Winter Word Search Printable

Winter word search puzzles, December and January included: press New puzzle until one suits, then Print or save as PDF.

Name Date

Winter Word Search

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

0 of 16 words found

VNEENRIEBMYRRDM

RIGEEISELESKISI

URFKECLKYTELILO

TBWINTERLSKATED

GGRACOATBHLHWDN

QSBOWRHYOODAXIL

FROSTEHOMVCLYCS

RBANDJHDPENGUIN

ROXOEEAIGLOOBCO

SWRWCMTOIMSCSLW

FNAFEFPVEWCYNEM

RVNLMAIAPJAOAEA

SFWABLIZZARDYIN

ROYKEXQRFJFRUSC

HIBERNATEFFNVME

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.

SnowflakeSNOWFLAKE
IcicleICICLE
FrostFROST
BlizzardBLIZZARD
ShovelSHOVEL
WinterWINTER
ScarfSCARF
CoatCOAT
SledSLED
SkateSKATE
SkiSKI
IglooIGLOO
SnowmanSNOWMAN
PenguinPENGUIN
HibernateHIBERNATE
DecemberDECEMBER

16 of 24 words from the Winter Favorites list.

Start from a list

Easy: words go across and down.

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Show clues, not words

Word list

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

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Answer key: Winter Word Search

VNEENRIEBMYRRDM

RIGEEISELESKISI

URFKECLKYTELILO

TBWINTERLSKATED

GGRACOATBHLHWDN

QSBOWRHYOODAXIL

FROSTEHOMVCLYCS

RBANDJHDPENGUIN

ROXOEEAIGLOOBCO

SWRWCMTOIMSCSLW

FNAFEFPVEWCYNEM

RVNLMAIAPJAOAEA

SFWABLIZZARDYIN

ROYKEXQRFJFRUSC

HIBERNATEFFNVME

SNOWFLAKE, ICICLE, FROST, BLIZZARD, SHOVEL, WINTER, SCARF, COAT, SLED, SKATE, SKI, IGLOO, SNOWMAN, PENGUIN, HIBERNATE, DECEMBER

Next step Turn these winter words into a spelling test Build a word search from your own list

All 161 words

Snow and Ice 18

Avalanche A mass of snow sliding fast down a mountainside.
Blizzard A storm with winds of 35 miles an hour or more and blowing snow that lasts three hours or longer.
Crystal A solid with a regular shape. The ones in snow are six-sided.
Drift A deep pile of snow heaped up by the wind.
Flurry A light, brief snowfall that barely covers the ground.
Freeze What water does at 32 degrees Fahrenheit, which is 0 degrees Celsius.
Frost A thin coat of ice crystals on grass and windows after a cold night.
Glacier A huge body of ice that creeps downhill under its own weight. It builds up from snow over many years.
Iceberg A chunk of freshwater ice that broke off a glacier and floats in the sea. Only about a tenth of it shows above the water.
Icicle A spike of ice that forms when dripping water freezes.
Melt To turn from ice back into water.
Powder Fresh, dry, fluffy snow.
Shovel A tool with a wide scoop for clearing snow off the walk.
Sleet Small, hard balls of ice that bounce when they land. They start as snowflakes that melt and refreeze.
Slippery How an icy sidewalk feels under your shoes.
Slush Snow that has partly melted into a wet, gray mess.
Snowflake An ice crystal with six arms. Each one forms around a tiny speck, such as dust, high in a cloud.
Snowplow A truck with a wide blade that pushes snow off the road.

Show all 161 words (143 more)

Winter Weather and Sky 17

Arctic The cold region around the North Pole. No penguins live there.
Aurora Glowing lights in polar skies, made when particles from the Sun hit the upper air. Also called the northern lights.
Axis The imaginary line Earth spins around. Because it leans, we have seasons.
Bitter A word for cold so sharp that it stings.
Brisk Cold and fresh, like a quick walk on a bright winter morning.
Celsius The temperature scale on which water freezes at 0 degrees and boils at 100.
Cold The opposite of hot.
Darkness Winter has more of it. The longest night of the year comes at the December solstice.
Fahrenheit The temperature scale still used in the United States. Water freezes at 32 degrees on it.
February The last full month of winter in the north, and the shortest month of the year.
Forecast A prediction of tomorrow's weather.
Frigid Extremely cold.
Overcast A sky fully covered with gray cloud.
Thermometer A tool that measures temperature.
Tilt Earth leans about 23 degrees. When the north leans away from the Sun, the north has winter.
Tundra Cold land where trees cannot grow and the soil below the surface stays frozen. The word comes from Russian.
Winter The coldest season: December to February in the north, June to August in the south.

Winter Clothes 18

Beanie A snug knitted cap.
Boots Tall, waterproof shoes for deep snow.
Bundle To wrap yourself in warm clothes before going out. The word up usually follows it.
Coat The warm outer layer you zip up before going outside.
Earmuffs Invented in 1873 by Chester Greenwood of Maine, who was 15 and wanted warm ears while ice skating.
Fleece A soft, fuzzy fabric for warm jackets. Also the woolly coat of a sheep.
Gloves Hand warmers with a separate space for every finger.
Goggles Eye protection for skiers and snowboarders in bright snow.
Hood The part of a coat that covers your head.
Layers Thin pieces of clothing worn one over another to trap warm air.
Mittens Hand warmers with one space for four fingers and another for the thumb.
Parka A hooded winter coat, a staple of Inuit clothing. The word comes from the Nenets language.
Scarf A long strip of warm cloth worn around the neck.
Snowsuit A padded one-piece outfit for playing in deep snow.
Socks Wear a thick pair inside your boots.
Sweater A knitted top with long sleeves, worn over a shirt.
Wool Yarn spun from the coat of a sheep and knitted into warm socks and hats.
Zipper It closes your coat. Pull it all the way up on a windy day.

Winter Fun and Sports 20

Curling A sport from Scotland. Players slide granite stones across ice while teammates sweep ahead with brooms.
Fort A wall of packed snow to duck behind in a snowball fight.
Glide To move smoothly over ice or snow.
Helmet Wear one to protect your head when you ski, skate or sled.
Hockey A team game played on ice with sticks and a puck.
Igloo A shelter built from blocks of snow. In the Inuit language, iglu means a house of any kind.
Luge A small racing sled. The rider lies face up, goes feet first and can top 87 miles an hour.
Puck A hard rubber disk, 3 inches across and 1 inch thick. It is frozen before a game so it bounces less.
Rink A sheet of ice made for skating.
Skate A boot with a steel blade for gliding on ice.
Ski One of two long, narrow boards for gliding downhill on snow.
Slalom A downhill race that zigzags between poles.
Sled You sit on it and slide down a snowy hill.
Slope The side of a hill or mountain where people ski.
Snowball A handful of snow packed round for throwing.
Snowboard A single wide board you ride sideways down a snowy hill.
Snowman A figure built from big rolled balls of snow, often with a carrot for a nose.
Snowmobile A motor vehicle with skis in front and a track behind, for riding over snow.
Snowshoe A wide frame strapped to a boot. It spreads your weight so you can walk on top of deep snow.
Toboggan A long sled with no runners. Its flat bottom rides right on the snow.

Animals in Winter 22

Antlers Bony branches on the head of a moose or a caribou.
Blubber The thick layer of fat that keeps whales, seals and walruses warm in icy water.
Camouflage Coloring that helps an animal hide. In snow, a white coat does the job.
Cardinal A songbird with a crest. The male is bright red with a black face, easy to spot against snow.
Caribou The North American name for reindeer. Both males and females can grow antlers.
Chickadee A small bird with a black cap, named for its call. On cold nights it lowers its body temperature to save energy.
Dormant Alive but not active. Frogs, snakes and bears spend the winter this way.
Ermine A stoat in its white winter coat. In summer the same animal is brown.
Fox The Arctic kind is the only member of the dog family whose coat turns white for winter.
Groundhog A true hibernator that sleeps from about October to March. It has its own day on February 2.
Hare The snowshoe kind turns white for winter and has oversized feet for running on snow.
Hibernate To spend the winter in a deep sleep, as groundhogs and some bats do.
Huddle What emperor penguins do to stay warm, taking turns in the middle of the crowd.
Husky A strong dog with a thick coat, bred to pull sleds.
Lynx A wild cat with black ear tufts and broad paws like snowshoes. The Canada kind hunts mostly snowshoe hares.
Moose The tallest and heaviest kind of deer. Its coat never turns white for winter.
Narwhal An Arctic whale. Its long tusk is really a tooth that can grow to about 10 feet.
Penguin A bird that swims with flippers and cannot fly. Nearly all kinds live south of the equator, none in the Arctic.
Polar The kind of bear that lives in the Arctic and stays white all year.
Ptarmigan A bird of the far north whose feathers turn from brown to white for winter.
Seal A sea mammal with flippers that hunts fish under the ice and climbs out to rest.
Walrus An Arctic sea animal with tusks that can grow 3 feet long and blubber up to 6 inches thick.

Warm and Cozy 18

Baking Making bread or cookies in the oven, which warms the kitchen too.
Blanket A warm cover for a bed or a couch.
Chili A thick, spicy stew of beans, meat and tomatoes.
Cocoa A hot drink made from chocolate powder and milk, often topped with marshmallows.
Firewood Logs split and stacked to burn through the winter.
Furnace The machine, often in the basement, that heats the whole house.
Hearth The floor of a fireplace and the warm spot in front of it.
Kettle A pot with a spout for boiling water. Some whistle when they are ready.
Knitting Looping yarn with two needles to make a scarf or a sweater.
Oatmeal A hot breakfast of boiled oats.
Pajamas Clothes for sleeping. Flannel ones are good on a winter night.
Puzzle A good thing to do on a snowy afternoon. You are solving one right now.
Recess On the most bitter days it moves indoors.
Shiver What your body does in the cold. Muscles shake in small movements, and the shaking makes warmth.
Slippers Soft shoes for cold floors.
Snug Warm, comfortable and tucked in.
Stew Meat and vegetables simmered slowly in a pot.
Yarn Thick, soft thread for making sweaters and scarves.

December 25

Airplane Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first powered flight in one on December 17, 1903, near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
Boycott Refusing to use something as a protest. People in Montgomery, Alabama, stopped riding city buses on December 5, 1955.
Capricorn At the December solstice the noon Sun is straight overhead along the Tropic of this name.
Countdown Ten, nine, eight: what a crowd shouts through the last seconds of December 31.
December The twelfth month. Its name comes from the Latin for ten, because the first Roman calendar began in March.
Geminids A meteor shower that peaks around December 14. Its shooting stars come from dust left by an asteroid, not a comet.
Hanukkah An eight-night Jewish holiday, also called the Festival of Lights. It begins on the 25th of the Hebrew month of Kislev.
Holiday A special day of celebration, often with no school. December has many.
Holly A shrub with glossy, spiny leaves. Its berries ripen in winter and feed the birds, but they are not safe for people.
Kinara The Kwanzaa candle holder. It holds seven candles, one for each of the seven principles.
Kwanzaa A week-long celebration from December 26 to January 1, first held in 1966. Its name comes from Swahili for first fruits.
Menorah A lamp with nine branches, lit over the eight nights of Hanukkah. The ninth candle, the helper, lights the rest.
Midnight The moment December 31 turns into January 1.
Narcissus The December birth flower. Daffodils belong to this group of bulb flowers.
Pole Roald Amundsen and four others became the first people to reach the South one, on December 14, 1911.
Posadas Nine nights of processions from December 16 to 24, kept chiefly in Mexico and Central America. The word means lodgings.
Rights The first ten changes to the US Constitution are a Bill of these. They took effect on December 15, 1791.
Roman The oldest calendar of this ancient people began in March, which made December month number ten.
Sagittarius The star sign of the archer. It covers birthdays up to December 21.
Solstice The shortest day and longest night of the year in the north. It falls between December 20 and 22.
Tanzanite A blue and violet December birthstone, added to the list in 2002. It is found in only one district of Tanzania.
Tea Colonists dumped more than 300 chests of it into Boston Harbor on December 16, 1773.
Turquoise A blue-green stone, one of three December birthstones. Its name comes from the Old French for Turkish.
Twelfth December's place in the year. On the oldest Roman calendar it was only number ten.
Zircon A December birthstone in the United States since 1952.

January 23

Aquarius The star sign of the water carrier. It starts on January 20.
Braille Raised dots read with the fingertips. Its world day is January 4, the birthday of Louis, the man who invented it.
Calendar Hang up a new one on January 1.
Carnation A ruffled flower, the birth flower of January.
Doorway Janus watched over every one. Ianua, the Latin for door, also gave English the word janitor.
Dream Martin Luther King Jr., honored on the third Monday of January, gave his famous 1963 speech about one.
Epiphany A Christian feast on January 6, also called Three Kings' Day.
First New Year's Day is this day of January, and of the whole year.
Franklin Benjamin, born in Boston on January 17, 1706. He invented the lightning rod and bifocal glasses.
Garnet The January birthstone, most often red. Its name may come from the seeds of the pomegranate.
Gold James Marshall found flakes of it at Sutter's Mill on January 24, 1848, and the California rush began.
Inauguration The day a United States president is sworn in: January 20, once every four years.
January The first month, and on average the coldest in most of the north. It is named for a Roman god.
Janus The Roman god of beginnings and doorways, shown with two faces: one looks back and one looks ahead.
Lunar The new year of this name starts on a new moon between January 21 and February 20.
Perihelion The point where Earth is closest to the Sun. It comes in early January, so distance is not what makes winter cold.
Quadrantids A meteor shower that peaks around January 3. The best of it lasts only a few hours, so many people miss it.
Resolution A promise you make to yourself for the new year.
Semester Half of a school year. In many schools the second one starts in January.
Service Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the third Monday of January, is a national day of this: helping other people.
Snowdrop A small white flower shaped like a drooping bell. It can push up through snow, and it is also a January birth flower.
Summer January's season south of the equator, where it is the warmest month in most places.
Thaw A spell of mild weather that melts snow. Weather lore in North America expects one around January 25.

How this list was compiled: 161 winter words with plain meanings written for this site: snow and ice, winter weather and sky, clothes, sports, animals in winter, warm things indoors, and a list each for December (29 words) and January (30). The facts in the clues were checked on 2026-09-18 against English Wikipedia, chiefly https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blizzard, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_camouflage, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earmuffs, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birthstone and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissus_%28plant%29. The 21 December and January words added on 2026-09-20 follow the two month articles and the article on each day or event, all read that day. Licence: own work

How it works

Indoor recess, a snow day packet, the first morning back in January: this winter word search printable fits them all. It opens on 16 words, Igloo, Penguin and Snowflake among them, and 11 lists hold 161.

Read the full guide

A winter word search easy enough for first grade, or a hard one

Of the 11 lists under Start from a list, Easy Winter is the 48 shortest words (Sled, Coat, Igloo). For first grade, open More options and tick Large print. Hard Winter has 50 long words, Avalanche and Ptarmigan among them. With Hard pressed, Perihelion may run backwards: a winter word search hard enough for grade 5.

Six themes, plus December and January

Six lists follow a theme, from Snow and Ice to Warm and Cozy. December has 29 words, from Solstice to Kwanzaa, and January has 30, from Snowman to Quadrantids. Press Print or save as PDF. In the print window, pick Save as PDF for a winter word search PDF.

With Show clues, not words ticked, pupils read "Invented in 1873 by Chester Greenwood of Maine" and hunt for Earmuffs.
For winter words read aloud as a test, see the winter spelling word list.

Questions and answers

Are there printable winter word finds for January?

Yes. Choose January under Start from a list for a free printable January word search for kids, or a PDF. Its 30 words run from Sled to Janus, the Roman god the month is named for. New puzzle deals a different 16 each time.

Why is a fox in a winter word search for kids?

Its coat is the fact: the Arctic fox is the only member of the dog family that turns white for winter. Other clues say a blizzard needs winds of 35 miles an hour for three hours or more, and no penguins live in the Arctic.

Is Earth closer to the Sun in winter?

Yes, in the north. Earth is closest to the Sun in early January, a point called Perihelion, which is one of the 30 January words. Distance is not what makes winter cold: the tilt of Earth's axis is.

All 161 words

Snow and Ice 18

Winter Weather and Sky 17

Winter Clothes 18

Winter Fun and Sports 20

Animals in Winter 22

Warm and Cozy 18

December 25

January 23

How it works

A winter word search easy enough for first grade, or a hard one

Six themes, plus December and January

Questions and answers

More tools