Word puzzles for students

Puzzle solving has an inherent appeal to ESL students and is an active way of learning or revising vocabulary. Students associate word puzzles with recreation and can be less daunting as review tools or even as a test. By substituting a visual-spacial relationship between meaning and definition, puzzles engage more students with the materials and deepen their mastery of the English lexis. No wonder people have used word puzzles in the classrooms for many years!

There are many types of word puzzles for all ages including adults! I like the fact that I can have a number of different unique word puzzles created to printout on the same topic. So when we are studying a topic in English, say “Family and Friends”, I can print out six different sets then split the class into six groups and give them each a unique puzzle to solve.

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Recently, I decided to let the students (in their groups) create word puzzles themselves for their classmates to solve. I assign each group their “mission” and explain the kind of puzzle they should make online (you can download the instructions here). They have to send me the digital copy at the end of the lesson so I could produce enough copies for the rest of the class. During revision time, the group that created the puzzles take the center stage and discuss the answers.

Here are some word puzzles I use in my class.

Some of them sound complicated than they really are so don’t faint. If my students were able to do these, so can you! You will find the step-by-step guide how to create these word puzzles on the links provided.

1. Double-Puzzle

A double puzzle is a puzzle where students first need to unscramble clue words, then use letters from those clue words to decode the final word/phrase. The letters for the final phrase can be numbered, making the Double Puzzle slightly easier to solve.

2. Word Search

Word Search is a type of word puzzles that consists of the letters of words placed in a grid, which usually has a rectangular or square shape. The objective of this puzzle is to find and mark all the words hidden inside the box.

3. Crossword

Probably the most popular of all, a crossword is another word puzzles that normally takes the form of a square or a rectangular grid of white and black shaded squares. The goal is to fill the white squares with letters, forming words or phrases, by solving clues which lead to the answers.

4. Caesar Cipher

The Caesar cipher is one of the simplest forms of encryption and is named after Julius Caesar who used it to communicate with his army. Also known as a shift cipher,  each letter in the original alphabet (called the plaintext) is replaced by a letter some fixed number of positions up or down the alphabet.

5. Cryptogram

A cryptogram is a type of puzzle that consists of a short piece of encrypted text where each letter is replaced by a different letter or number. You solve the cryptogram with a trial and error process, guessing the letters that have been replaced.

6. Polybius Square

A Polybius Square is a table that allows someone to translate letters into numbers. Each letter is then represented by its coordinates in the grid. In order to fit the 26 letters of the alphabet into the 25 spots created by the table, the letters i and j are usually combined. To encipher a message you replace each letter with the row and column in which it appears. To decipher a message you find the letter that intersects the specified row and column.

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Bonus!

The following links are lesson plans from Education World that provide an easy way to incorporate specific puzzles into your curriculum.

• The Wright Puzzle
• Puzzle Boxes for Any Subject
• Heartbreaking Puzzle
• Word-zles

And if you are looking for ready-to-use printable puzzles, Teacher Vision has got it all for you!

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Make Your Own Word Search Puzzle

Use this word search generator tool to make a custom word search puzzle with your own word list.

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.

  School Word Search Puzzles

Why do school word search puzzles bring so much fun?

Doing a school word search puzzle is a type of activity that is recognized by many as bringing so much joy and fun. This is because there is an attraction in the form of a challenge to solve what has been started in the word search puzzle game. Moreover, doing a word search puzzle while at school can provide a moment of pleasure after receiving a lesson which is quite brain-draining.

What a school word search puzzle contains?

In school word search puzzles, when it is done by children who feel they are in school, it will recall memories of activities that have been done and also objects found around the school. This will be the material or word that must be looked for in a school word search puzzle. Because it is familiar, it is not that difficult for children to do. Not only children, even adults who have passed the school level can also do this because it can leave a nostalgic impression. Each of these elements will be connected and everyone will experience the same experience when faced with the school word search puzzle content.

How many words in a school word search puzzle?

The number of words in the puzzle to be completed is uncertain. This will always change due to the size of the sheet used to put the school word search puzzle and also the desire of the creator who made the word search puzzle. In some puzzles, a list of words to look for in scrambled letters is provided. On some others, you will not find a clue how many words are in the school word search puzzle. It doesn’t really matter how many words are there if you enjoy the process of searching for them.

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Is school word search a puzzle kind of learning tool?

Although it can be played at school and contains content that is familiar with kinds of school things, it is very rare to find school word search puzzles used as the main learning tools. This puzzle is more appropriate to be used as ice-breaking after learning. However, for several levels of education such as preschool and kindergarten, the method of using a word search puzzle is quite balanced with other learning methods. The factor behind that is because of the age of preschoolers and kindergarteners, who are very young kids who still really like games.