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Build word familiarity through a puzzle format

Word searches are more useful than for a simple diversion. They are very useful for helping students commit to memory vocabulary words, place names, historical figures and other theme-based topics. This worksheet lets you specify which words you want to use, then gives you a professional looking word search puzzle.

Some tips for a quality puzzle: Try to use a word list of between 20 and 40 words. Very few or very many words usually results in an awkward-looking puzzle. Avoid using phrases since they simply get mushed into one long word in the puzzle grid. Also avoid using words that require numbers or special punctuation, as only the letters from those words will appear in the puzzle (even though the non-alphabetic characters will still appear in the word list).