How to Select Educational Word Search Puzzles

Classrooms around the world use word search puzzles to teach language skills. Word search puzzles help young children learn to read and spell, but they also keep the learning process fun. Teachers and educators need to know how to select educational word search puzzles to keep their students interested in daily lessons.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Printer with ink supplies
• Computer with Internet capability
• Writing utensil
• Paper

1. Develop your own educational word search puzzles online. Websites like The Discovery Channel offer teachers resources to create as many new puzzles as they need (see Resources below). Teachers can select the number of words they want included and the size of the puzzle before randomly creating the word search.
2. Head to your local bookstore to select educational puzzles for your class. Most bookstores feature an Education or Teaching section that provides educational tools like word searches. Teachers should also look in the Puzzles or Games section of the bookstore to find general word searches.
3. Read through magazines oriented toward children. Teachers can gain insights into what kids are interested in, which can be used in word searches or other puzzles. Children's magazines typically feature a games or puzzles section that might be usable in the classroom.
4. Use a search engine query to find themed word search puzzles. There are a variety of educational websites that provide word searches for classroom distribution. Teachers should utilize specific search criteria in order to gain the best results.
5. Edit carefully any word search puzzles you use in the classroom. Poor spelling or a lack of challenge in puzzles can be detrimental to a child's learning process. Fellow teachers and friends can help with this process by trying out word searches.
6. Establish a word search template to be used for future classes. The use of word processing software makes it simple enough to create template forms. In the future, teachers can simply place new words in the template for an easy supplement to their lesson plans.

Tips & Warnings

• Create a schedule of word search needs in advance of planning a lesson. Teachers often have a curriculum offered to them by a school district, which allows for advanced planning. A calendar or planner can help teachers find the right word search puzzles well in advance of a particular lesson.