Back to School Word Search Free Printable for the First Week

Print a first-week word search with its answer key, or add your new class's first names to its word list.

Name Date

Back to School Word Search

Find every word hidden in the grid. Words go across and down.

0 of 16 words found

ODZULKYRGPDHVIF

LRULERECESSMSWS

BUSCISSORSICOGE

NONCLASSROOMTRN

EPCUNWPXRGSDPJH

AAFHUPQUGLUEYVR

ROEMSLLEARNSLBY

HLIHBACKPACKIHL

NXDWNYAFYPOYBTB

FGMTHGNTRFGZRBO

SGAGFRIENDSNAFQ

NOTEBOOKSHFFRLK

NTHCLUNCHBOXYSD

TSPRINCIPALHWRF

PAECODAFNRHTYTE

This grid is wider and taller than its box. Slide it to see every letter.To drag, hold the first letter for a moment, then slide.Keyboard: Tab to the grid, arrow keys to move, Enter on the first and last letter.

BackpackBACKPACK
NotebookNOTEBOOK
ScissorsSCISSORS
GlueGLUE
RulerRULER
LunchboxLUNCHBOX
ClassroomCLASSROOM
DeskDESK
LibraryLIBRARY
PlaygroundPLAYGROUND
BusBUS
PrincipalPRINCIPAL
FriendsFRIENDS
MathMATH
RecessRECESS
LearnLEARN

16 of 24 words from the Back to School Favorites list.

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Easy: words go across and down.

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Word list

Large print Lower-case letters Name and date line on paper

The puzzle changes as you go. See the puzzle

Answer key: Back to School Word Search

ODZULKYRGPDHVIF

LRULERECESSMSWS

BUSCISSORSICOGE

NONCLASSROOMTRN

EPCUNWPXRGSDPJH

AAFHUPQUGLUEYVR

ROEMSLLEARNSLBY

HLIHBACKPACKIHL

NXDWNYAFYPOYBTB

FGMTHGNTRFGZRBO

SGAGFRIENDSNAFQ

NOTEBOOKSHFFRLK

NTHCLUNCHBOXYSD

TSPRINCIPALHWRF

PAECODAFNRHTYTE

BACKPACK, NOTEBOOK, SCISSORS, GLUE, RULER, LUNCHBOX, CLASSROOM, DESK, LIBRARY, PLAYGROUND, BUS, PRINCIPAL, FRIENDS, MATH, RECESS, LEARN

Next step Play school supply bingo with the same words Build a puzzle from this week's spelling list

All 100 words

School Supplies 23

Backpack A bag worn on two shoulder straps. Knapsack and book bag are other names for it.
Binder A stiff cover with three metal rings that snap open to hold punched paper.
Calculator A small machine that adds, subtracts, multiplies and divides at the press of a key.
Chalk For writing on a blackboard. White sticks come mainly from limestone, colored ones from gypsum.
Compass A hinged tool with a point on one leg and a pencil on the other, for drawing circles.
Crayons Sticks of colored wax. The name comes from craie, the French for chalk.
Eraser It rubs out mistakes. Before rubber ones went on sale in 1770, people used crustless bread.
Folder A sheet of card bent in half to keep loose papers together, often with two pockets.
Glue It comes as a stick or in a bottle, and it holds paper together once it dries.
Headphones Worn over the ears so a whole class can hear different things at once.
Highlighter A see-through marker, often neon yellow, for picking out the words that matter most.
Lunchbox It carries your sandwich, fruit and drink to the cafeteria.

Show all 100 words (88 more)

School Supplies, continued

Markers Felt-tipped pens in bold colors. Click the caps back on or they dry out.
Notebook Pages of lined paper bound together, often with a wire spiral down one side.
Paint Watercolor or tempera, brushed on in the room with the sinks and smocks.
Paper Sheets to write on. The craft of making it goes back to China, by about the year 105.
Pencil Its writing core is graphite mixed with clay. It has never contained the metal lead.
Pens They write in ink, so their marks cannot be rubbed out.
Protractor A half circle of clear plastic marked from 0 to 180 degrees, for measuring angles.
Ruler A straight edge for measuring. A school one is 12 inches long, which is about 30 centimeters.
Scissors Two blades joined at a pivot. In class, walk with the points held down.
Sharpener Twist a pencil inside it to get a fresh point.
Supplies Everything on the list your teacher sends home before the first day.

Around the School 19

Auditorium The hall with a stage and rows of seats, for assemblies and the school play.
Bell It rings to start the day, to end it, and for every change of lesson in between.
Board The teacher writes on it at the front of the room. Early ones were thin sheets of dark slate.
Bookshelf Where the books for silent reading live, spines facing out.
Bus Yellow ones carry students in the United States and Canada. The color was chosen at a 1939 meeting in New York.
Cafeteria The big room where the school eats lunch, tray by tray.
Classroom Where you and your teacher spend most of the day.
Computer A machine with a screen and a keyboard, for typing, research and coding.
Cubby A small open box on the wall for your coat, bag and lunch.
Desk Your own table, with space inside or underneath for books.
Fountain Press the button and drink from the arc of water.
Globe A round map of the Earth, tilted 23.5 degrees like the planet. The oldest one left was made in Germany in 1492.
Hallway The long passage between rooms. Walk on the right and keep voices low.
Homeroom The class you report to first each morning, where attendance is taken.
Library Rows of books to borrow, and a quiet corner to read them in.
Locker A tall metal cabinet in the hallway with a combination dial on its door.
Map A flat drawing of a place, seen from above.
Office The room near the front door where visitors sign in and late students get a pass.
Playground Swings, slides and open space, used at recess.

People at School 14

Buddy A student from an older grade who reads with you or shows you around.
Classmate Someone in the same room and grade as you.
Coach The adult who runs a team's practices and games.
Counselor An adult at school whose job is to listen and help with worries and plans.
Custodian The person who keeps the building clean, safe and working.
Driver The adult at the wheel of the school bus, first to say good morning to many students.
Friends The people you hope are in your room this year, and the new ones you have not met yet.
Helper The classmate whose job this week is to pass out papers or lead the line.
Librarian The person who helps you find the right book and checks it out to you.
Nurse The person to see if you feel sick or scrape a knee at recess.
Principal The head of the school. A spelling trick: this person is your pal.
Secretary The person at the front desk who knows where everything and everyone is.
Student Anyone who is at school to learn. That means you.
Teacher The adult who leads your class. A world day on October 5 celebrates this job.

Subjects and Specials 22

Alphabet The 26 letters from A to Z. The word comes from alpha and beta, the first two Greek letters.
Arithmetic Adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing. The third of the three Rs.
Cursive Joined-up letters, each one flowing into the next without lifting the pencil.
Dictionary A book of words and meanings in A to Z order. Noah Webster's American one of 1828 had 70,000 entries.
Drama Acting out stories on a stage. Some schools offer it as a special.
Geography The study of places: maps, countries, rivers and mountains.
Grammar The rules for building sentences: nouns, verbs, commas and all.
Gym The special where you run, throw and play games. Short for a much longer word.
History The study of what happened before you were born, and why.
Homework Practice you take away at 3 p.m. and bring back finished.
Math Numbers, shapes and patterns, from counting to fractions.
Music Singing, rhythm and instruments. One of the specials.
Phonics Matching letters to the sounds they make, the first step toward reading.
Quiz A short test, sometimes a surprise one.
Reading Making sense of printed words. It is the first of the three Rs.
Recess The break outdoors in the middle of the day.
Science Asking a question about the world, then testing the answer with an experiment.
Snack A small bite between meals. Many rooms stop for one in the middle of the morning.
Spelling Getting every letter of a word in the right order. Often tested on Fridays.
Technology The special where you learn typing, coding and staying safe online.
Vocabulary All the words you know, plus the new ones you collect each week.
Writing Putting your ideas on paper in sentences and paragraphs.

First Day of School 22

Attendance The daily check of who is here and who is absent.
August The eighth month, renamed in 8 BC to honor a Roman emperor. Many US schools open during it.
Dismissal The end of the school day, when walkers, car riders and bus riders head home.
Excited Eager and happy about what is coming.
Grade First, second, third: the year of school you are in. Also the mark on a test.
Hello The easiest way to start talking to someone new.
Icebreaker A quick game that helps a new group swap names and relax.
Kindergarten The year before first grade. The German word means garden of children and dates from 1840.
Labor The US holiday with this word in its name is the first Monday of September, close to the start of school.
Learn To come to know something you did not know before. The reason school exists.
Line Single file, facing forward, from the door to wherever everyone is going.
Listen What your ears and your brain do together when someone else is talking.
Name The first thing you tell a new teacher, and the first thing you write on every sheet.
Nervous Jittery and unsure. Plenty of people feel it on the first day, teachers included.
Pupil Another word for a student, heard more often in Britain.
Question What you raise your hand to ask.
Routine The same steps in the same order each morning, until you can do them without thinking.
Rules The short list your class agrees on in the first week, such as raise your hand.
Schedule The plan that says what happens at what time, every day of the week.
September The ninth month. Its name means seventh, because the oldest Roman calendar began in March.
Share To let others use what you have, or to tell everyone your news.
Welcome The greeting on the door of a new room in August or September.

How this list was compiled: 100 back to school words chosen and defined for this site, in five themed lists (school supplies, around the school, people at school, subjects and specials, the first day) plus three cross-cutting lists: 24 favorites that open the page, the 31 short words of 3 to 5 letters and the 39 long words of 8 to 12 letters. Every entry is a single word of 3 to 12 letters with no spaces, hyphens or apostrophes. No clue contains its own word, because the clue replaces the word in clue mode. No brand, product, character or real person's name is an entry. Definitions are our own wording for readers of about 6 to 12. Facts with a date, a place or a number in them were checked on 2026-09-18 against these English Wikipedia articles: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pencil (core of graphite powder and clay; it never contained the element lead), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eraser (crustless bread before rubber; Edward Nairne's rubber eraser, 1770), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crayon (pigmented wax; French craie, chalk), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackboard (early boards of slate; white chalk mainly from limestone, colored chalk from gypsum), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper (papermaking in China by 105 CE), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globe (mounted at 23.5 degrees; the oldest surviving terrestrial globe, the Erdapfel, made in Nuremberg in 1492), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_bus_yellow (chosen at a conference at Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, in April 1939; used in the United States and Canada), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Teachers%27_Day (October 5), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphabet (from alpha and beta), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webster%27s_Dictionary (An American Dictionary of the English Language, 1828, 70,000 entries), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August (renamed in 8 BC in honor of the emperor Augustus), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September (from the Latin for seven; seventh month of the oldest Roman calendar, which began in March), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Day (first Monday of September; many US districts resume classes around it) and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kindergarten (coined by Friedrich Froebel in 1840; literally garden of children). The one-word spellings Lunchbox, Icebreaker and Bookshelf were checked on Wiktionary the same day. Licence: own work

How it works

This back to school word search free printable starts with 16 words every student knows, such as Backpack, Recess and Lunchbox, from a bank of 100. New puzzle draws another 16 from the 24 Back to School Favorites.

Read the full guide

Build it from your class list

Type or paste up to 40 first names on the last line of the word list. They join the 16 school words, which make room once the puzzle holds 40. Two pupils called Emma? The second is refused as a repeat, so add a last initial: EmmaR. In our test draws 24 names always fit the 15 by 15 grid. For 25 to 32 names the grid grows by itself when a name finds no room.

Choose a list for your grade

For first grade, Easy Back to School in the Start from a list row has the 31 words of 3 to 5 letters, such as Bus, Glue and Desk. For a back to school word search hard enough for fifth grade, choose Hard Back to School (39 words) and press Hard.

Hand out the names puzzle on day two. Finding a name, then its owner in the room, is the icebreaker.
A back to school word search printable fits behind the August supply list: School Supplies names 23 items.
People at School has 14 words, so every puzzle from that list hides all of them.

Questions and answers

How do I get a back to school word search PDF?

Press Print or save as PDF and choose Save as PDF in the browser's print dialog. There is no export button. The file holds the puzzle page and then its answer key.

Do my pupils' names leave this computer?

No. Names you type stay in this browser: the puzzle is built there, and nothing you type is sent to us.

Which grades is it for?

Kindergarten to about sixth grade. The Easy words are ones first graders meet in the opening weeks, such as Map, Line and Hello. The Hard list reaches Protractor, Auditorium and Kindergarten, a German word from 1840 that means garden of children.

All 100 words

School Supplies 23

School Supplies, continued

Around the School 19

People at School 14

Subjects and Specials 22

First Day of School 22

How it works

Build it from your class list

Choose a list for your grade

Questions and answers

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