If you’re looking for a printable word search for kids, this is the place to find a collection of free printable puzzles with varying themes.
Back To School Word Searches
These back to school word search puzzles are a nice activity for the beginning of a school year.
There’s a word search for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders.
If you have an older elementary aged student, you can try this 5th grade back to school word search or this 6th grade puzzle.
Or, for kids ready for a challenge, you can print off this difficult back to school word search.
Weather Word Searches
Complete a weather unit with one of these weather word searches:
- easy weather word search for students around 1st or 2nd grade
- 5th grade weather word search
- 6th grade weather word search
Apple Word Searches
This apple word search printable is ideal for first graders. The letters of the puzzle are in the shape of an apple. There are 20 words to find.
And this easy apple word search has 12 hidden words. It’s perfect for 1st or 2nd graders.
Here’s another apple themed word search for grade 3. This puzzle has 17 third grade words.
Try one of these autumn themed word searches. There’s a fall puzzle for each level of difficulty: easy, medium or hard.
Winter Word Searches
A winter word search is a fun educational activity for kids to do on a cold winters day. Here are 6 winter word searches you can choose from:
- kindergarten winter word search
- 3rd grade winter word search
- 5th grade puzzle
- easy, medium & hard level winter themed word searches
Spring Word Searches
Celebrate spring in the classroom with a spring themed puzzle. Here is an easy spring word search for 1st grade.
For younger children you can try this kindergarten spring word search.
Teachers can even send a spring break word search home for kids to work on during their week off.
And for elementary aged kids that can handle a bigger challenge, try this difficult spring word search.
Earth Day Word Searches
Here’s an easy Earth Day word search best for 1st or 2nd graders.
And if you need something more challenging, then try this Earth Day word search for 6th grade.
I created all kinds of Earth Day activities including this save the planet Earth word search puzzle. It has 35 Earth Day words and once completed will reveal a hidden message.
Summer Word Searches
Summer word searches can be a relaxing past time for kids in the summer months.
Here are 3 summer word search puzzles with spelling words from 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade respectively.
And if your child can handle a little bit more of a challenge, try this summer holidays word search that has 35 hidden summer words.
If you’re going camping as a family, you can bring along this difficult camping word search, or this campfire camping word search.
French Word Search
Here is a french body parts word search. Kids can work on their french vocabulary by searching for the french words for various body parts.
I will be making many more french word searches in the future.
Word Searches by Grade Level
Here is a list of the printable word searches by grade level:
Kindergarten Word Search
- Fall Word Search
- Winter Word Search
- Family Word Search
- Spring Word Search
- Camping Word Search
1st Grade Word Search
- Apple Word Search
- Spring Word Search
- Earth Day Word Search
2nd Grade Word Search
- Back to School Word Search
- ER, IR & OR R Controlled Vowels Word Search
- Long E Sound Word Search
- Long I Sound Word Search
- Math Word Search
- Number Word Search 1-10
- Hard C Soft C Word Search
- Apple Word Search
- AR & UR Bossy R Word Search
- Letter Writing Themed Word Search
- Colours Word Search (2 versions: colour & color)
- Weather Word Search
- Farm Word Search
- Summer Word Search
3rd Grade Word Search
- Back to School Word Search
- Dogs Word Search
- Number Word Search 11-20
- Apple Word Search
- Winter Word Search
- Gardening Word Search
- Baseball Word Search
- Summer Word Search
4th Grade Word Search
- Back to School Word Search
- Mail & Letters Word Search
- Pizza Word Search
- Flowers & Insects Word Search
- Summer Word Search
5th Grade Word Search
- Back to School Word Search
- Winter Word Search
- Weather Word Search
- Water Cycle Word Search
- Fruit Word Search
- Vacation Word Search
6th Grade Word Search
- Back to School Word Search
- Earth Day Word Search
- Weather Word Search
Educational Benefits of Word Searches
I find word searches especially useful for helping students learn spelling words. It is also beneficial for improving a child’s reading and vocabulary skills.
Spelling
Spelling is worked on, as the whole idea of the puzzle is to focus on finding the letters that make up each word.
They will be looking at the letters that make up a word, possibly repeating the letters to themselves as they search for a word, and further reinforcing the words spellings when they find the letters in the puzzle.
Vocabulary
Another benefit of word searches for kids, is it helps them improve their vocabulary skills.
As word search puzzles usually are based on a theme, the words of the puzzle usually relate to that theme.
Sometimes they will be introduced to a word or words they aren’t familiar with. For example, the 5th grade winter themed word search has the word “solstice”. Looking up the definition of any word or words they don’t know, well help increase their vocabulary.
Reading
A smaller benefit of a word search for kids is working on reading skills. Children usually begin a word search by reading a word. If a child doesn’t know how to read the word, they’re going to try to sound it out, or even ask someone how to say the word.
Think of a word search as a way to master the reading of words of a theme. So after completing a 1st grade apple word search, kids will be able to read more fluently any children’s books about apples.
So choose any word search for kids above. They are all free and printable. Answers almost always accompany its puzzle.
Search for Solutions Here:
Word Retrieval / Word Finding Strategies & Activities
What Is Word Retrieval / Word Finding?
Word finding, also called “word retrieval”, is a person’s ability to think of the right word when he/she needs it, such as during conversation. We all have those moments when we can’t think of the right word, in that instant, we’re having a word finding or word retrieval problem. Sometimes, children with language delays (and even those without) may have difficulty with word finding. This may cause them to have unnecessary pauses, use filler words like “um” and “like”, or use non-specific words like “that thing” or “that stuff”.
Word Finding Strategies:
What can be done to help a child who is struggling with word finding or word retrieval? Speech therapy is often helpful for a child who is struggling to find the right words. Several strategies and activities have been shown by research to help a child improve their word-finding abilities. The two main methods for improving word retrieval are semantic strategies and phonological strategies.
Word Finding Activities
Activities and Strategies for Speech Therapy
Semantic Strategies for Word Finding
Semantic strategies for word finding are those that help the child learn more about the meaning of words and use those word meanings to build stronger brain pathways to those words, thus helping the child retrieve them more easily when needed. The following activities are all strategies that can build a child’s semantic skills for word finding:
- Categorization: Putting words into categories or naming as many words from categories as possible
- Attributes: Providing attributes/descriptors for specific words and using attributes to define words
- Associations with Other Words: Associating words that are related by function, composition, or other attributes, or by part-whole relation
Wright et. al. (1983) studied the use of these semantic strategies in language impaired children and found that this type of therapy resulted in highly significant improvement in naming pictures.
Phonological Strategies for Word Finding
Phonological strategies for word finding focus on helping a child better learn how the word sounds and its phonological makeup. The following word finding strategies are examples of activities that can be used to improve a child’s phonological representation of words:
- Syllabification: A target word is broken down into individual syllables. The child counts how many syllables are in the word
- Sound Segmentation: A target word is broken into individual speech sounds. The child counts how many sounds are in the word
- Rhyming: A target word is matched with rhyming words/pictures. The child supplies rhyming words for the given word
- Imagery: The child looks at a picture of the word while the therapist says the word out loud. Then, the child closes his eyes and is asked to “see the picture in your mind” and “hear my voice saying the name of it in your mind”.
Wing (1990) studied the use of these phonological strategies in language impaired children and found that the subjects receiving the phonological treatment improved significantly in naming pictures.
Word Finding Strategies Using the Semantic Approach:
The following are examples of speech therapy activities that can be used to improve word finding/word retrieval using the semantic approach described above. These activities are also great for use by caregivers and teachers to boost language skills and word finding skills at home and in the classroom as well.
Word Retrieval Activity 1:
Fill in the Blank Associations
Have the child fill in the blank with common phrases and sentences. This will teach the child to use other words in the sentence or phrase to trigger the word he wants to get to. Here are some examples of fill in the blank associations you can use with your child. Try these while you’re riding in the car or waiting in line somewhere.
-
- A pair of _____
-
- Peanut butter and ______
-
- Close the _______
-
- The elephants live in the _____
-
- Head, shoulders, knees, and ______
Word Retrieval Activity 2:
Rapid Naming from Categories
Have the child list as many things as possible from a certain category. For example, have the child list as many foods as he can or as many clothes. You could write down how many he thought of each time so he can see the progress he makes as he does this activity more and more.
Word Retrieval Activity 3:
Providing a Word from a Definition
Define a word for the child and see if he can guess what it is. For example, you could say “it’s a red fruit that is juice and sweet and sometimes comes in green and yellow” and see how long or how many cues it takes for the child to guess apple. You can switch this around and have the child define a word for you as well.
Word Retrieval Activity 4:
List Things Needed to Complete a Task
Tell the child the name of a task and ask her to tell you all of the things she would need to complete that task. For example, if the task is swimming, the child could say “goggles, swimsuit, floaties, innertube, pool toys, towel”.
Word Retrieval Activity 5:
Finish Similes
A simile is when you say that something is ____ as a _____. Provide the descriptive word for the child and have him finish the simile. For example, you could say “sticky as a ____” and the child might fill in “peanut butter sandwich”.
Word Retrieval Activity 6:
Antonyms and Synonyms
Tell the child a word and have her come up with one synonym (a word that means the same thing) and one antonym (a word that means the opposite).
Word Retrieval Activity 7:
Part to Whole
Give the child a word and have the child list as many parts of that item as possible. For example, if the word is “car”, the child could list tires, doors, seats, steering wheel, etc. Then, have the child list something that the word is a part of (its whole). For example, with the word “car”, the whole could be “traffic”, “vehicles”, or “transportation”. These don’t have to be perfect, just try to come up with some associated words.
Worksheets for Word Finding and Word Retrieval:
Word Finding Strategies Kit
No-Prep Therapy Activities/Worksheets
About the Author: Carrie Clark, MA CCC-SLP
Hi, I’m Carrie! I’m a speech-language pathologist from Columbia, Missouri, USA. I’ve worked with children and teenagers of all ages in schools, preschools, and even my own private practice. I love digging through the research on speech and language topics and breaking it down into step-by-step plans for my followers.
Fun Fact: My kids and I all have had weird food reactions over the years. We’ve narrowed it down to knowing that gluten and dairy can only be eaten every once in a while. We’ve done multiple Whole30 elimination diets to help tease it all out. Food intolerances are HARD.
Connect with Me:
Share This Story, Choose Your Platform!
Related Posts
11 Comments
-
shannon
August 30, 2014 at 8:25 pm — ReplyI like some of the things I see here but it seems to me that what I have found is too advanced for my daughter at this time. Where can I find more elementary suggestions?
-
This article on word retrieval is definitely a little more advanced. For word retrieval in younger children, I would try to come up with similar tasks that are easier, such as describing something that they know, such as “what’s a red, juicy, fruit?” or “what do you play with?”. Or, I would show the child pictures of various things and have the child tell me what they’re called. Are there other skills that you’re wanting to work on besides word retrieval that I can point you to?
-
-
I’m trying to generate a better understanding for the teachers and staff in my building for students who experience word finding. Just want to share some good strategies that they can implement in the classroom as well. I use strategies #1 & 2 in my sessions a lot. This is very helpful. Thanks 🙂
-
You are very welcome! Thank you for sharing my info!!
-
-
Melissa
May 20, 2019 at 3:52 pm — ReplyAwesome activities! Thank you!
-
Kena Roth
May 21, 2019 at 9:28 am — ReplyYou are more than welcome, Melissa! Please let us know if you have any questions.
-
-
Suki
November 18, 2019 at 10:55 am — ReplyAre their any pointers for middle school children having to take a foreign language? My daughter studies and studies but cannot pull the words up for the test. We are struggling and her school isn’t exactly helpful. We know she has RAN and she copes well in most subjects, but learning a new language is proving next to impossible.
-
Kena Roth
December 4, 2019 at 9:55 am — ReplyHello, Suki!
Thank you so much for reaching out. Unfortunately, we get a ton of questions every day about how to solve specific speech/language problems. Since we have such a small staff, we aren’t able to answer every question that comes through on the website, social media, or via email. If you are a parent, we suggest you reach out to a local speech-language pathologist who can work with your child directly and answer your question.
If you are another speech-language professional, we have created a membership where we pay a full staff to answer questions like this on a regular basis. We would be more than happy to answer your question inside the membership program. We’re able to answer more questions in here because we have a full library of questions that we’ve already answered so our staff can either link you to the answer if it exists, or write you a custom response if needed. We’d love to see you inside the membership!
Click Here to Become a Member: https://www.slpsolution.com/pediatric-signup/.
-
-
Sharon
April 20, 2021 at 9:19 am — ReplyWhat do you suggest for a post-teen with severe stuttering issues? He didn’t get a lot of therapy growing up. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
-
Kena Roth
April 20, 2021 at 1:20 pm — Reply
-
-
This article’s very useful. Thank you
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Page load link
This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.
Enable or Disable Cookies
If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.
Go to Top
Word Search
Generator
Make Your Own Word Search Puzzle
Use this word search generator tool to make a custom word search puzzle with your own word list.
Basic
(Grades K-3)
This word search puzzle is the perfect activity for your students to solve. Find apple-themed words, such as: sweet, seeds, pie, juice, and basket.
Kindergarten to 3rd Grade
Logged in members can use the Super Teacher Worksheets filing cabinet to save their favorite worksheets.
Quickly access your most used files AND your custom generated worksheets!
Please login to your account or become a member and join our community today to utilize this helpful feature.
Search for bee words in this word find puzzle. Words include bee, buzz, hive, queen, sting, yellow, black, pollen, and nectar.
1st through 3rd Grades
This is a fun activity for a birthday celebration. Find all of the birthday words in this puzzle, including: wish, party, friends, celebrate, and cake.
1st through 4th Grades
Find the car words in the word search puzzle. Word list includes door, hood, trunk, mirror, seat belt, fast, drive, and bumper.
Kindergarten to 2nd Grade
Find the fall words in the word search puzzle. Word list includes leaf, colors, autumn, cool, rake, scarecrow, and wind.
Kindergarten to 2nd Grade
Find the farm animal words in the puzzle. Word list includes pig, horse, cow, turkey, rooster, and hen.
Kindergarten to 2nd Grade
Find the words see, eyes, colors, light, dark, hear, ears, sound, loud, soft, feel, touch, cool, warm, taste, tongue, sweet, sour, smell, nose, scent, and odor.
1st and 2nd Grades
This is an easy-level football-themed word search puzzle. Find the hidden words, such as: throw, team, player, kick, goal, and coach.
1st through 3rd Grades
Find the farm sea words in the puzzle. Word list includes fish, boat, salt, sand, diver, and whale.
Kindergarten to 2nd Grade
Find the pets hidden in the puzzle. Words include gerbil, hamster, dog, cat, ferret, bunny, and bird.
Kindergarten to 2nd Grade
How many school words will your students be able to find. Word list includes friend, pencil, math, read, write, sing, and teacher. This is a great beginning-of-the-year activity.
Kindergarten to 2nd Grade
Find the summer time words! Word list includes sunny, pool, beach, kids, and hot.
Kindergarten to 2nd Grade
Hunt for transportation words in this wordsearch puzzle. Word list includes: train, plane, car, bus, and helicopter.
Kindergarten to 2nd Grade
Find the farm wintry words in the puzzle. Word list includes mittens, scarf, snow, ice, hat, sled, and skate.
Kindergarten to 2nd Grade
Your students will have fun finding the hidden words in this zoo-themed word search. Some of the zoo words used are: zebra, wolf, panda, lion, fox, and camel.
Kindergarten to 3rd Grade
Intermediate
(Grades 3-6)
Find the baseball words in this puzzle. Word list includes catcher, pitcher, home plate, glove, pop fly, and homerun.
2nd through 4th Grades
Get ready for summer fun by solving this beach-themed word search puzzle. Find words like: waves, towel, sunshine, seashells, picnic, and lifeguard.
2nd through 6th Grades
Search only for the bird species hidden in this word find puzzle. Word list includes snowy owl, ostrich, pelican, penguin, chicken, and hummingbird.
2nd through 4th Grades
Find all of the camping words in this camp-themed word search puzzle. Some of the words in this puzzle include: wildlife, nature, lantern, hiking, flashlight, and campfire.
2nd through 6th Grades
Track down the dinosaurs words in this intermediate-level word search puzzle. Hidden words include Stegosaurus, Pterodactyl, paleontologist, fossil, teeth, bones, roar, and Tyrannosaurus Rex.
2nd through 4th Grades
Have fun finding all the types of dog breed words in this dog-themed word search puzzle. Some of the dog breeds in this puzzle are: Maltese, terrier, greyhound, bulldog, and beagle.
2nd through 6th Grades
Your students will enjoy finding all of the words in this fairy tale-themed word search puzzle. Some of the words included are: witch, prince, magic, giant, fairy, castle, and beanstalk.
2nd through 6th Grades
Do you know which of these animals are fish and which are not? Circle only the fish in the puzzle. Word list includes trout, clownfish, seahorse, pufferfish, and great white shark.
2nd through 4th Grades
This word search puzzle is a little harder than the easy version with a larger puzzle and more words. Some of the words included are: touchdown, tackle, quarterback, offense, interception, fumble, field goal, and defense.
3rd through 6th Grades
Students will have fun finding all of the healthy food words in this word search puzzle. Some of the foods in this puzzle are: radish, lettuce, cheese, celery, blueberry, and banana.
2nd through 6th Grades
How many organs and body parts can you find in the puzzle? Words include stomach, muscle, mouth, kidney, ears, and bones.
3rd through 5th Grades
Circle the invertebrates in the word list. Then find only the invertebrates in the puzzle.
3rd through 5th Grades
Decide which animals from the list are mammals. Only the mammals are hidden in the puzzle. Other animals are not hidden in the puzzle.
2nd through 4th Grades
Hunt and highlight the words on this pet-themed word search puzzle. Some of the words in this puzzle include: parakeet, guinea pig, iguana, kitten, and ferret.
2nd through 6th Grades
Challenge yourself to find all of the words on this pirate-themed word search puzzle. Some of the pirate words used are: treasure, sails, plank, gold, compass, and anchor.
2nd through 6th Grades
Determine which animals are reptiles. Only the reptiles in the puzzle. Word list includes turtle, crocodile, python, and gecko.
2nd through 4th Grades
Students will enjoy solving this word search puzzle featuring solar system words. Some of the words used are: Saturn, orbit, Neptune, asteroid, and gravity.
2nd through 6th Grades
This summer-themed word search puzzle is a little harder than the easy version and has more words to find as well as some diagonal. Some of the words included are: vacation, sunglasses, sprinkler, sleepover, popsicles, picnic, and camp.
2nd through 6th Grades
Find the Summer Olympic events hidden in this word search puzzle. Words include: tennis, swimming, gymnastics, diving, and archery.
3rd through 6th Grades
Search for each of the original 13 colonies hidden in the puzzle. Make a list as you find the words.
4th Grade
Students will have fun reviewing weather words by solving this word search puzzle. Weather words included in this puzzle are: thunder, sleet, hurricane, foggy, and cloudy.
3rd through 6th Grades
How many Winter Olympic events can you find hidden in the puzzle? Word list includes: snowboarding, speed skating, ice hockey, and alpine skiing.
3rd through 6th Grades
Holiday Worksheets
We have holiday word searches too! Just jump to the specific holiday page you’re looking for.
Mystery Graph Art
Plot the points on the coordinate grid, then connect your points to reveal a fun, mystery picture.
Math Crossword Puzzles
Practice addition, subtraction, long division, and multiplication with these math crossword puzzles.
Dot-to-Dot Printables
Connect the dots to make pictures of flowers, dolphins, fish, and more. Use these worksheets to review basic counting skills, skip counting, roman numerals, and the alphabet.
Sample Worksheet Images
These free sight word activities and sight word games require very little prep and are super easy to differentiate for any level. Better yet, the kids will beg to play them!
Most are editable so you can use them for any high frequency words or heart words you are teaching.
These high frequency word resources are going to make differentiation super easy for you!
Fun Sight Word Games
These word work activities are perfect for kids who are learning to read and need fun, hands-on ways to learn to read and spell words.
Forget the flash cards and the quizzing and give these digital and printable activities a try. You won’t regret it.
My kids beg to play these sight word games and activities and we are able to use them to work on a large variety of skills.
Most of the games are editable which means you can also type in CVC words, blend words, word with digraphs or vowel teams, and lots of different phonics skills.
Differentiated Word Work
Because most of them are editable, you can easily change out the words whenever you need to.
Changing the words on the games can be done in a matter of a minute or two. It couldn’t be any easier!
High Frequency Words Activities for All Themes
These sight word activities and games come in a large variety of themes, so you can find activities for any season and many of the different themes you use in your classroom.
There are resources for fall, winter, spring and even summer as well as activities for most of the major holidays.
Plus, there are sight word activities for lots of fun themes like unicorns, robots, dinosaurs, and more!
Check out the list of sight word resources below!
Get the Editable Sight Word Games Bundle Today
Want to make learning sight words even more fun? Then you will LOVE our editable sight word games bundle! It is our best-seller and teachers have given it rave reviews.
Studying does not always have to include working on worksheets or examination sheets. Instead, you can sometimes give other kinds of learning media such as games. This time we have collected for you a selection of easy word searches for kids that you can use to test and train their brain to be more active! In these word search worksheets, there are words hidden in the pool of letters.
To finish the worksheets, your kids simply need to meticulously look for the words listed in the worksheets! Check out these word search worksheets provided in the images below!
image via www.calendariu.com
Word search is one game that can be used to test children’s understanding in vocabularies and their capability in potting words. Moreover, children are also easily distracted by everything in their surroundings, and using word search or puzzle is one way to help train your kids to concentrate while finding words. These easy word searches contain many words hidden horizontally, vertically, diagonally, forward, or backward. Your kids have to carefully find and spot the words hidden in these worksheets. The words that they have to find are listed in the left, below, above, or right side of the word search.
image via www.greatlittleminds.com
image via www.dltk-teach.com
image via www.chickenscratchny.com
These word search worksheets were created in cute and adorable design that will make your kids interested. By using these word search puzzles, your children’s brain will be stimulated to think more carefully as they have to find many words in a puzzle. It also helps their brain to work more actively.
image via www.pic2fly.com
image via www.valentineswordsearch.blogspot.com
Help your kids to be more active in thinking and having fun in their studying time. Therefore, print all these word search sheets and give them to your children! Have a nice day and see you on the next post!