How to play
- Read the list. Every word above the grid is hidden in it.
- Swipe the word. Press on its first letter and drag to its last. A coloured band stays on the grid where you found it.
- Pick your grid. Easy is 9×9 with words across and down only. Medium is 11×11 and adds diagonals. Hard is 13×13 and adds backwards words — the same spelling list, a harder hunt.
- Use a hint if you are stuck. It lights the first letter of a word you have not found. Three per puzzle, and each one costs two points.
Today’s level
Level 1 is a 9×9 grid built from Kindergarten Words, with 6 words hidden in it. The longest is 5 letters. Level numbers are stable — send someone level 1 and they see this exact grid.
Why word searches are worth the time
A word search is not a spelling test, and it is not pretending to be one. What it trains is the thing that has to happen before spelling gets fluent: recognising a word’s shape at a glance, letter by letter, in the right order, without sounding it out. A child hunting for THOUGHT reads those seven letters in sequence twenty times while scanning — far more attention than a worksheet would ever get from them.
It is also the least threatening thing on a spelling week’s timetable. Nobody is marked wrong. That makes it a good Monday activity, when the list is new and a test would only teach a child that they cannot do it yet.
For teachers and parents
Every level is built from a SpellingJoy grade list, so the words are the ones being taught that year. Open the leaderboard and choose Challenge your class to get a link — everyone who opens it gets the same grid, and their scores land on one board.
Nobody signs in and nobody types a name. Players are given a handle by the game, and nothing about a child is stored. If you want the same words on paper instead, the worksheet generator will print them.
Questions
How do you play word search?
Every word in the list above the grid is hidden somewhere in the letters. Swipe from the first letter of a word to its last letter to select it. Find one and it is crossed off the list and coloured in on the grid.
Which directions can the words run?
That is what the difficulty chooses. On Easy words run left to right and top to bottom only. Medium adds diagonals. Hard adds backwards words, which is where a word search stops being a scanning exercise and starts being a puzzle.
Can I change the difficulty?
Yes. Pick Easy, Medium or Hard before you play and the grid changes size and the words change direction. The word list itself stays the grade list for that level, so a harder grid is a harder hunt for the same spelling words.
Where do the words come from?
Each level is built from a real SpellingJoy grade list — the words children are actually taught that year — rather than a generic themed list. That is why the puzzle doubles as spelling practice.
Can I use word search with my class?
Yes. Open the leaderboard and choose Challenge your class to get a link. Everyone who opens it plays the same grid with the same words, so the whole class can be compared on one board. No accounts and no student data.
Are the puzzles the same for everyone?
Yes. A level number always produces the same grid, so if you send someone level 12 they see exactly the puzzle you saw.
Is it free?
Yes. Free, no ads, no account, and nothing about the player is collected.
More word games and practice
- Spelling Bee Puzzle — seven letters, one in the middle, a new one every day.
- Spelling list generator — build this week’s list in a minute.
- Spelling worksheet generator — printable practice from any list.
- Spelling word lists by grade — the lists these puzzles are built from.