Back to school word search puzzles can be a great educational activity for the beginning of a school year.
Below you will find free printable back to school word search puzzles for students in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade. The words used in each puzzle correspond to the back to school themed spelling words of each of those respective grades.
If you have an older student, here’s a 5th grade and 6th grade back to school word search. Or try this more challenging word search with 35 hidden words.
Back To School Word Search 2nd Grade

This back to school word search is perfect for second graders:
- the letters are a bit bigger
- the words on the puzzle are the second grade back to school themed spelling words
- only 10 words to find
- words are hidden horizontally, vertically, and diagonally, but there are no backwards words
You can download this 2nd grade word search completely free below. There’s an answer sheet that’s included.
If you’re interested, you can also snag this 2nd grade back to school crossword puzzle that uses these same words. Or for even more spelling practice, you can print off this back to school word unscramble page.
Back To School Word Search 3rd Grade
This back to school word search is ideal for a student in third grade. The words of the puzzle are from these grade 3 themed spelling words.

The 12 words are hidden vertically, horizontally, and diagonally.
You can download the pdf of this puzzle completely free below. There’s an answer sheet that comes with it.
Back To School Word Search 4th Grade
And finally this last word search is designed with a fourth grader in mind. The words are the back to school themed words of these grade 4 spelling words.

There are 14 words hidden horizontally, vertically, and diagonally, forwards and backwards.
This word search can be downloaded free below. An answer sheet is included.
Benefits of a Word Search
A school word search for kids is an easy print and go activity that benefits both teachers and students.
Benefits For Teachers
Teachers can have one handy for when they need their students to work quietly and independently for a time.
Benefits For Students
Students will probably appreciate the relaxing nature of a word search puzzle, that will give them a few minutes to unwind from the excitement the new school year brings. Plus they can be quite fun to do.
But a word search is not just a fun time-filler. It also has educational benefit as well. Since kids will literally be studying the letters that make up each word, a word search is especially helpful for students to work on spelling.
More Back to School Word Puzzles
Here are some more fun back to school themed word puzzles for kids:
- crossword puzzles
- word scrambles
- fill in puzzles
- difficult word search
- 5th grade word search
- 6th grade word search
Make a grade 5 and 6 one
That’s the plan :). I’ll try to make those soon.