Seasons Word Search

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Name Date

Seasons Word Search

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

0 of 16 words found

YINEFPOMYOEHEAT

MIGRATENENCEYJP

VTHAWSSLAKOGFUE

EEYTHIBERNATESS

WHVOEKLASIOEMET

IFPSOGODSNOWSEA

DTSHADOWCBLLWEW

SOPBYPMRGGIIIVN

RFROZENEOHUFMUY

RLIAITKNHIEFLFG

WINTERORGTSLTUE

ERGUKHZISHHEBGS

HWTAUTUMNLEAWGM

NYUEIRORBITFELC

SWEWTXHARVESTOP

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.

SpringSPRING
AutumnAUTUMN
WinterWINTER
OrbitORBIT
YearYEAR
ShadowSHADOW
BloomBLOOM
ThawTHAW
HeatHEAT
SwimSWIM
LeafLEAF
MigrateMIGRATE
HarvestHARVEST
SnowSNOW
HibernateHIBERNATE
FrozenFROZEN

16 of 24 words from the Seasons Favorites list.

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Answer key: Seasons Word Search

YINEFPOMYOEHEAT

MIGRATENENCEYJP

VTHAWSSLAKOGFUE

EEYTHIBERNATESS

WHVOEKLASIOEMET

IFPSOGODSNOWSEA

DTSHADOWCBLLWEW

SOPBYPMRGGIIIVN

RFROZENEOHUFMUY

RLIAITKNHIEFLFG

WINTERORGTSLTUE

ERGUKHZISHHEBGS

HWTAUTUMNLEAWGM

NYUEIRORBITFELC

SWEWTXHARVESTOP

SPRING, AUTUMN, WINTER, ORBIT, YEAR, SHADOW, BLOOM, THAW, HEAT, SWIM, LEAF, MIGRATE, HARVEST, SNOW, HIBERNATE, FROZEN

Next step Print the 12 months as cards with the season on the back Add storms and clouds with the weather word search

All 70 words

Seasons and Months 17

April The middle month of northern spring. In Australia and Argentina it is the middle of fall.
August The last of the three summer months in northern weather records. In New Zealand it is the last month of winter.
Autumn The season between summer and winter, and the usual name for it outside North America.
December The shortest day north of the Equator comes in this month, on or around the 21st. In the south, summer begins.
Fall North American English for autumn. It began in 1500s England as a short form of a phrase about dropping leaves.
February The last month of northern winter in weather records, and the one that gains a day in a leap year.
January On average the coldest month in most of the north and the warmest in most of the south.
July On average the hottest month in most of the north, although Earth is then at its farthest from the Sun.
June The longest day north of the Equator comes in this month, on or around the 21st. In the south, winter begins.

Show all 70 words (61 more)

Seasons and Months, continued

March The spring equinox comes in this month in the north, on or around the 20th. South of the Equator, fall begins.
May The last of the three spring months in northern weather records. Summer is counted from the day after it ends.
November The last of the three fall months in northern weather records. In the south, summer is one month away.
October The middle month of northern fall. South of the Equator it is the middle of spring.
September The fall equinox comes in this month in the north, on or around the 22nd. South of the Equator, spring begins.
Spring The season after winter. In weather records north of the Equator it runs from March 1 to May 31.
Summer The warmest season. In weather records north of the Equator it is June, July and August.
Winter The coldest season. In weather records north of the Equator it is December, January and February.

Why Seasons Change 29

Angle In summer the rays of the Sun strike the ground at a steep one. In winter it is shallow, so the rays spread out.
Astronomical Seasons of this kind start on an equinox or a solstice, set by where the planet is on its path around the Sun.
Axis The imaginary line through the North and South Poles that our planet spins around.
Distance Not the cause of seasons. The Sun is nearest in the first week of January, in the middle of northern winter.
Earth Our planet. Its axis leans the same way all the way around the Sun, and that lean gives us seasons.
Equator The imaginary line around the middle of the planet. At noon on an equinox the Sun is straight above it.
Equinox One of two days, on or around March 20 and September 22, when day and night are nearly equal everywhere.
Hemisphere Half of the planet. The half leaning toward the Sun has summer while the other half has winter.
Latitude How far north or south of the Equator a place sits, in degrees. The two tropic lines are at 23.5.
Leap A ___ year adds February 29, so the calendar does not drift away from the seasons.
Light A summer day has more hours of this than a winter day, because the Sun stays up longer.
Longest The June solstice is this kind of day in the north: more daylight than any other day of the year.
Midnight North of the Arctic Circle in summer, the Sun can still be seen in the sky at this hour.
Month Each season in the weather records is exactly three of these, so it always starts on a 1st.
Northern The half of the planet that holds North America, Europe and most of Asia. Its summer starts in June.
Opposite What seasons are in the two halves of the planet: when it is summer in Canada, it is winter in Chile.
Orbit The path our planet follows around the Sun. One full trip takes about 365 and a quarter days.
Overhead On the June solstice the noon Sun is straight ___ at the Tropic of Cancer, 23.5 degrees north.
Pole The top or bottom point of the planet, where the axis comes out. In its summer the Sun stays up for about six months.
Revolve To travel around something. Our planet does this around the Sun once every 12 months.
Rotate To spin. Our planet does this once in about 24 hours, which makes day and night, not the seasons.
Shadow The dark shape you cast on the ground. It stretches long when the Sun is low, as it is on a winter day.
Shortest The December solstice is this kind of day in the north: fewer daylight hours than any other.
Solstice The day with the most or the fewest daylight hours, on or around June 21 and December 21.
Southern The half of the planet that holds Australia and most of South America. Its summer starts in December.
Tilt The lean of the planet, about 23.5 degrees from upright. It is the reason the year has seasons.
Tropics The warm belt around the Equator. Many places in it have a wet season and a dry season, not four.
Weather Seasons in ___ records start on the first day of March, June, September and December.
Year One full trip around the Sun, and one full set of four seasons.

Signs of the Seasons 24

Bare What a deciduous tree is in winter, after every leaf has dropped.
Bloom When a plant does this in spring, its buds open into blossoms.
Cool What the air turns in fall: not cold yet, but jacket weather in the morning.
Den The shelter where a bear spends the winter, living on stored fat without eating or drinking.
Flower Spring's picture word: the part of a plant that opens from a bud, with petals and pollen.
Frozen What a pond is in winter once its top layer has turned solid, at 32 degrees Fahrenheit.
Fur Cats, dogs and rabbits grow a thicker coat of this to stay warm in winter.
Harvest The gathering of ripe crops, busiest in fall once the growing months are over.
Hatch In spring a chick does this, breaking out of its egg.
Heat Summer brings the most of this. The hottest weeks come a few weeks after the longest day, because land and sea take time to warm.
Hibernate To pass the winter in a deep rest, with a slow heartbeat, slow breathing and a low body temperature.
Hoard In fall a squirrel does this with nuts, hiding them to eat when food runs short.
Leaf Fall's picture word: on a deciduous tree it turns red, orange or yellow, then drops.
Migrate In fall many northern birds do this, flying south to where food is easier to find.
Monsoon The rainy season that reaches India in June, at the start of northern summer, and lasts to September.
Ripen Through summer, fruit on the branch does this: it softens, sweetens and changes color.
Shade The darker patch under a tree where people and animals rest on a bright summer afternoon.
Shed What a deciduous tree does with its leaves in fall, after they change color.
Snow Winter's picture word: ice crystals that drift down from the clouds and pile up white.
Sow In spring, gardeners and farmers do this with seeds, scattering them or setting them in rows of soil.
Sprout In spring a seed does this, pushing its first shoot up through the soil.
Sun Summer's picture word: the star that climbs highest in the midday sky in this season.
Swim What people do in lakes and outdoor pools in summer, once the water is warm enough.
Thaw In spring, hard ground, iced-over ponds and snowbanks do this as the air warms.

How this list was compiled: 70 words about the cycle of the year with plain meanings written for this site: the season and month names, why the seasons change, and signs of each season. The facts in the clues were checked on 2026-09-19 against https://www.weather.gov/cle/seasons, https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/meteorological-versus-astronomical-seasons, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solstice, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Season and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoarding_%28animal_behavior%29. Season start dates move by a day from year to year, so the clues say "on or around". Licence: own work

How it works

This seasons word search opens with 16 of 24 favorites, such as Winter, Leaf and Orbit, across and down in a 15 by 15 grid. Two more lists hold all twelve months and the science of why seasons change.

Read the full guide

Seven lists, from 8 words to 33

Four Seasons Starter is the kindergarten sheet: Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter plus a picture word for each, Flower, Sun, Leaf and Snow. Its 8 words read well in Large print, under More options. Seasons and Months has 17 names: press Add another until all are listed. Hard Seasons is 16 long words, Astronomical the longest at 12 letters: press Hard.

Sort the found words by season

Every clue in Signs of the Seasons names one season. After solving, pupils fold scrap paper in four, label the boxes spring, summer, fall and winter, and copy each found word into its box: Hatch, Ripen, Hoard, Den. The clues under the tool settle arguments.

Tick Show clues, not words in More options, and "Not the cause of seasons" sends the class hunting for Distance.
Fall and Autumn are both in the names list. Take either off the list with the cross beside it to match your class.
The month clues cover both halves of the world, so a class in Australia reads that December begins summer.

Questions and answers

What words are in the seasons word search?

There are 70. Seasons and Months has five season names and all twelve months. Why Seasons Change has 29 words, from Tilt and Axis to Equinox, Solstice and Leap. Signs of the Seasons has 24, six for each season, from Sprout to Hibernate.

Why do we have seasons?

Earth's axis leans about 23.5 degrees, so each half of the planet tips toward the Sun for part of the year and away for the rest. Distance is not the cause: the National Weather Service notes Earth is nearest the Sun in early January.

When does each season start?

Weather records start the seasons on the first of March, June, September and December. Astronomical seasons start on or around March 20, June 21, September 22 and December 21. South of the Equator the same dates open the opposite season.

All 70 words

Seasons and Months 17

Seasons and Months, continued

Why Seasons Change 29

Signs of the Seasons 24

How it works

Seven lists, from 8 words to 33

Sort the found words by season

Questions and answers

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