let them trace from that point.
Which level is right for your child?
Try the first maze in a set and watch what happens at the first fork. Can your child choose a path, notice a dead end, and return to try another?
- Begin with E1 if mazes are new. Read the mission and let your child trace with a finger. If they follow the route comfortably and want more turns, try M1.
- Use M1 to try a stop along the route. Can they find the ribbon and keep going to the wrapping table? If the extra stop takes over the game, stay with the easy set for now.
- Offer H1 when they ask for a longer puzzle. Explain the bridge first. Let them decide whether to continue or return to a shorter page.
Children sharing the table can choose different levels and compare their finished pictures. For puzzles beyond December, save the mazes for kids collection.
What are some tips to solve a maze?
Trace lightly, check one branch at a time, and return to the last junction when a path ends. These moves leave a record your child can use on the next attempt.
- Try a finger first. Follow the passage between the walls. Switch to pencil when your child wants to mark the route.
- Put a small X at a dead end. Then backtrack to the nearest fork and choose an untried branch.
- Look from the finish. On an ordinary start-to-finish maze, try tracing backward to meet the route already found. On a mission maze, still check that the completed route collects the required item.
- Pause at crossings. Look for the bridge marks before deciding where the path goes.
The University of Cambridge’s NRICH number-maze activity asks children to keep track of routes they have already tried. You can use that same idea here with a light pencil mark at each closed branch.
When your child asks for help, try “Which turn would you like to check?” and wait. If they want a demonstration, show how to backtrack on a separate page, then return the pencil.
What is a good maze book for a 5-year-old?
Choose a book with wide paths, clear start and finish pictures, short opening puzzles, paper that holds up to pencil and erasing, and answer keys at the back. Look at an inside page before choosing: the space between the walls matters more than the number of puzzles on the cover.
Check whether the route disappears into the binding and whether the instructions need an adult to read them. Choose themes your child likes: cookies, snowmen, or a familiar toy.
Age labels offer a starting point. A book that separates beginner and more experienced levels is useful for a 5-year-old who has already filled a first maze book: they can move up without jumping straight to dense grids.
Try Cookies for Santa to find a starting level before choosing a longer collection.
How can you make a Christmas maze at home?
Start with a route that works, then add wrong turns. On paper, you need graph paper, a pencil, an eraser, and a darker pen; on the floor, a few strips of painter’s tape can mark the walls.
Draw one on graph paper
- Choose the mission. Draw a cookie plate near one edge and Santa near the opposite edge. Leave room between them for the maze.
- Sketch the solution lightly. Draw a winding pencil line between the pictures, following the grid. Leave several squares between neighboring stretches so you have room for walls and branches.
- Build the passage. Draw a wall on each side of that line, leaving a corridor about two squares wide and both ends open.
- Add wrong turns. Open a few gaps in the side walls and extend each into a short branch with its own two walls. Close the far end of each branch and keep it separate from the other passages.
- Erase and test. Erase the faint solution line. Check that every wall joins properly, then ask someone else to trace from the cookies to Santa.
Let your child make one for you, too. They can draw the pictures while you help keep a branch from accidentally joining the main route again.
Make a floor maze
You lay down short tape walls on a clear floor, leaving wide passages and one or two dead ends. Test the tape on the surface first and press its edges flat. Put a paper snowman at the finish; your child walks through to deliver a drawing of its hat. Keep the route at floor level and walk it together before adding more turns.
NRICH’s Obstacle Course activity suggests describing movements and drawing a map of a course. After trying your maze, your child can draw where the wrong turn was, then move one tape wall for your next turn.
How can you use Christmas mazes in class or as a stocking stuffer?
In a preschool or elementary classroom, offer a choice of levels with the same holiday theme. Read the mission aloud, keep the answer keys at your desk, and let partners take turns tracing and checking. A Christmas word search gives children who want a word puzzle another option; Christmas coloring pages leave room for a longer coloring break.
For a homemade stocking stuffer, print a few mazes, add a cover with your child’s name, and staple the left edge yourself. Fold the finished booklet to fit the stocking, then open it flat for solving. Keep the answers in a separate envelope for later.
A maze can also fill one pocket of an advent calendar printable. On another day, pair the North Pole mailbox mission with a letter to Santa your child can write or dictate.
The Idunn approach
At Idunn, we make books and games to nurture curiosity in children and the adults beside them. A wrong turn gives you a place to look again. When your child draws the next maze, let them hold the answer while you find your way through.
Sources
- University of Cambridge, NRICH. “A-Magical Number Maze”, undated. “Getting Started” and “Key questions”: keeping a record of attempted routes in a number maze.
- University of Cambridge, NRICH. “Obstacle Course”, undated. Adult prompts about movement and drawing a plan of a course.
Sources accessed October 16, 2026. The Christmas missions, level suggestions, home maze instructions, and adult prompts are Idunn editorial proposals.
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