Free Printable Animals Word Search

Twenty zoo and safari animals, from lion to crocodile, hidden on a 14 x 14 grid with a word bank and an answer key. A spelling-friendly puzzle for grades two to four and a good one for a trip to the zoo.

Animals Word Search grid
N	K	I	K	J	G	R	B	G	F	S	K	C	I
Z	K	A	W	O	E	I	O	C	T	O	P	U	S
E	C	O	N	T	A	T	R	W	A	L	R	U	S
M	R	H	T	G	E	L	R	A	E	Z	C	O	O
E	O	O	E	T	A	E	A	L	F	L	W	G	D
L	A	N	T	E	G	R	I	H	N	F	N	A	U
E	E	M	K	I	T	D	O	H	C	I	E	G	G
P	L	W	T	E	O	A	N	O	M	U	Z	R	O
H	I	P	T	C	Y	I	H	A	U	O	E	H	R
A	O	L	O	Y	H	Z	L	I	B	H	B	I	I
N	N	R	R	P	E	F	R	N	P	O	R	N	L
T	C	H	L	P	A	N	D	A	G	P	A	O	L
X	P	O	O	U	M	M	O	T	O	N	O	L	A
U	D	P	E	N	G	U	I	N	R	I	I	H	C

Animals as a spelling list

Animal names are a good first word search because every child already knows the words by sound and has a picture for each. The puzzle then does one job, which is spelling: a child who says "giraffe" easily still has to find G-I-R-A-F-F-E in the grid, and will notice the double F in the process. The list mixes lengths on purpose, from four-letter lion to nine-letter crocodile, so there are quick finds for confidence and long finds for persistence.

Words run forwards, down and on both diagonals, which is right for second grade upwards. Nothing runs backwards. Words may cross where they share a letter, which lets twenty animals fit on a 14 x 14 grid; if your class finds crossing words confusing, turn overlaps off and the puzzle will spread them out.

Where it fits

Before or after a zoo visit. Hand the puzzle out on the bus. On the way back, ask children to tick the animals they actually saw.
Habitats unit. After the puzzle, sort the found words into savannah, rainforest, ocean and polar, which starts an argument about where penguins live that is worth having.
Indoor break. Rainy lunchtime, a laminated set and dry-erase markers.
ESL vocabulary. Animals are an early topic in most beginner courses; this puzzle and a page of pictures to match make a full lesson.

Extending the activity

Ask for one fact about each animal found, or for the animals to be sorted by size, by number of legs or by habitat (the printed word bank is already alphabetical, so that sort is done). Older children can write a riddle for one animal and read it to the class, who find the answer in their grid. Any of these turns a ten-minute puzzle into a lesson.

Printing

One puzzle per page, word bank underneath, key on the second page. The 14 x 14 grid prints with large, well-spaced letters on Letter or A4. For a class of 30, print 30 puzzles and one key, and keep the share link so you can shuffle a fresh grid for next year's class without retyping the list.

The 20 words in this puzzle

The grid is 14 x 14. Edit the words, the grid size or the allowed directions above and the puzzle is rebuilt as you type.

Elephant
Giraffe
Kangaroo
Penguin
Dolphin
Octopus
Cheetah
Gorilla
Zebra
Hippo
Crocodile
Flamingo
Panda
Koala
Tiger
Lion
Monkey
Rhino
Otter
Walrus

Printable Animals Word Search and answer key: a 14 x 14 letter grid and a word bank that starts with Cheetah, Crocodile and Dolphin. — This puzzle with two words found. The answer key comes on a page of its own.

Frequently asked questions

Which animals are in the puzzle?

Twenty from the zoo and the savannah: elephant, giraffe, kangaroo, penguin, dolphin, octopus, cheetah, gorilla, zebra, hippo, crocodile, flamingo, panda, koala, tiger, lion, monkey, rhino, otter and walrus. The short names (lion, zebra, panda) give early finders quick wins; the long ones (crocodile, kangaroo) take longer.

Can I make a farm, ocean or pet version?

Yes. Replace the list with farm animals (cow, pig, goat, hen, sheep, horse, duck, donkey), sea creatures (shark, whale, starfish, jellyfish, seahorse, crab) or pets, and keep the grid the same. For a science unit on habitats, group the words by habitat and have students colour each group a different colour.

Why is the grid 14 x 14?

Twenty words with about 130 letters between them fill roughly two thirds of a 14 x 14 grid, which is dense enough to be a puzzle and open enough that no word is an obvious straight line. A 12 x 12 grid would be too crowded for this list; 16 x 16 makes it noticeably harder.

Is "hippo" acceptable, or should it be "hippopotamus"?

Either; the short form is what second-graders write. If you prefer the full names, change hippo and rhino to hippopotamus and rhinoceros and enlarge the grid to 16 x 16 to make room.

Animals Word Search

Your puzzle

Preview · 14x14 · 20 words placed

Words to find