classroom · word search · free printable
Free Printable Back to School Word Search
Children drift in over twenty minutes on the first morning, and the early ones need something to do.
Made by the PaperCarnival team · Updated
32 hidden words · answer key included · US Letter & A4
The first morning of a school year has a shape every teacher knows: children arrive over twenty minutes, nobody can start anything real, and the room needs something on every desk. This word search hides thirty two classroom words for exactly that window, from the backpack and the binder through to the cafeteria, the gymnasium, and the friends who are the actual reason most of them came.
There is a better use than just filling time, though. Ask the class to circle every word they can point to in the building, and the puzzle quietly becomes a tour of the school without you having to give one. If you want your own rooms and teachers in the grid, open it in the generator and type them in.
The letters no word uses are a message for whoever finishes first. Read across each row from the top and they spell an instruction, which saves you inventing an early-finisher task on the first morning.
The hidden words
Every word in the puzzle, or edit the list in the generator
- Backpack
- Pencil
- Eraser
- Notebook
- Binder
- Folder
- Ruler
- Scissors
- Crayons
- Markers
- Glue
- Stapler
- Calculator
- Library
- Classroom
- Hallway
- Cafeteria
- Playground
- Gymnasium
- Teacher
- Principal
- Homework
- Reading
- Writing
- Spelling
- Science
- History
- Recess
- Assembly
- Lockers
- Schedule
- Friends
Ways to use it
The first morning
The first day has a long stretch before the real work starts. Put one on every desk before they walk in.
Scavenger version
Ask them to circle every word they can actually point to in the room. It doubles as a tour without you giving one.
Substitute folder
Keep a stack in the emergency folder. It is the page that works in any room, any grade, any week of the year.
Early finishers
Print a set for the drawer. Something has to be there for whoever finishes first, all year.
Questions
What grade is it for?
It suits roughly second through fifth grade at the default difficulty. For younger classes, switch to easy in the generator, which hides words across and down only.
Can I add our own school's words?
Yes. Open it in the generator and write in your school's rooms, teachers, or house names.