Christmas Word Families Worksheet

Word families are groups of words that share the same ending sound and spelling, like bell, tell and well. A Christmas word families worksheet gives young readers a festive way to practice this key phonics skill. When children see that the words in a family share one chunk, they can read and spell many new words just by changing the first sound.

This Christmas word families worksheet shows a word box with fifteen short words and three family columns: -ell, -ee and -ow. Students read each word in the box and write it under the family where it fits. A picture clue sits under each column: a golden bell, a little Christmas tree and a red ribbon bow. Use it in a phonics center, for morning work, or as a calm activity during the busy weeks before winter break.

What’s Included

• A word box with fifteen decodable words
• Three word family columns for -ell, -ee and -ow with five writing lines each
• Christmas picture clues for each family
• A complete answer key

Why It Helps Kids

First, sorting words by their ending chunk trains children to notice spelling patterns, which speeds up decoding. Second, writing each word gives handwriting and spelling practice at the same time. Third, the holiday theme keeps first graders excited to learn during an exciting time of year.

Ideas for Teachers and Parents

Read the words aloud together first and stretch out the ending sound in each one. After the sort, ask children to think of one more word for each family, such as shell, knee or slow. This 1st grade Christmas worksheet also works well as a quick review for older students. Pair the Christmas word families worksheet with a favorite holiday read-aloud for a full winter literacy lesson.

Related Resources

• Thanksgiving Word Families Worksheet
• St. Patrick’s Day Word Families Worksheet
• Letter E Word Families Worksheet
• 44 Sounds of the English Language Video Lesson