Hawaii Word Search of Islands, Volcanoes, Luau and Hawaiian Words

Hide Honolulu, Mauna Kea, Nēnē and Mahalo in a printable grid with its answer key, or pick the Luau list.

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Hawaii Word Search

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

0 of 16 words found

FLMDECSWHBHRNOD

SOTRNOAWOXUIMTX

HWFIDOVANDLEWSS

COAHUERLOFASEOO

AIANAKISLSMZSSI

NMHHTTUWUMAUIXC

OPINEAPPLEHSYKM

ESBWGVMAUNAKEAG

KEIKIATBCTLWDUD

ALSFPRNSUAOTOAS

CACEUKULELEQAIP

EVUNNSHAVEICEIF

IASHEIRIFIBSOTH

BIIPNBQPELETGUI

PIGWEEFHKRUEQNT

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.

MauiMAUI
OʻahuOʻAHU
KauaʻiKAUAʻI
HonoluluHONOLULU
LavaLAVA
Mauna KeaMAUNA KEA
NēnēNĒNĒ
HibiscusHIBISCUS
MahaloMAHALO
KeikiKEIKI
PineapplePINEAPPLE
Shave IceSHAVE ICE
HulaHULA
ʻUkuleleʻUKULELE
CanoeCANOE
PelePELE

16 of 28 words from the Hawaii Favorites list.

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Answer key: Hawaii Word Search

FLMDECSWHBHRNOD

SOTRNOAWOXUIMTX

HWFIDOVANDLEWSS

COAHUERLOFASEOO

AIANAKISLSMZSSI

NMHHTTUWUMAUIXC

OPINEAPPLEHSYKM

ESBWGVMAUNAKEAG

KEIKIATBCTLWDUD

ALSFPRNSUAOTOAS

CACEUKULELEQAIP

EVUNNSHAVEICEIF

IASHEIRIFIBSOTH

BIIPNBQPELETGUI

PIGWEEFHKRUEQNT

MAUI, OʻAHU, KAUAʻI, HONOLULU, LAVA, MAUNA KEA, NĒNĒ, HIBISCUS, MAHALO, KEIKI, PINEAPPLE, SHAVE ICE, HULA, ʻUKULELE, CANOE, PELE

Next step Give a spelling test on the Hawaiian words Make a word search from your own island vocabulary

All 254 words

Hawaiian Islands and Places 34

ʻAkaka Falls Tall waterfall in a state park north of Hilo on the Big Island.
Archipelago A chain of islands, which is what the whole state of Hawaii is.
Big Island Nickname of the largest of the eight, which holds more than half of the state's land.
Diamond Head Volcanic cone overlooking Honolulu, called Lēʻahi in Hawaiian; British sailors mistook its calcite crystals for gems.
Haleʻiwa Surf town on Oʻahu's North Shore, the coast known for massive winter waves.
Hanalei Town near a river mouth on Kauaʻi's north shore; the name can mean lei making or crescent bay.
Hanauma Bay Nature preserve on the southeast coast of Oʻahu, formed inside a volcanic ring.
Hawaiʻi The largest island in the United States, nicknamed the Big Island and built from five volcanoes.
Hilo County seat on the Big Island, on a bay with views of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea.
Honolulu State capital and largest city, on the southeast coast of Oʻahu; it has been the capital since 1845.
Kahoʻolawe Smallest of the eight main islands, southwest of Maui; nobody lives on it.
Kahului Maui town with the island's main airport and its deep-water harbor.

Show all 254 words (242 more)

Hawaiian Islands and Places, continued

Kāneʻohe Community on the bay of the same name, on Oʻahu; the name means bamboo man.
Kauaʻi Fourth-largest island, nicknamed the Garden Isle, home to Waimea Canyon and the Nā Pali cliffs.
Kaunakakai Main town and port of Molokaʻi, with a long pier.
Kona Dry, leeward district of the Big Island, known for coffee grown on the slopes of Hualālai and Mauna Loa.
Kure Atoll The northernmost ring of coral in the world, at the far north end of the island chain.
Lahaina Town on the west coast of Maui, capital of the kingdom until 1845 and a busy whaling port of the 1800s.
Lānaʻi Sixth-largest island, nicknamed the Pineapple Island because it was once one huge pineapple plantation.
Līhuʻe County seat of Kauaʻi County.
Maui Second-largest island, nicknamed the Valley Isle; the volcano Haleakalā forms its larger, eastern part.
Molokaʻi Fifth-largest island, southeast of Oʻahu across the Kaʻiwi Channel.
Molokini Crescent-shaped, partly sunken crater that forms a tiny islet between Maui and Kahoʻolawe.
Nā Pali Kauaʻi coast whose name means many cliffs; they tower high above the ocean.
Niʻihau Seventh-largest island and the westernmost main one, nicknamed the Forbidden Isle; Hawaiian is its main language.
North Shore Oʻahu coast whose massive winter waves draw big-wave surfers from around the world.
Oʻahu Third-largest island and the one with the most people, nicknamed the Gathering Place; Honolulu is on it.
Pacific The largest ocean on Earth, all around the islands.
Polynesia Pacific region drawn as a triangle with Hawaii, Easter Island and New Zealand at its corners.
Rainbow Falls Waterfall on the Wailuku River in Hilo, called Waiānuenue in Hawaiian.
Waikīkī Honolulu beach neighborhood whose name means spouting fresh water; Kamehameha once kept his royal court here.
Wailuku County seat of Maui County.
Waimea Canyon Deep red gorge on the west side of Kauaʻi, carved by a river; its Hawaiian name means reddish water.
Waipiʻo Big Island valley whose name means curved water; its floor lies far below the land around it.

Hawaii Volcanoes and Land 34

Atoll Ring-shaped coral reef; Kure, at the chain's north end, is the northernmost in the world.
Basalt Dark volcanic rock that the islands are made of; broken up by the sea, it makes black sand.
Black Sand Dark beach grains of broken basalt; Punaluʻu Beach on the Big Island is covered in them.
Caldera Wide basin left when a volcano's top collapses; Kīlauea has one at its summit.
Crater Bowl-shaped hollow on a volcano; Halemaʻumaʻu is one inside Kīlauea's summit.
Eruption When lava, ash or gas bursts out of a volcano; Hualālai's last one was in 1801.
Haleakalā Volcano 10,023 feet tall that forms most of Maui; the name means house of the sun.
Halemaʻumaʻu Pit crater inside Kīlauea's summit caldera, in legend the home of the goddess Pele.
Hotspot Fixed source of heat under the Pacific Plate; it built each island as the plate slid over it.
Hualālai Third most active volcano on the Big Island; it last erupted in 1801.
Island Land with water all around it; the state has eight main ones plus many islets and atolls.
Kazumura Cave on the Big Island more than 40 miles long, thought to be the longest lava tube in the world.
Kīlauea The most active of the Big Island's five volcanoes and one of the most active on Earth.
Kīpuka Hawaiian word for an oasis of plants left standing inside a bed of lava.
Kohala Oldest of the Big Island's five volcanoes, at the north end of the island; it no longer erupts.
Lava Molten rock that has reached the surface; here it cools into dark basalt.
Magma Molten rock while it is still underground; once it flows out it is called lava.
Mauna Kea Dormant volcano and the state's highest point, about 13,800 feet; the name means white mountain.
Mauna Loa Earth's largest active volcano by mass and volume; the name means long mountain.
Observatory Building with big telescopes for watching the night sky; a group of them stands at the top of Mauna Kea.
Pacific Plate Huge slab of Earth's crust that carries each island slowly away from the hotspot that made it.
Pāhoehoe Hawaiian word used in geology for smooth, unbroken lava; the rough, rubbly kind is called ʻaʻā.
Punaluʻu Big Island beach famous for its black sand, which is broken basalt.
Rainforest Thick, wet woodland on the rainy mountain slopes that face the trade winds.
Reef Ridge built by corals in warm, shallow sea; ancient fishponds were walled off on flat ones.
Seamount Underwater mountain; Kamaʻehuakanaloa, off the southeast coast of the Big Island, is an active volcano far below the waves.
Snow It whitens the top of Mauna Kea in some seasons, which is how the white mountain got its name.
Summit The top of a mountain; Mauna Kea's is sometimes capped with snow.
Trade Winds Steady breezes that blow over the islands from the east for most of the year.
Tropical Word for the islands' climate: warm all year.
Tsunami Giant sea wave; two of them destroyed Hilo's bayfront.
Valley Low land between ridges; Waipiʻo on the Big Island is a famous one.
Volcano An opening where molten rock reaches the surface; every island in the chain was built by them.
Waterfall Where a stream drops over a cliff; ʻAkaka, north of Hilo, is a famous tall one.

Hawaii Plants and Animals 38

ʻApapane Small crimson honeycreeper that sips nectar from ʻōhiʻa blossoms.
Banyan Fig tree that grows extra trunks from roots let down by its branches; a famous one stands in Lahaina.
Black Coral The official state gem; it grows in the sea and is made into jewelry.
Breadfruit Starchy fruit tree, ʻulu in Hawaiian, carried from island to island across the Pacific by early voyagers.
Endemic Word for a plant or animal that lives in one place and nowhere else, like the nēnē.
Hibiscus The native yellow kind, maʻo hau hele, is the state flower.
Hoary Bat The state land mammal, called ʻōpeʻapeʻa, a native that roosts alone in trees.
Honeycreeper Small forest bird of the finch family found only here; many kinds have curved bills.
Honu Hawaiian name for the green sea turtle.
Humpback The state marine mammal, a whale called koholā; thousands visit these waters each winter.
Humuhumu Short form of the state fish's 21-letter name; the word means triggerfish.
ʻIlima Native shrub whose delicate yellow flower is the official flower of Oʻahu.
ʻIʻiwi Scarlet honeycreeper with a long, curved bill.
Koa Tall native forest tree; canoes and surfboards were carved from its fine reddish wood.
Koholā Hawaiian word for the humpback whale.
Kōlea Local name of the Pacific golden plover, a shorebird that nests in Alaska and Siberia in summer.
Kukui The state tree, also called candlenut; its oily nuts were once burned for light.
Lehua Blossom of the ʻōhiʻa tree; the red kind is the official flower of the Big Island.
Lokelani Pink rose, the official flower of Maui.
Maile Native vine with shiny, fragrant leaves, used for decorations and lei.
Manō Hawaiian word for shark.
Manu Hawaiian word for bird.
Monk Seal The state mammal, an endangered sea animal that lives nowhere else on Earth.
Naiʻa Hawaiian word for dolphin or porpoise.
Naupaka Native shrub of the mountains and the coast whose pale flowers look like half flowers.
Nēnē The state bird, a goose found only in these islands and named for its soft call.
ʻŌhiʻa Native tree that is quick to take root on new lava flows; its blossom is called lehua.
ʻOpihi Hawaiian name for limpets, sea snails with cone-shaped shells.
Pīkake Arabian jasmine, brought from India; its small, white, very fragrant flowers are strung into lei.
Plumeria Sweet-smelling flower used for lei; the tree first came from tropical America.
Pueo Hawaiian short-eared owl, found only in these islands.
Sea Turtle The green kind, called honu, is a local symbol of good luck and long life.
Silversword Spiky silver plant; the Haleakalā kind grows only high on that volcano and can live more than 50 years.
Spinner Dolphin Sea mammal famous for leaping out of the water and spinning in the air.
Sugarcane Tall, sweet grass once grown on big plantations across the islands.
Taro Kalo in Hawaiian, the official state plant; its cooked root is pounded into poi.
Ti Leaf Long and green, it wraps food for steaming and lines earth ovens.
Triggerfish The reef kind is the state fish; its long Hawaiian name means the fish with a snout like a pig.

Hawaiian Language 60

ʻĀina Hawaiian for land, as in the state motto: the life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness.
Akamai Hawaiian for smart or clever.
Aloha Hawaiian for love, kindness and compassion; also said to welcome someone or to say farewell.
Alphabet The Hawaiian one has 13 letters: five vowels, seven consonants and the ʻokina.
Ānuenue Hawaiian for rainbow.
Hale Hawaiian for house or building.
Haumāna Hawaiian for student or pupil.
Hauʻoli Hawaiian for happy or glad; add lā hānau after it and you have wished someone a happy birthday.
Heluhelu Hawaiian for to read.
Hoa Hawaiian for friend or companion.
Hōkū Hawaiian for star.
Holoholo Hawaiian for heading out just for fun, on foot, by car or by boat.
Hōʻike Hawaiian for to show or exhibit; at school the word is also used for a test.
Hoʻolauleʻa Hawaiian for celebration.
Hui Hawaiian for club or team; the same word also means to meet.
ʻĪlio Hawaiian for dog.
Kahakai Hawaiian for beach or seashore.
Kahakō The line written over a vowel, as in ā, to show that the vowel is held long.
Kahuna Hawaiian for a priest, or a master of any skill.
Kāne Hawaiian for man, male or husband.
Kapu Hawaiian for forbidden or sacred; on a sign it means keep out.
Keiki Hawaiian for child.
Kōkua Hawaiian for help.
Kula Hawaiian for school, a word borrowed from English.
Kumu Hawaiian for teacher; the word also means base or source.
Kupuna Hawaiian for grandparent or ancestor.
Lani Hawaiian for sky or heaven.
Laulima Hawaiian for working together; the word literally means many hands.
Lōkahi Hawaiian for harmony, when a group is in agreement and at peace.
Mahalo Hawaiian for thanks.
Mahina Hawaiian for moon, and also for month.
Makai Hawaiian direction word: toward the sea.
Makana Hawaiian for gift or present.
Makani Hawaiian for wind or breeze.
Mālama Hawaiian for to care for and protect, as in caring for the land.
Malihini Hawaiian for newcomer, visitor or guest.
Mauka Hawaiian direction word: inland, toward the mountains.
Mauna Hawaiian for mountain.
Mele Hawaiian for song, chant or poem.
Moana Hawaiian for ocean or open sea.
Moku Hawaiian for island or district; the word also means ship.
Nalu Hawaiian for wave or surf.
Nani Hawaiian for beautiful or pretty.
Nui Hawaiian for big, great or important.
ʻOhana Hawaiian for family, relatives and kin.
ʻOkina The mark ʻ, a consonant of the alphabet here; it stands for a glottal stop, like the break in the middle of oh-oh.
Pali Hawaiian for cliff.
Pau Hawaiian for finished or all done.
Pidgin Everyday island speech that began on sugarcane plantations, where workers came from many countries.
Pilikia Hawaiian for a problem or bother, big or little.
Pōhaku Hawaiian for rock or stone.
Pono Hawaiian for goodness and doing what is right; it is the last word of the state motto.
Pōpoki Hawaiian for cat.
Pua Hawaiian for flower or blossom.
Puka Hawaiian for hole, door or opening.
Tūtū Everyday Hawaiian word for grandma or grandpa.
Vowel A, E, I, O or U; in Hawaiian each one can be short or long.
Wahine Hawaiian for woman, lady or wife.
Wai Fresh water, in the islands' own language; the word starts many place names.
Wikiwiki Hawaiian for fast; half of this word, borrowed from a Honolulu airport shuttle bus, names a kind of website.

Hawaii Food 25

Coconut Niu in Hawaiian; Hawaiians used every part of this palm, and its cream goes into haupia.
Feast A big shared meal; a lūʻau is one, usually with music and hula.
Haupia Pudding made with coconut cream.
Imu Underground oven.
Kalo Hawaiian name for taro, the state plant and the staple food since earliest times.
Kālua To bake in an underground oven, the way a pig is cooked for a feast.
Kūlolo Sweet, chewy pudding of grated taro and coconut, baked or steamed.
Laulau Pork, fish or taro tops wrapped in ti leaves and steamed or cooked in the imu.
Lilikoʻi Hawaiian name for passion fruit.
Loco Moco A hamburger patty on white rice, with brown gravy and a fried egg.
Lomi Salmon Side dish of salted fish worked with the fingers and mixed with onions and tomatoes.
Lūʻau Feast with music and hula; its name is also the word for the young leaves of the taro plant.
Macadamia Nut tree that came from Australia and became a well-known island crop.
Mahimahi Hawaiian name for the dolphinfish, a game fish popular for food; it is a fish, not a dolphin.
Malasada Fried dough treat brought by Portuguese plantation workers; Shrove Tuesday is its day in Hawaii.
Manapua Hawaiian version of the Chinese char siu bun, a soft bun with a pork filling.
Pineapple Spiky fruit once grown on huge plantations here, above all on Lānaʻi.
Plate Lunch Filling island meal: scoops of rice and macaroni salad served beside a main dish.
Poi Staple food of cooked taro pounded smooth and thinned with water.
Poke Dish of diced raw fish; the Hawaiian word means to slice or cut crosswise.
Pūpū Hawaiian for a snack or appetizer; the same word also means shell.
Saimin Noodle soup common in the islands; its name comes from Cantonese words for thin noodles.
Shave Ice Treat of fine, fluffy flakes cut from a frozen block of water and flavored with syrup.
Sweet Potato ʻUala in Hawaiian; it was grown across Polynesia before European explorers arrived.
ʻUlu Hawaiian name for breadfruit.

Hawaiian Culture 37

Aliʻi Hawaiian word for a chief, ruler or noble.
Aloha Shirt Bright printed top with a collar that began in the islands; wearing it on Fridays grew into Casual Friday.
Arcturus Bright star called Hōkūleʻa, star of gladness; it passes directly overhead at Hawaii's latitude.
ʻAuana Hawaiian for to wander or drift; the modern hula style with this name is danced to song, guitar and ʻukulele.
Canoe Waʻa in Hawaiian; double-hulled ones crossed the open ocean with no instruments.
Chant Words sung on a few notes; ancient hula is danced to it, not to a band.
Conch Shell Pū in Hawaiian: found in the sea and blown like a trumpet.
Feather Cloak ʻAhu ʻula in Hawaiian: a garment that marked chiefs of high rank.
Hālau A hula school; the word also names a long house for canoes.
Heiau Hawaiian temple of the old religion, often a platform of stacked stone.
Hōkūleʻa Double-hulled voyaging canoe that sailed to Tahiti and back, guided by stars and swells, not instruments.
Hula The state dance, which acts out the words of a chant or song.
Ipu Gourd drum that keeps the beat for hula.
Kahiko Hawaiian for old or ancient; the hula style with this name is danced to chant and traditional instruments.
Kāhili Tall standard topped with feathers, a symbol of royalty.
Kapa Cloth made by beating tree bark until it is soft, then stamped with patterns.
Lei Garland of flowers, leaves, shells or feathers worn around the neck and given with aloha.
Makahiki Ancient new year season of about four months honoring the god Lono, with rest, sports and feasting.
May Day The first of the fifth month, when Hawaii keeps its festival of lei with flowers, music and hula.
Menehune Small people of legend said to build fishponds and temples in a single night.
Muʻumuʻu Loose, flowing gown; the Hawaiian name means cut off, because early ones had no yoke.
Navigator The person who guides a voyaging canoe by reading the stars and the sea.
Outrigger Float fixed beside a canoe to steady it; paddling such canoes is the official state team sport.
Pahu Hawaiian drum, the state's official traditional musical instrument.
Paniolo Hawaiian cowboy, in the vaquero tradition; the word comes from español.
Pele Goddess of volcanoes and fire; her name is also a Hawaiian word for lava flow.
Pūʻili Split bamboo sticks that hula dancers tap together as rattles.
Shaka Friendly hand sign with thumb and little finger out, now the official state gesture.
Slack Key Island way of playing guitar, with some strings loosened to change the tuning.
Steel Guitar Instrument played by sliding a metal bar along the strings, a style invented in the islands.
Surfboard Long ago Hawaiians made theirs from the wood of trees such as koa.
Surfing Riding waves on a board, heʻe nalu in Hawaiian; it is the state's official individual sport.
Tahiti South Pacific island that the voyaging canoe Hōkūleʻa reached from Hawaii without instruments.
ʻUkulele Small four-string instrument developed here in the 1880s from Portuguese ones; the name means leaping flea.
ʻUlīʻulī Feather-topped gourd rattle with seeds inside, shaken in hula.
Wayfinding Steering across the open ocean by stars, birds, swells and wind, with no instruments.
Waʻa Hawaiian word for canoe.

Hawaii History 26

Ahupuaʻa Old land division that usually ran from the uplands down to the sea.
Aloha State The official nickname, which uses the Hawaiian word of greeting.
Aloha ʻOe Farewell to Thee, the best-known song by Queen Liliʻuokalani.
Annexation When one country takes over another land; the United States did this to Hawaii in 1898.
Captain Cook British explorer whose ships, in January 1778, were the first from Europe known to reach the islands.
Fishpond Shallow reef flat walled in with lava rock, where Hawaiians of old raised fish.
Flag The state's has a Union Jack and eight stripes, one for each main island.
Hawaiian One of the two official state languages, with English; missionaries first wrote it down in the 1820s.
Hawaiʻi Ponoʻī The state anthem, once the anthem of the kingdom, with words written by King Kalākaua.
ʻIolani Palace Royal residence in Honolulu finished in 1882 for King Kalākaua, the only official royal residence in the United States.
Kahanamoku Duke, Olympic swimming champion from Waikīkī who made surfing popular around the world.
Kalākaua King called the Merrie Monarch, who built ʻIolani Palace and brought hula back into public life.
Kamehameha King who united the islands into one kingdom by 1810 and ruled until 1819; June 11 is his holiday.
Kingdom The islands were one from the time of Kamehameha I until the overthrow of 1893.
Liliʻuokalani The last monarch and only ruling queen, who lost her throne in 1893; she wrote the song Aloha ʻOe.
Missionary American ones gave the Hawaiian language its written alphabet in the 1820s.
Monarch A king or queen; the last one here ruled until 1893.
Overthrow The end of the kingdom in January 1893, when Liliʻuokalani lost her throne.
Pearl Harbor Navy base west of Honolulu; the attack on it of December 7, 1941 pulled the United States into the Second World War.
Plantation Large farm for one crop; Lānaʻi was once a single pineapple one.
Queen Liliʻuokalani was the only woman to rule the kingdom in her own right.
Sandwich The islands' old English name, given in 1778 to honor an English earl.
Statehood Reached on August 21, 1959, when Hawaii became the 50th state.
Territory What Hawaii was from 1900 until it became a state in 1959.
Union Jack British design in the corner of the state flag, beside eight stripes for the eight main islands.
Whaling Hunting whales from sailing ships; Lahaina was a busy port for it in the 1800s.

How this list was compiled: Own work. 254 words and names about the state of Hawaii, chosen and described for grades 2 to 8: seven themed lists (islands and places, volcanoes and land, plants and animals, Hawaiian language, food, culture, history), a Luau list, Hawaii Favorites, an easy list of every word of 3 to 5 letters and a hard list of every word of 8 letters or more. Hawaiian words are printed with their ʻokina and kahakō, as the Pukui and Elbert dictionary spells them (Hawaiʻi, Kīlauea, Lūʻau). The grid keeps only the letters A to Z, so Hawaiʻi is hidden as HAWAII, Nēnē as NENE and Mauna Kea as MAUNAKEA. Entries have 3 to 14 letters once marks and spaces are dropped, and inside one list no word sits inside another, forwards or backwards. Clues are our own wording; no clue repeats a word of four letters or more from its own entry. No brand, team, living person, fictional character, trademarked event or drink is listed; Moana is only the Hawaiian word for ocean. American spellings. Hawaiian words, spellings and meanings: Pukui and Elbert, Hawaiian Dictionary (1986), read entry by entry on 2026-09-19 and again on 2026-09-20 at https://wehe.hilo.hawaii.edu/. Places, dates, heights and state symbols: the entry's English Wikipedia article, read on 2026-09-19 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaii and the article for each entry). On 2026-09-20 the dates, sizes, firsts and superlatives were checked a second time at the U.S. Geological Survey volcano pages (https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/), the National Park Service (https://www.nps.gov/), NOAA Fisheries (https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/), the National Archives (https://www.archives.gov/), ʻIolani Palace (https://www.iolanipalace.org/), Store norske leksikon (https://snl.no/) and Lex (https://lex.dk/). Where the two works differed, or no second one was found, the clue now says only what both support. Licence: own work

How it works

This Hawaii word search opens with Honolulu, Mauna Kea, Nēnē, Mahalo and 12 more of 28 favorites. Start from a list holds eight themed lists, among them a Luau list and a Hawaiian word search of 60 everyday words, plus easy and hard lists.

Read the full guide

Why the grid says HAWAII, not Hawaiʻi

Hawaiian spelling uses two marks: the ʻokina, a consonant that sounds like the break in oh-oh, and the kahakō, a line over a long vowel. The grid has only A to Z, so it drops both and the word list prints them: pupils read Lūʻau and hunt for LUAU. The marks matter: pau means finished and pāʻū is a skirt.

A luau word search for party day

The Luau list holds 41 words for the feast (Poi, Haupia, Imu), the music (Hula, ʻUkulele, Pahu) and the welcome (Aloha, ʻOhana, Lei). Tick Show clues, not words, and guests must work out Haupia from "Pudding made with coconut cream" before they hunt for it.

Easy Hawaii has all 88 words of 3 to 5 letters, such as Maui, Lava and Honu. For grades 2 to 4, take words off the list until 8 are left.
To hide the 21-letter state fish, humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa, type it at the end of the word list: the grid grows to 22 by 22 to fit it.
Grades 6 to 8: pick Hard Hawaii and press Hard. Its 91 long words include Liliʻuokalani; Mauna Kea is hidden as MAUNAKEA.

Questions and answers

What Hawaiian words are in the word search?

The Hawaiian Language list has 60, each clued by its English meaning: greetings such as Aloha and Mahalo, family words such as ʻOhana and Keiki, and the direction words Mauka (toward the mountains) and Makai (toward the sea). Meanings follow the Pukui and Elbert dictionary.

Which islands and volcanoes can pupils find?

All eight main islands are in Hawaiian Islands and Places: Hawaiʻi, Maui, Oʻahu, Kauaʻi, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, Niʻihau and Kahoʻolawe. Hawaii Volcanoes and Land adds the five volcanoes of the Big Island (Kīlauea, Mauna Loa, Mauna Kea, Hualālai and Kohala) and Haleakalā on Maui.

How do I print the puzzle with its answer key?

Press Print or save as PDF. The puzzle prints with a Name and Date line and the answer key follows on its own page. Press New puzzle between printouts so each table gets a different grid.

All 254 words

Hawaiian Islands and Places 34

Hawaiian Islands and Places, continued

Hawaii Volcanoes and Land 34

Hawaii Plants and Animals 38

Hawaiian Language 60

Hawaii Food 25

Hawaiian Culture 37

Hawaii History 26

How it works

Why the grid says HAWAII, not Hawaiʻi

A luau word search for party day

Questions and answers

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