Free Word Search Maker
A really useful tool, if you have a child who likes word searches, is a free word search maker aka a word search generator.
There are a number of different types on the internet.
Why would this be useful?
Although you don’t want to spend all your time creating and solving word searches, they do have their place.
- Familiarising your child with words for spelling
- Familiarising your child with specific vocabulary
- To expand your child’s vocabulary generally
- A useful way for your child to exercise their brain
- It’s good for pattern recognition
- They are fun to do
List of Free Word Search Makers
Super teacher worksheets
I’ll start with the one which is probably my favourite – it is from Super teacher worksheets.
https://www.superteacherworksheets.com/generator-word-search.html
Just choose the level and then fill in your words. There are 3 levels to choose from, basic, intermediate and advanced and each one shows you the options you can have. However, if you want more freedom to choose you need to look at some of the other word search makers.
Image from https://www.superteacherworksheets.com/generator-word-search.html
The thing I really like about this one is that it gives you a smart set of worksheets and the solution – here’s my example
https://www.superteacherworksheets.com/custom/?ws=hrSpS
atozteacherstuff word search
Here is another very straightforward example
http://tools.atozteacherstuff.com/word-search-maker/wordsearch.php
You just need to fill in the options.
Image from http://tools.atozteacherstuff.com/word-search-maker/wordsearch.php
Note the advice about checking it for inappropriate words. I suspect that it is not just the atozteacherstuff word search that has this problem.
Here I have chosen forward words only but you could have backwards words only or a mixture.
Then this is what it looks like:
Image from http://tools.atozteacherstuff.com/word-search-maker/wordsearch.php
Puzzlemaker at Discovery Education
Another popular puzzle maker is at
http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/WordSearchSetupForm.asp
The final puzzle looks like this
Image from: http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/WordSearchSetupForm.asp
I used the same list of capitals as in the last example, but you can see it looks much harder. However, don’t forget I only chose forward words in the last example.
Here is the word list:
Image from: http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/WordSearchSetupForm.asp
You should be able to click on solution and get a worked example but that doesn’t seem to work for me.
The sheet to input your material looks like this
Image from: http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/WordSearchSetupForm.asp
Here is a video talking you through the process.
How to make a free Word Search using Discovery Puzzlemaker
Word lists
I find it useful to create my wordlist in Excel first so I can reuse them in different puzzle makers, or choose different numbers when I have a long list.
Talking of Excel here is a video of using Excel to create a Word Search Puzzle. I used to use this method quite a lot myself. It takes longer but I have more freedom to do what I want with it. However, these days I generally prefer to just use Excel to keep my word lists in and then use one of the automatic word search generators.
How to Create a Word Search Puzzle in Excel – Tutorial
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcoWS8EGywI
Useful Word searches that have already been created
The Word Search . Com
There is a word search maker here but you have to type each word in separately. This may be useful if you want your child to type in a spelling list or a list of specialised vocabulary.
Also, the puzzles only stay on the site for 30 days, so you must print them out if you want to keep them for longer.
However, what I really like about this site is all the word searches that are already there.
Browse through the categories at https://thewordsearch.com/ or search at https://thewordsearch.com/search/
Image from https://thewordsearch.com/
ESL – but useful for everyone
These words searches are created for children who are learning English as a Second Language but actually they are very useful for all children.
https://bogglesworldesl.com/wordsearches.htm
Lots more ESL wordsearches here to browse through.
For More Word Searches
Printable word searches collected on Pinterest
Topical
If you have an interest in the World Cup
http://allfreeprintable.com/russia-world-cup-teams-word-search
For a software option that you can use offline
http://www.csfsoftware.co.uk/WrdSrch_info.htm
Get in touch
There are lots more word searches I could have included – let me know your favourites below in the comments.
Thanks for reading and I look forward to hearing from you!
Julia
PS Click here if you are interested in spelling activities for younger children.
This is such a cool tool to teach new words to kids. English is a second language in my country and it’s always nice to have new techniques to trigger children’s learning behavior.
I will certainly use the free tools you suggest – and get my colleagues to do so – for their classes. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you Cathy! I am really glad you found this useful. Please let me know if there are any other topics you would like addressing. I have over 25 years of experience in education, at various levels.
Such an awesome article. This reminds me when I was a kid and I wanted to learn new words and phrases. I am even doing it now sometimes when I am bored. It is a great tool for kids because it is important that it is interesting while they learning. That is how kids should be learning, nothing on force.
Hi Daniel,
I agree, it is so much better when children learn for fun!
All the best!
Julia
My daughter loves doing word searches, so I am definitely going to have a look at this. At the moment she is restricted to doing word searches from magazines when I get them. At least with this app we can now design our own and she can play more often.
I think it is a great way to keep kids entertained, and learning at the same time. I guest you could even do names of their favorite pop stars and bands in there to make it more enjoyable for them.
Hi Michel,
Absolutely, she could make up her own lists.
She could do some just for fun and do some for school work – or mix and match the two – eg pop stars and physics terms, or whatever is appropriate for her age.
In fact that has now given me an idea!!
All the best,
Julia
oh … these tools are fantastic. I’m surprised they’re free?!
I’m not a teacher but these are great for having fun with with the whole family. After our big family lunches on Sundays, we usually want to play games. But it’s hard picking one that is not too taxing for the little ones and not too dummied down for the rest. But these offer a break from the usual board games. They can still involve fun interaction when we’re teaming up.
Particularly love creating puzzles like the European capital cities one. The adults will have to know their world cities (helps them refresh their geography knowledge) … the little ones will learn to spot the letters … your free tools are giving me a whole lot of exciting family fun ideas, Julia! We love our friendly familial competitions and these can offer great educational moments. Thank you for sharing the links.
Hi Cath,
What a great idea.
My brother once set one up for my niece’s party using the names of the children who came to the party – they loved it!
Julia