classroom · word search · free printable
Free Printable Space Word Search
Long space words suit a grid, and a fact about Venus waits in the leftover letters.
Made by the PaperCarnival team · Updated
32 hidden words · answer key included · US Letter & A4
Space vocabulary is long, and that is exactly why it suits a word search. This one hides thirty two words: all eight planets, the asteroids and comets between them, the nebula and supernova further out, and the rockets, rovers and spacesuits we built to go and look.
The split in the list is worth using. Half of it is out there and half of it we made, and asking a class to sort the thirty two words into those two piles takes longer, and teaches more, than the hunt did. If your unit uses different words, open it in the generator and write them in.
The unused squares hold a fact about Venus, spelled out in reading order from the top left, and it reliably stops a class in its tracks.
The hidden words
Every word in the puzzle, or edit the list in the generator
- Mercury
- Venus
- Earth
- Mars
- Jupiter
- Saturn
- Uranus
- Neptune
- Asteroid
- Meteor
- Comet
- Galaxy
- Nebula
- Supernova
- Orbit
- Eclipse
- Crater
- Gravity
- Telescope
- Observatory
- Astronaut
- Spacesuit
- Rocket
- Launch
- Shuttle
- Satellite
- Rover
- Module
- Cosmos
- Starlight
- Constellation
- Solar
Ways to use it
Planets in order
All eight planets are hidden. Ask for them in order from the sun before anyone hunts for the rest.
Sorting round
Split the words into things out there and things we built. Rover, shuttle and satellite land on one side, nebula and supernova on the other.
Space topic warm-up
Five minutes at the start of the unit puts the whole vocabulary in the room before the first slide.
Planetarium follow-up
Print it for the day after the visit, and circle everything that came up while you were there.
Questions
Are all the planets included?
Yes, all eight, alongside the asteroids, comets, and the observatory and telescope we watch them with.
Some words look long. Is that a problem?
Constellation and observatory are the longest, which is why the grid is nineteen squares across and the full list sits underneath it.
Can I shorten the list for younger children?
Yes. Open it in the generator, cut the list to the words you want, and switch to the easy setting.