Word Search PDF for Kids

Pick a grade band and a theme, then print 2 to 30 different puzzles with the answer keys last.

Grades 2 to 3: 12 by 12 grid, 10 words. Words go across and down.

Every puzzle in a packet is different, and the answer keys come last, several to a page.

Name Date

Grades 2 to 3 Animals Word Search

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

0 of 10 words found

PHDOWASCTZRH
FMPNRIESIHEA
GOOFBSSHGCTN
RNIDDMYAEBNS
NKMOOSERRERO
PENGUINKFZLB
AYESCIMOUSEH
RZBDCDYAOGGZ
REANCKOLERND
OBUBNLAACRCP
TRPDTUWEKNQP
HANGIRAFFEMI

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.

  • ZEBRA
  • TIGER
  • KOALA
  • MOUSE
  • SHARK
  • MOOSE
  • MONKEY
  • PARROT
  • GIRAFFE
  • PENGUIN

10 of 24 words from the Grades 2 to 3 Animals list.

Tap or click the first letter of a word, then its last letter. Or drag across the word. On a touch screen, hold the first letter for a moment before you drag. On a keyboard, the arrow keys move, Enter marks the first and the last letter, and Escape clears a first letter.

More options

The puzzle changes as you go. See the puzzle

Answer key: Grades 2 to 3 Animals Word Search

PHDOWASCTZRH
FMPNRIESIHEA
GOOFBSSHGCTN
RNIDDMYAEBNS
NKMOOSERRERO
PENGUINKFZLB
AYESCIMOUSEH
RZBDCDYAOGGZ
REANCKOLERND
OBUBNLAACRCP
TRPDTUWEKNQP
HANGIRAFFEMI

ZEBRA, TIGER, KOALA, MOUSE, SHARK, MOOSE, MONKEY, PARROT, GIRAFFE, PENGUIN

Next step Open the word search for one single gradeBuild a puzzle from your own spelling list

All 288 words

K to 1 Animals 18

  • Ant A tiny insect that lives with many others in a nest under the ground.
  • Bat A furry animal with wings. It is the only mammal that can truly fly.
  • Bear A big furry animal with sharp claws. Some kinds rest through most of the winter.
  • Bee A buzzing insect that makes honey.
  • Cat A pet that purrs and says meow.
  • Cow A farm animal that says moo and gives milk.
  • Crab A beach animal with a hard shell and two claws. It walks sideways.
  • Deer A forest animal. The males grow antlers.
  • Dog A pet that barks and wags its tail.
  • Duck A bird that swims on a pond and says quack.
  • Fish An animal that lives in water and breathes with gills.
  • Fox A wild animal like a small dog with a bushy red tail.
  • Frog A green jumper that starts life as a tadpole.
  • Goat A farm animal with horns and a little beard.
  • Hen A mother chicken. She lays eggs.
  • Lion A big cat with a mane. It roars.
  • Owl A bird that hoots and hunts at night.
  • Pig A pink farm animal that says oink.
Show all 288 words (270 more)

K to 1 Seasons and Weather 18

  • Bud A tiny bump on a stem. In spring it opens into a flower.
  • Cloud A white or gray puff in the sky made of tiny water drops.
  • Coat You zip it up to stay warm outside.
  • Cold How a winter day feels.
  • Fall Another name for autumn.
  • Fog A cloud that sits low on the ground.
  • Hat You wear it on your head in the sun or in the cold.
  • Hot How a summer day feels.
  • Ice Water that froze hard.
  • Leaf The flat green part of a tree. It may turn red or gold in autumn.
  • Mud Wet dirt after a spring shower.
  • Nest A home a bird builds for its eggs.
  • Rain Water drops that come down from clouds.
  • Seed Plant it in spring and a new plant grows.
  • Snow Soft white flakes that come down in winter.
  • Storm Loud weather with strong wind, heavy rain and sometimes thunder.
  • Sun It lights the day and keeps us warm.
  • Wind Moving air. It can fly a kite.

K to 1 School Day 18

  • Art The subject with paint, clay and crayons.
  • Bag You carry your things to school in it.
  • Bell It rings to tell you school is starting.
  • Book It has pages and a cover, and a story inside.
  • Bus The big yellow ride to school.
  • Chair It has four legs and a back, and you sit on it.
  • Class A group of students with one teacher.
  • Clock It shows the time with hands or digits.
  • Desk The table where you sit and work.
  • Glue It makes two things stick together.
  • Gym The room where you run, jump and play games.
  • Lunch The meal in the middle of the school day.
  • Map A drawing that shows where places are.
  • Math The subject with numbers, adding and shapes.
  • Paper You write and draw on it. It comes in sheets.
  • Pen It writes in ink.
  • Read What you do with a story, word by word.
  • Ruler A straight stick marked in inches for measuring and drawing lines.

K to 1 Holidays 18

  • Boo What a ghost says to surprise you.
  • Bunny A pet name for a rabbit, and a symbol of spring.
  • Cake A sweet baked dessert. On a birthday it holds candles.
  • Candy Sweets you collect on Halloween night.
  • Card A folded note you give on a birthday or a holiday.
  • Egg Children dye it bright colors and hunt for it in spring.
  • Elf A tiny helper with pointed ears in winter holiday stories.
  • Feast A very big meal shared on a special day.
  • Flag Red, white and blue cloth that waves on the Fourth of July.
  • Gift A wrapped surprise for someone you care about.
  • Heart The red shape on a valentine.
  • Love The warm feeling you share on February 14.
  • Mask It covers your face when you dress up in a costume.
  • Party A get-together with games, music and balloons.
  • Pie A round baked dessert with a crust. Pumpkin is a Thanksgiving favorite.
  • Star A shape with five points. One often sits on top of a holiday evergreen.
  • Treat Something sweet. The other choice is a trick.
  • Tree An evergreen one gets lights and ornaments in December.

Grades 2 to 3 Animals 24

  • Beaver A large rodent that chews down trees and builds dams.
  • Camel A desert animal. Its hump stores fat, not water.
  • Dolphin A smart ocean mammal that breathes air and leaps from the waves.
  • Giraffe The tallest living land animal. Its long neck has just 7 bones, the same number as yours.
  • Horse A farm animal with a mane and hooves. People ride it.
  • Kangaroo An Australian marsupial that hops on two legs. Its baby, a joey, rides in a pouch.
  • Koala A gray Australian marsupial, not a bear, that eats mostly eucalyptus leaves.
  • Lizard A scaly reptile with four legs and a long tail.
  • Monkey A clever primate that climbs trees. Most kinds have a tail.
  • Moose The largest animal in the deer family. Males grow wide, flat antlers.
  • Mouse A small rodent with big ears and a long thin tail.
  • Octopus A sea animal with eight arms, three hearts and bluish blood.
  • Otter A playful furry mammal that swims in rivers or the sea and eats fish.
  • Panda A black and white bear from China. It eats almost nothing but bamboo.
  • Parrot A colorful bird with a curved beak. Some kinds copy human speech.
  • Penguin A seabird that cannot fly. Its wings work as flippers for swimming.
  • Rabbit A long-eared animal that hops. Wild ones live in burrows.
  • Shark An ocean fish whose skeleton is cartilage, not bone.
  • Sheep A farm animal with a woolly coat. A baby one is a lamb.
  • Squirrel A bushy-tailed rodent that climbs trees and buries nuts.
  • Tiger A big cat from Asia with orange fur and black stripes.
  • Turtle A reptile that carries a hard shell on its back.
  • Whale A huge ocean mammal. It comes up to breathe air through a blowhole.
  • Zebra An African relative of the horse with black and white stripes.

Grades 2 to 3 Seasons and Weather 24

  • Acorn The nut of an oak tree. It drops in autumn.
  • Autumn The season between summer and winter, also called fall.
  • Beach The sandy shore by the ocean or a lake.
  • Blizzard A long snowstorm with strong winds that make it hard to see.
  • Blossom A flower on a fruit tree in spring.
  • Frost Thin white ice crystals on grass and windows after a freezing night.
  • Garden A plot where you grow flowers or vegetables.
  • Harvest The gathering of ripe crops, often at the end of summer or in autumn.
  • Icicle A spike of frozen water that hangs from a roof edge.
  • Leaves They turn red, orange and gold, then drop, and you rake them into piles.
  • Mittens They keep your hands warm. The fingers share one pocket and the thumb gets its own.
  • Orchard A field of fruit trees, such as apple trees.
  • Picnic A meal eaten outdoors, often on a blanket.
  • Puddle A small pool of rainwater on the ground. Good for splashing.
  • Rainbow An arc of colors in the sky when sunlight shines through raindrops.
  • Season One of the four parts of the year. Earth's tilt causes them.
  • Snowman A figure built from three big balls of snow, often with a carrot nose.
  • Spring The season after winter, when buds open and days grow longer.
  • Sprout A brand new shoot that pushes up from a seed.
  • Summer The warmest season, with the longest days of the year.
  • Sunshine Bright light from the sky on a clear day.
  • Thunder The boom that follows a flash of lightning.
  • Weather What the air outside is doing today: sunny, rainy, windy or snowy.
  • Winter The coldest season, with the shortest days of the year.

Grades 2 to 3 School Subjects 24

  • Addition Putting amounts together to find a sum. 4 plus 5 is 9.
  • Alphabet All 26 letters in order, from A to Z.
  • Backpack A bag with two straps worn on your shoulders.
  • Computer A machine with a screen and a keyboard for typing, research and coding.
  • Crayons Wax sticks in many colors for drawing.
  • Eraser The pink rubber tip that rubs out a mistake.
  • Globe A round model of Earth that spins on a stand.
  • Grammar The rules for how words fit together in sentences.
  • History The study of people and events of the past.
  • Lesson One block of teaching on one topic.
  • Library The room full of books you can borrow.
  • Music The subject with songs, rhythm and instruments.
  • Notebook Bound pages of lined paper for your work.
  • Number A word or symbol for how many, such as 7.
  • Pencil It writes in gray, and its marks rub out.
  • Reading The subject where you practice stories, sounds and new words.
  • Recess A break in the school day for play outside.
  • Science The subject where you ask questions about nature and test your ideas.
  • Sentence A group of words that tells a whole thought and ends with a period.
  • Spelling Putting the letters of a word in the right order.
  • Student A person who goes to school to learn.
  • Subtract To take one amount away from another. 9 minus 4 is 5.
  • Teacher The grown-up who leads the class and explains the lessons.
  • Writing Putting your ideas on paper in words and sentences.

Grades 2 to 3 Holidays 24

  • Balloon A rubber bag filled with air or helium for a party.
  • Basket A woven holder with a handle for collecting eggs on a spring hunt.
  • Candle A wax stick with a wick. Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Diwali are all marked by lighting them.
  • Clover A small green plant. Finding one with four leaves is said to be lucky.
  • Confetti Tiny bits of colored paper tossed at a celebration.
  • Costume The outfit you wear to go trick-or-treating.
  • Dreidel A four-sided top spun in play during Hanukkah. Each side shows a Hebrew letter.
  • Family Parents, children, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins together.
  • Fireworks Bright bursts of color in the night sky on the Fourth of July.
  • Freedom The right to choose for yourself. The Fourth of July celebrates it.
  • Groundhog On February 2, tradition says this animal looks for its shadow to predict six more weeks of winter.
  • Lantern A lamp with a handle and a case around the light.
  • Midnight Twelve o'clock at night, the moment the new year begins.
  • Parade A march of bands and floats down a street on a holiday.
  • Present Another word for a gift, often wrapped with a bow.
  • Pumpkin An orange squash carved into a jack-o'-lantern for October 31.
  • Reindeer A deer of the far north, called caribou in North America. Females can grow antlers too.
  • Shadow The dark shape you cast when you block the light.
  • Shamrock A three-leaf clover, the symbol of Ireland, worn on March 17.
  • Sleigh A sled pulled over snow. In stories, flying reindeer pull one.
  • Thankful Glad for what you have. Many families say why at the table in November.
  • Turkey The big bird at the center of many Thanksgiving dinners.
  • Valentine A card or note for someone you care about on February 14.
  • Wreath A ring of evergreen branches hung on a door in December.

Grades 4 to 5 Animals 30

  • Anaconda The green kind, from South America, is the world's heaviest snake. It squeezes its prey and lives mostly in water.
  • Chameleon A lizard with eyes that move separately and a long tongue it shoots at prey. Some kinds change color.
  • Cheetah The fastest land animal. It can sprint at about 60 miles an hour.
  • Chimpanzee A great ape of equatorial Africa that makes and uses tools. It is one of our closest living relatives.
  • Chipmunk A small striped rodent that carries food to its burrow in cheek pouches.
  • Elephant The largest living land animal, with a trunk and tusks.
  • Flamingo A wading bird that turns pink from pigments in its food. It often stands on one leg.
  • Gorilla The largest living primate, a great ape from the tropical forests of equatorial Africa.
  • Hedgehog A small spiny mammal that rolls into a tight ball when it is threatened.
  • Hippopotamus Its name means river horse. It ranks third in size among land mammals, behind elephants and rhinos.
  • Jellyfish A soft sea animal with an umbrella-shaped bell and trailing tentacles armed with stinging cells.
  • Leopard A big cat of Africa and Asia whose spots form rings called rosettes. It can drag prey up a tree.
  • Manatee A large, slow sea mammal that eats mostly plants. It is sometimes called a sea cow.
  • Narwhal An Arctic whale. The male's tusk is a tooth that can grow up to 3 meters long.
  • Orangutan A great ape with reddish-brown hair from Borneo and Sumatra. Its name means person of the forest.
  • Ostrich The tallest living bird, and the heaviest. It cannot fly, but in short bursts it runs about 43 miles an hour.
  • Porcupine A large rodent covered in sharp quills. It cannot shoot them, whatever cartoons show.
  • Raccoon A North American mammal with a black mask of fur and a ringed tail. It is mostly active at night.
  • Rattlesnake A venomous snake of the Americas that buzzes the tip of its tail as a warning.
  • Rhinoceros A heavy plant eater whose name means nose-horned. The horn is keratin, like your fingernails.
  • Roadrunner A desert bird of the cuckoo family in the Southwest and Mexico. It sprints up to 20 miles an hour.
  • Scorpion An arachnid with eight legs, two pincers and a stinger at the tip of its tail.
  • Seahorse A small upright fish. The male carries the eggs in a pouch until the young are ready to swim off.
  • Starfish A sea star. It usually has five arms, and most kinds can regrow one that is lost.
  • Stingray A flat fish related to sharks, with a venomous barbed blade on its tail.
  • Swordfish A large, fast ocean swimmer with a long, flat, pointed bill.
  • Tarantula A large, hairy spider.
  • Tortoise A turtle that lives on land. Most kinds can live 80 to 150 years.
  • Wolverine The largest land-dwelling member of the weasel family, found in the far north.
  • Woodpecker A bird that hammers tree trunks with its beak to reach insects and to dig a nest hole.

Grades 4 to 5 Seasons and Weather 30

  • Atmosphere The layer of gases that surrounds Earth, where all weather happens.
  • Avalanche A mass of snow that slides fast down a mountainside.
  • Barometer An instrument that measures air pressure. Its readings help predict the weather.
  • Climate The usual weather of a place over many years.
  • Condensation Water vapor cooling into liquid drops, the way clouds and dew form.
  • Daylight The hours when the sun is up. There are more of them in summer.
  • Deciduous The kind of tree that sheds all its leaves each year, usually in autumn.
  • Dormant Alive but resting, like a bare tree in winter.
  • Drought A long stretch with too little rain.
  • Equinox One of two days a year, near March 20 and September 23, when day and night are almost equal in length.
  • Evaporate To change from liquid to vapor, as a puddle does on a sunny day.
  • Evergreen The kind of tree that keeps its color all year because it never drops all its leaves at once.
  • Forecast A prediction of tomorrow's weather.
  • Germinate To begin to grow from a seed.
  • Hemisphere Half of Earth. When the northern half has summer, the southern half has winter.
  • Hibernate To spend the winter in a deep rest with slow breathing, a slow heartbeat and a low body temperature.
  • Humidity Water vapor held in the air. When it is high, the air feels sticky.
  • Hurricane A strong tropical cyclone over the Atlantic or the northeastern Pacific. Its calm center is called the eye.
  • Lightning A giant electric spark in a thunderstorm.
  • Migration A seasonal journey animals make, such as geese flying south for the winter.
  • Monsoon A seasonal reversal of the wind that brings a long rainy season.
  • Overcast A sky fully covered with gray clouds.
  • Pollinate To carry pollen from flower to flower, as bees do in spring.
  • Precipitation Water that falls from clouds in any form: rain, snow, sleet or hail.
  • Rainfall The amount of water that lands in one place from showers and storms, measured in inches.
  • Snowflake An ice crystal that falls from a cloud. Its arms grow from the six corners of a hexagon.
  • Solstice The day with the most or the fewest hours of sun in the year, in late June and late December.
  • Temperature A measure of how warm or cold the air is, given in degrees.
  • Thermometer The tool that measures how hot or cold it is.
  • Tornado A rapidly spinning column of air that reaches from a storm cloud down to the ground.

Grades 4 to 5 School Subjects 30

  • Adjective A word that describes a noun, such as tall or purple.
  • Biography The true story of a person's life, written by someone else.
  • Continent One of Earth's seven great land areas. Asia is the largest.
  • Decimal A number with a point in it, such as 2.75.
  • Dictionary A book or site that lists words in ABC order with their meanings.
  • Division Splitting a number into equal groups.
  • Ecosystem All the living things in a place, together with their air, water and soil.
  • Equation A number sentence with an equals sign, such as 8 + n = 15.
  • Evidence Facts and details that prove a point.
  • Experiment A fair test you run to answer a science question.
  • Fraction A part of a whole, written like 3/4.
  • Geography The study of Earth's lands, water, places and people.
  • Geometry The part of math about shapes, lines and angles.
  • Government The people and laws that run a city, state or country.
  • Hypothesis An idea you can test, stated before you run the test.
  • Literature Stories, poems and plays that are worth reading closely.
  • Measurement Finding the length, weight or volume of something in units.
  • Metaphor A comparison that says one thing is another, such as: the hallway was a zoo.
  • Microscope A tool with lenses that makes tiny things look large.
  • Multiply To find the total of equal groups. 6 times 7 is 42.
  • Nonfiction Writing about real people, places and facts.
  • Numerator The top number of a fraction.
  • Paragraph A group of sentences about one main idea. It starts on a new line.
  • Perimeter The distance all the way around a shape.
  • Punctuation Marks such as commas, periods and question marks.
  • Quotient The answer to a division problem.
  • Synonym A word that means nearly the same as another, as big does for large.
  • Technology Tools and machines people invent to solve problems.
  • Timeline A line that shows events in the order they happened.
  • Vocabulary All the words a person knows and uses.

Grades 4 to 5 Holidays 30

  • Celebration A joyful gathering to mark a special day.
  • Christmas December 25, a holiday of evergreen trees, carols and gifts.
  • Cornucopia A horn-shaped basket overflowing with fruit and vegetables, also called the horn of plenty. A Thanksgiving symbol.
  • Decoration Something hung or set out to make a room look festive.
  • Diwali The Hindu festival of lights, about five days long, when homes glow with oil lamps called diyas.
  • Emancipation The act of setting people free. Lincoln's Proclamation of this name took effect on January 1, 1863.
  • Festival A day or season of special events, food and music.
  • Friendship The bond between people who like and trust each other. Many classes celebrate it on Valentine's Day.
  • Gingerbread A spiced cookie dough baked into people and little houses.
  • Gratitude The feeling of being thankful.
  • Halloween October 31, a night of costumes, jack-o'-lanterns and trick-or-treating.
  • Hanukkah A Jewish festival of eight nights and days, marked by lighting a nine-branched menorah.
  • Independence The United States marks its own on July 4, the date the Declaration was adopted in 1776.
  • Juneteenth June 19. It marks the day in 1865 when the order ending slavery reached Galveston, Texas. A federal holiday since 2021.
  • Kwanzaa A festival of African American culture held December 26 to January 1, first held in 1966.
  • Leprechaun A tiny shoemaker in Irish folklore said to hide a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
  • Liberty Another word for freedom. A famous statue in New York Harbor, a gift from the people of France, is named for it.
  • Mayflower The ship that carried 102 passengers, known today as the Pilgrims, from England in 1620.
  • Memorial The name of the May holiday, on the last Monday of the month, that honors those who died in military service.
  • Menorah The Hanukkah one has nine branches: eight lights plus the helper candle, the shamash.
  • Mistletoe A plant that grows on the branches of trees. The European kind has waxy white berries and is hung up at Christmas.
  • Ornament A small decoration hung on a holiday tree.
  • Passover A Jewish holiday that recalls the Exodus from Egypt, with a Seder meal and flat matzah bread.
  • Poinsettia A plant native to Mexico and Central America. Its red parts are leaves, not petals.
  • Presidents Leaders honored on the third Monday of February. The holiday's official federal name is Washington's Birthday.
  • Ramadan The ninth month of the Islamic calendar, when Muslims fast from dawn to sunset. It ends with Eid al-Fitr.
  • Resolution A promise you make to yourself for the new year.
  • Thanksgiving A United States holiday on the fourth Thursday of November.
  • Tradition A custom a family or community repeats year after year.
  • Veterans People who served in the armed forces. Their Day is November 11, once called Armistice Day.

How this list was compiled: Twelve lists written for this site, four themes for each of three grade bands: 18 words a list for K to 1, 24 for grades 2 to 3 and 30 for grades 4 to 5. The bands are our suggestion. Spellings are American. Clue facts, holiday dates included, were checked against English Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org) on 2026-09-19 and 2026-09-20. Licence: own work

How it works

Five different puzzles and their keys print in one job: press Print a packet of 5. This word search PDF for kids opens on Grades 2 to 3 Animals: 10 of its 24 words in a 12 by 12 grid.

Read the full guide

Pick the grade first, then the theme

Three grade buttons under Print a packet set the grid. K to 1: 8 by 8, 6 words such as Owl and Sun, across and down only. Grades 2 to 3: 12 by 12, 10 words. Grades 4 to 5: 15 by 15, 16 words, with diagonals. No word runs backwards. A grade press resets the theme to Animals, so pick the theme second, under Start from a list.

What a word search packet prints

Set 2 to 30 puzzles in a packet with the minus and plus beside the number. Sheet 1 is the puzzle on screen; the rest draw fresh words from the same list, so no two match. Each has a Name and Date line and a number, such as 3 of 5. Keys print last, several to a page.

  • Retype the title above the grid, for example Animal Word Search, to take the grade off every sheet in a packet.
  • Type your own words over those under the grid: every packet sheet hides them in a new layout.
  • A packet saved as a word search printable for kids (PDF) keeps its order: puzzles first, numbered, then the keys.

Questions and answers

Are the free printable word searches for kids PDF files or live puzzles?

Both. Each puzzle is made in your browser, with no sign-up and no limit on copies. Save as PDF in the print window turns one puzzle or a whole packet into a file, and New puzzle draws different words on each press.

Which grade fits a word search for elementary students?

Go by reading level. K to 1 hides words of 3 to 5 letters. Grades 2 to 3 uses 5 to 9 letters, such as Penguin and Shamrock. Grades 4 to 5 runs to 13, such as Hemisphere and Juneteenth. The bands are our suggestion.

What makes this an educational word search?

Each of the 288 words has a short clue with checked facts. Open More options and set Word list to Show clues, not words: a sheet prints The tallest living land animal in place of Giraffe. That turns an elementary word search into vocabulary practice.

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