Grandparents Day Word Search Printable

A free printable Grandparents Day word search: 15 words from Gramps to Forget-me-not, with its answer key.

Name Date

Grandparents Day Word Search

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

0 of 15 words found

MEIDEIFNANADDWI

EBPVGRANDPAHIDS

VBXIMEMORIESESJ

NFKSOYICAGGYETG

XATIERLSTREFVEL

XEYTWMYEZANORRC

PSFDWETPHNERUVH

HUGIIURTODRGSSN

OUIUSAEEDMAEUTL

TOOTDAEMXATTROW

OMSKOGLBHLIMERG

SGRAMPSEOHOECIO

WIEDIHHRODNNIEX

NTRWSBLMNDSOPSL

OCIELIESGANTEOX

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.

GrandmaGRANDMA
GrandpaGRANDPA
Family TreeFAMILY TREE
GenerationsGENERATIONS
NanaNANA
GrampsGRAMPS
VisitVISIT
HugHUG
StoriesSTORIES
MemoriesMEMORIES
PhotosPHOTOS
RecipeRECIPE
WisdomWISDOM
SeptemberSEPTEMBER
Forget-me-notFORGET-ME-NOT

15 words from the Grandparents Day Favorites list.

Write one question you would like to ask a grandparent or another older person you know.

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Word list

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

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Answer key: Grandparents Day Word Search

MEIDEIFNANADDWI

EBPVGRANDPAHIDS

VBXIMEMORIESESJ

NFKSOYICAGGYETG

XATIERLSTREFVEL

XEYTWMYEZANORRC

PSFDWETPHNERUVH

HUGIIURTODRGSSN

OUIUSAEEDMAEUTL

TOOTDAEMXATTROW

OMSKOGLBHLIMERG

SGRAMPSEOHOECIO

WIEDIHHRODNNIEX

NTRWSBLMNDSOPSL

OCIELIESGANTEOX

GRANDMA, GRANDPA, FAMILY TREE, GENERATIONS, NANA, GRAMPS, VISIT, HUG, STORIES, MEMORIES, PHOTOS, RECIPE, WISDOM, SEPTEMBER, FORGET-ME-NOT

Next step Make a word search from your own family's names Scramble the same Grandparents Day words

All 100 words

Family Generations 19

Ancestors The people you come from, back through your great-grandparents and beyond.
Cousins First ones share a pair of grandparents with you. Second ones share great-grandparents.
Eight How many great-grandparents a person has by birth.
Elders Older people of a family or a community, looked to for what they know.
Family Tree A chart of relatives that branches from the oldest people at the top down to the youngest.
Four How many grandparents a person has by birth, two on each side.
Generations Steps in a family. Grandparents, parents and children make three of them.
Grandchild What you are to the parents of your mother or father, whether you are a boy or a girl.
Grandfather The father of your mother or of your father.
Grandma Your mother's mother or your father's mother, in the name most children say.
Grandmother The mother of your mother or of your father.
Grandpa Your mother's father or your father's father, in the name most children say.
Grandson A boy, to the parents of his mother or father.
Great Put this word in front of grandmother for her own mother. Say it twice to go back one step more.
Heritage What is handed down in a family from the people who came before.
Maternal On your mother's side. A grandfather of this kind is your mother's father.
Paternal On your father's side. A grandmother of this kind is your father's mother.
Relatives People who belong to the same family, near or far.
Roots Where a family comes from. Also the part of a tree under the ground.

Show all 100 words (81 more)

Names for Grandma and Grandpa 22

Abuela Grandmother in Spanish.
Abuelo Grandfather in Spanish.
Babcia Grandmother in Polish. Poland keeps a day for her on January 21.
Babushka A name that comes from the Russian word for grandmother.
Bubbe Grandmother, a name that comes from Yiddish.
Dziadek Grandfather in Polish. Poland keeps his day on January 22.
Gramps A casual English name for a grandfather.
Granddad An informal English name for a grandfather.
Granny A fond English name for a grandmother, short for the longer word.
Lola Grandmother in the Philippines, where the day is the second Sunday of September.
Lolo Grandfather in the Philippines.
Mamie Grandma in French, as children say it.
Meemaw A name for a grandmother in the southern United States.
Mormor Mother's mother in Swedish, which has no single word for grandmother.
Nana A pet name for a grandmother in English. In much of India it means your mother's father.
Nani Your mother's mother, in much of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Nonna Grandmother in Italian.
Nonno Grandfather in Italian.
Oma Grandma in German and Dutch.
Opa Grandpa in German and Dutch.
Papi Grandpa in French, as children say it.
Zayde Grandfather, a name that comes from Yiddish.

Time With Grandparents 19

Baking Making bread, pies or cakes in an oven, a job that goes faster with a helper.
Card A folded paper greeting. One made by hand is a gift for the day.
Checkers A board game for two. Each player has 12 pieces that jump over the other side.
Cookies Small sweet treats, cut from rolled dough and cooked on a tray.
Fishing Sitting by the water with a rod and a line, waiting for a bite.
Garden A plot for flowers or vegetables, with weeding and watering to share.
Hug Arms wrapped around someone you love.
Jigsaw A picture cut into pieces that fit back together, best done at one big table.
Laugh The sound two people make at the same joke.
Letter A message written on paper and sent by mail.
Listen To pay attention to what someone is telling you.
Lullaby A soothing song that sends a small child to sleep.
Phone What you pick up to call a grandparent who lives far away.
Picnic A meal carried outdoors and eaten on a blanket.
Porch A covered place at the front door, good for sitting and talking.
Reading Sharing a book aloud, one page each.
Sleepover A night spent as a guest in someone else's house.
Songs Tunes with words. Old ones are passed on by singing them together.
Visit To go and spend time with someone at their home.

Stories and Keepsakes 17

Advice Words that help someone decide what to do.
Childhood The years when a person is young. Ask a grandparent about theirs.
Diary A book in which someone writes down what happened each day.
Heirloom A valued thing passed down in a family from one generation to the next.
History The story of the past. A grandparent lived through some of it.
Interview A talk in which one person asks and the other answers. Try one with a grandparent.
Keepsake Something kept because of the person or the day it brings back.
Locket A small case worn on a necklace that opens to show a tiny picture.
Memories Things a person can still call to mind from the past.
Namesake A person named after someone else, as a baby may be for a grandparent.
Photos Pictures taken with a camera. Old ones show grandparents as children.
Questions What you ask to find out about someone's life.
Quilt A padded bed cover of two layers of cloth stitched together, often in a pattern of many pieces.
Recipe Steps for making a dish. Many are handed down from a grandparent's kitchen.
Stories Tales told aloud. Grandparents have ones from before your parents were born.
Tradition A custom handed on from one generation to the next, such as a yearly meal.
Wisdom Good sense that comes from knowledge and long experience.

Grandparents Day History 23

Adopt To take in as your own. The day's founder urged young people to do this with a grandparent, for a lifetime.
Angels Italy's Grandparents' Day shares October 2 with the church feast of the Guardian ones.
Britain The day reached this country in 1990 and moved to the first Sunday of October in 2008.
Canada The country where National Grandparents' Day began in 1995, on the second Sunday of September.
Congress The lawmakers who passed the law for a yearly National Grandparents Day, approved on September 6, 1979.
Forget-me-not A plant with small blue blooms in spring. It is the flower of National Grandparents Day.
Founder Marian McQuade of West Virginia was recognized as this of National Grandparents Day.
France The country where Grandmothers' Day is the first Sunday in March.
Grandparents The parents of your parents. Their day in the United States is a Sunday in September.
Guidance Helpful direction from someone who knows the way. Children look to older relatives for it.
Honor To show great respect. The Sunday in September exists to do this for grandparents.
Italy The country that set up Grandparents' Day in 2005 and keeps it on October 2.
January The month of Grandma's Day and Grandpa's Day in Poland, on the 21st and 22nd.
Japan This country has a national holiday called Respect for the Aged Day on the third Monday of September.
Labor With Day, the holiday that falls on September's first Monday. Grandparents Day follows it by six days.
Mexico The country that keeps Grandparents' Day on August 28.
October The month of the day in Italy, and in the United Kingdom on its first Sunday.
Poland The country where Grandma's Day was created in 1964. Grandpa's Day comes the day after.
President Jimmy Carter held this office when he named Sunday, September 10, 1978, National Grandparents Day.
Proclamation A formal public announcement. The President is asked to issue one for the day each year.
September The month of National Grandparents Day in the United States.
Sunday The weekday of Grandparents Day in the United States: the first one in September after Labor Day.
West Virginia The home state of Marian McQuade. Its governor proclaimed a Grandparents' Day at her urging.

How this list was compiled: Own work: the word list and every clue were written for this page. Facts about the day were checked on 10 October 2026 against Wikipedia, Grandparents' Day (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandparents%27_Day); the text of the law, 36 U.S. Code section 125, at the Legal Information Institute of Cornell Law School (https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/36/125) and Public Law 96-62 of September 6, 1979, in the Statutes at Large (https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-93/pdf/STATUTE-93-Pg410.pdf); and Proclamation 4580 of August 3, 1978, at the American Presidency Project (https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/proclamation-4580-national-grandparents-day-1978). The names families use, the counts of grandparents and the rule for cousins were checked against Wikipedia, Grandparent (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandparent). Word meanings were checked in Wiktionary (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/heirloom and the entries for each name) and in a second dictionary: the American Heritage Dictionary (https://www.ahdictionary.com/) for English words, the Cambridge bilingual dictionaries (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/) for the Spanish, German, Italian, French and Polish names, and Dictionary.com (https://www.dictionary.com/) for Bubbe, Zayde and Meemaw. Licence: own work

How it works

Grandma, Grandpa, Family Tree, Stories, Visit and Hug are in the first puzzle of this Grandparents Day word search printable. The bank of 100 adds what families call a grandparent, from Abuela to Zayde, and the day's own history.

Read the full guide

What families call Grandma and Grandpa

Names for Grandma and Grandpa (22) goes round the world: Abuela and Abuelo in Spanish, Oma and Opa in German and Dutch, Nonna and Nonno in Italian, Bubbe and Zayde from Yiddish, Lola and Lolo in the Philippines. In English Nana is a grandmother; in much of India, your mother's father.

The day's history and a question to ask

Grandparents Day History (23) runs from West Virginia to Poland, Italy, France and Japan, which keep days of their own. At a school's grandparents morning, this Grandparents Day free printable word search gives a child and a visitor one sheet to solve together. On paper, two ruled lines ask for a question to put to a grandparent. For aunts, uncles and cousins, print the family word search.

Count back: two parents, four grandparents, eight great-grandparents. Four and Eight are both on the easy list.
No grandparent nearby? The day's founder urged young people to adopt one, for a lifetime.

Questions and answers

When is Grandparents Day?

In the United States it is the first Sunday in September after Labor Day, so it falls between September 7 and 13. Canada keeps the second Sunday of September, the United Kingdom the first Sunday of October and Mexico August 28.

Who started Grandparents Day?

Marian McQuade of West Virginia, whom the Senate and President Jimmy Carter recognized as its founder. Her state's governor proclaimed a day first. On August 3, 1978, Carter proclaimed Sunday, September 10, National Grandparents Day, and a 1979 law asks for a proclamation every year.

What is the flower of Grandparents Day?

The forget-me-not, a plant with clusters of small blue flowers. It blooms in spring and the day comes in September, so seasonal flowers are given to grandparents instead.

What is the purpose of Grandparents Day?

To recognize what grandparents have given. President Carter's 1978 proclamation says the nation should salute its grandparents for their contribution to our lives, and asks each citizen to reflect on how their own shaped them. The law calls for ceremonies and activities.

Is the Grandparents Day word search free to print?

Yes. Press Print or save as PDF and the puzzle comes out on one sheet of Letter or A4, with a name and date line. The answer key, every word ringed, is the second sheet.

All 100 words

Family Generations 19

Names for Grandma and Grandpa 22

Time With Grandparents 19

Stories and Keepsakes 17

Grandparents Day History 23

How it works

What families call Grandma and Grandpa

The day's history and a question to ask

Questions and answers

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