Inside: Looking for the best Christmas puzzles for your holiday break or annual Christmas puzzle tradition? Choose from these best-rated puzzles and enjoy “puzzling” all December long.
For whatever reason, I’ve always associated Christmastime with puzzles.
Maybe there wasn’t a new puzzle every single Christmas, and it probably wasn’t Christmas-themed, but I know that we did spend many a Christmas break as a family at the table, slowly working on a puzzle that took days to complete.
Puzzles are also one of my fondest memories of time spent with my father, who passed away suddenly and unexpectedly at age 67 just before the Pandemic.
We both loved a good challenge, and we often spent the most time at the puzzle table. There’s nothing quite like the satisfaction of a puzzle piece finally finding it’s proper place.
In his honor, I’ve instituted a Christmas puzzle family tradition. A tradition that doesn’t involve sweets or screens – just good old-fashioned togetherness and fun (if you like puzzles, of course).
Maybe this is the year to add puzzling to your family Christmas traditions, too?
Related: 15 Simple Christmas Traditions to Choose from This Year
Starting a New Christmas Puzzle Tradition (for Good Old-Fashioned Family Togetherness)
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Before we instituted our five years running Christmas puzzle tradition, we always had toddlers in the house (a.k.a. little puzzle wrecking machines).
Have you ever been halfway through a puzzle only to have little hands sneak in and sweep hours of hard work onto the floor? It.is.maddening.
Because of the puzzler wreckers, I avoided instituting a Christmas puzzle tradition for a long time. We also never had the space to keep a puzzle out for multiple days.
The combination of a bigger house plus the little puzzle-wreckers getting a little bit older meant we could finally start our puzzle tradition! We only had one at the original time or this writing, and keeping one away is a whole lot easier than two or three at a time.
Every year, we choose a new Christmas puzzle to start on December 1. We set it up on the kitchen table and work on it until it’s finished. Because we tend to finish them too quickly, we bought two this year – one that looks challenging (and will hopefully last longer) and one that’s pure Christmas pretty.
The nice thing about puzzles, too, is you could pass them along to another family when you’re finished. Or, if you love puzzles as much as we do, you could keep the good ones and create a Christmas puzzle collection.
You Might Also Like: 7 Christmas Traditions to Skip This Year (for Yourself & the Planet)
What If I Don’t Have Space for a Christmas Puzzle? Puzzle Boards for the Win
I remember hearing about a family that set up their Christmas puzzle on a card table in a main living room. Over the course of December, family, friends, and Christmas guests all helped put together the puzzle. It was a group effort!
This was never an option for us until now because we’ve always lived in smaller homes.
Since we moved into a bigger home (hopefully, our forever home), we technically could set up a card table, but instead, I decided to invest in this 1000-piece puzzle board. We actually have two now – one for my oldest who is a hardcore puzzler and one for the rest of the family.
It can easily be moved to a different room and stored away from the puzzle-wreckers when we need the kitchen table.
The puzzle board also has four separate drawers for sorting pieces, that way you can work on one section at a time and get the other pieces out of the way.
If you decide to get the puzzle board, make sure to pay attention to the finished puzzle dimensions of the Christmas puzzle you select. You don’t want to end up with a puzzle too big for your puzzle board (ask me how I know).
P.S. Our library recently bought a rotating puzzle board like THIS one, and it is definitely superior to our stationary ones. Highly recommend!
18 Best Puzzles for Christmas (Our Personal Favorites)
These are a few top puzzle brands I trust:
- Ravensburger
- White Mountain
- Galison
That doesn’t mean you can’t buy a puzzle from an off-brand, but if you plan on keeping a puzzle collection, those puzzle brands may hold up better over time.
Be sure to check the reviews, especially for reports of missing puzzle pieces. There’s nothing worse than finishing a brand new puzzle, only to realize there are pieces missing!
My oldest – puzzler extraordinaire – and I sifted through the majority of the Christmas puzzles on Amazon this year. These were our favorites, including ones we’ve done in previous years.
1. Festive Winter Village
We got this Christmas jigsaw puzzle in 2024. While the brand wasn’t familiar, the art and the glitter drew us in!
Colorful rows of shops, houses strung with Christmas lights, a giant beautifully decorated Christmas tree and snow falling – all of that says “Christmas”. Plus, the pieces were sturdy, and it was a fun puzzle to complete.
Only warning…if you don’t like glitter, this one isn’t for you. Although the glitter didn’t get everywhere like the glitter wrapping paper my youngest picked out that year (don’t do it!).
Brand: Naturelish; Size: 1000 Pieces
2. Christmas Village
This jigsaw puzzle is a fun scene of a bustling little town full of Christmas shoppers. There is a big town Christmas tree at the center, and a car in the center bringing home their Christmas tree.
If you’re looking for a Santa-free puzzle with subtle Christmas themes, this could be a good choice.
Brand: White Mountain; Size: 1000 Pieces
3. Countdown to Christmas
This Christmas jigsaw puzzle reminds me of a Christmas toy stamps puzzle we enjoyed for Christmas in 2021, which is no longer available. It features a Christmas countdown calendar, with 25 individual “days” with different artwork, which would probably make it an easier puzzle to complete by sorting the pieces by day.
This looks like a great choice for novice puzzlers to tackle with confidence. You could each work on individual “days”.
Brand: White Mountain; Size: 1000 Pieces
4. Camping for Christmas
We chose this beautiful jigsaw puzzle in 2022 and really enjoyed it!
It was more challenging than our 2021 toy stamp puzzle choice and took several days of work to complete (compared to the one day stamp puzzle, which was too easy).
I chose it because of the variety of colors, and just the whole outdoor, snowy, Christmasy atmosphere made me smile. The only irony is that we can’t stand camping.
Brand: Vermont Christmas Company; Size: 1000 Pieces
5. Christmas House
A doll-house-like, cut-out view of a house at Christmas time. Family, Christmas tree, mom making Christmas Eve dinner in the kitchen, Santa and his sleigh on the roof.
This jigsaw puzzle looks like a solid choice!
Brand: Thomas Kinkade; Size: 1000 Pieces
6. Village Christmas Tree
Is there anything more quintessential Christmas than a huge Christmas tree?
If you’ve ever attended a tree-lighting in your city, you’ll love this Village Christmas Tree puzzle.
Brand: White Mountain; Size: 1000 Pieces
7. Winter Lights
This winter lights Christmas puzzle from Galison pictures a dark winter night with a festive city scene. Multiple layers of colorful shops with warm twinkle lights, a large Christmas tree and colorful cars in the foreground.
This brand was a initially risk for us, since we haven’t heard of it before. But the brand showed up on page after page, and all the puzzles were beautiful, so we decided to try it this year. In the puzzle we chose for 2025 (see #11), the pieces looked sturdy and very high quality.
While we tend to go for 1000 piece puzzles, I wanted to include this 500 piece puzzle if you’re new to puzzling.
Brand: Galison; Size: 1000 Pieces
8. Disney Snow Globe Jigsaw Puzzle
We chose this Christmas puzzle for Christmas 2023 (purchased originally from Barnes & Nobles – a super fun place to look for puzzles if you want to shop in person).
If you love all things Disney, then you’ll love this puzzle! All your Disney/Pixar favorites in their individual snow globes: Cinderella, Mickey & Crew, Buzz & Woody plus the Aliens, Anna & Elsa, Lady & The Tramp, Ariel and more.
Brand: Ravensburger; Size: 1000 Pieces
9. Lazy Creek Country Store
If you want a not-so-obvious Christmas puzzle, this Christmas jigsaw puzzle is perfect. A snowman, twinkle lights, and Christmas trees – it says Christmas without Santa or presents.
While it doesn’t come with free Prime shipping, they claim it’s an “heir-loom quality puzzle”, so there’s that.
Brand: MasterPieces; Pieces: 1000 Puzzles
10. Small Town Christmas
This Christmas puzzle from Buffalo Games if a fun, small-town American (features an old, but prominent American flag) Christmas scene. A fun red banner with Christmas messaging and a sleigh ride with candles made this one stand out to me.
And apparently Buffalo Games are quality puzzles for less? We haven’t tried one yet, but that’s what I hear.
Brand: Buffalo Games; Count: 1000 Pieces
11. Christmas Square Jigsaw Puzzle
This jigsaw puzzle is just GORGEOUS. I can’t stop looking at it – a purple pink night sky, gorgeous shopfronts, an old-fashioned Christmas tree, carolers. All of it is beautiful!
This is one of our two 2025 Christmas puzzles, and I can’t wait to start working on it December 1st.
Brand: Galison; Count: 1000 Pieces
12. Christmas Snow Globe
This Christmas snow globe puzzle features a snowy woodland scene with a red elevated cabin in the background. The snow globe is surrounded by holly and twinkle lights on all sides.
I’m not familiar with the brand, but the art alone has me putting this on my list of Christmas puzzles to try in future years. Plus, it was featured on BuzzFeed, so there’s that.
Brand: Elena Essex; Count: 1000 Pieces
13. Alpine Holiday
Another puzzle from Elena Essex, it features a beautiful pinkish snowy village full of colorful houses and has a frozen pond with skaters and a ski lift in the background. There are no direct Christmas references that I can see from the cover.
It doesn’t scream Christmas, so if that’s what you’re going for, this one is perfect.
Brand: Elena Essex; Count: 1000 Pieces
14. Thomas Kinkade’s Midnight Delivery
My oldest chose this jigsaw puzzle because she wanted a challenge that took longer than a day to complete. The massive, similar looking snowy trees sold her.
She is a super speedy pro-level puzzler. We have to remind her to leave some for the rest of us!
A snowy farmhouse with a wraparound porch, a snowman family in the front yard and Santa on the roof. Plus, Thomas Kinkade’s classic warm yellow glow.
Brand: Ceaco; Count: 1000 Pieces
15. Quiet Christmas Night
I love that this puzzle is a more subtle Christmas puzzle. It’s on the darker, less colorful side, with the lit-up Christmas tree and warmly lit windows standing out from the two featured houses.
If you want more wintry than Christmasy, this one’s for you!
Brand: Newtion; Count: 1000 Pieces
16. Christmas Tree Farm
Another beautiful choice from Galison (there are so many good ones to choose from!), this Christmas puzzle features a snowy, but colorful Christmas tree farm, complete with cars driving away with Christmas trees on their roofs.
I’m a sucker for this kind of art, apparently. It’s going on our list for future years!
Brand: Galison; Count: 1000 Pieces
17. Neighborhood Christmas Puzzle
From the Vermont Christmas company, this Christmas puzzle features three houses – yellow, green and red – close together and decorated for Christmas. The bare winter trees are hung with stars, there is a large neighborhood Christmas tree with colorful carolers nearby.
If colorful, old-fashioned art is your jam, this puzzle is for you.
Brand: Vermont Christmas; Count: 1000 Pieces
18. Enchanted Nutcracker
If you love the Nutcracker, you’ll love this Enchanted Nutcracker puzzle from Galison! Whimsical Nutcracker ballet figures – complete with a rat, Clara and the Nutcracker himself – set on a beautiful teal snowy background.
Or you might prefer THIS Nutcracker Magic puzzle. The artwork is decidedly different from every other Galison puzzles I’ve seen.
Brand: Galison; Count: 500 Pieces.
Are you getting a Christmas puzzle this year? I’d love to hear which puzzle you chose!
Read Next: How to Transition to a Minimalist Christmas with Kids
