Snow Day Word Search for Kids (Free Printable)

The word list

Eighteen words, most of them short, chosen for children who have just come in from the snow. Easy mode places words across and down only, and the 14 by 14 grid still leaves room for a longer one like marshmallow.

How to use the snow day word search

A snow day has a rhythm. The first hour is boots and shouting, the second is wet socks on the radiator, and somewhere after that comes the question of what to do next. This puzzle is for that third stretch: a child at the kitchen table with a mug and a pencil while the plow goes by outside.

1. Print the puzzle before the day starts if you can see the forecast coming, so there is no scramble for the printer.
2. Read the word list with your child and pick the three words that describe what they did that morning.
3. Let them hunt for those words first, then the rest.
4. Hand over the answer key only when they ask twice.

Ways to stretch one puzzle

• Snow day diary. On the back of the page, write one sentence for each of five found words about what happened today.
• Sibling race. Print two puzzles with different layouts and see who circles the whole list first. The loser stirs the cocoa.
• Window words. Find a word in the puzzle, then find the real thing out the window or around the house.
• Teacher pack. Print ten copies ahead of the season for indoor recess, when the playground is too icy to use.

Tips for parents

Six-year-olds do best with the word list showing and words running only across and down, which is what easy mode does. For a confident 9 or 10 year old, switch to medium so some words run backward and diagonally.

If a word is unfamiliar, such as flurries, a quick look outside usually explains it. Light snow is the best vocabulary lesson there is.

Snow days are also a good day to lower the stakes. Nobody needs to finish; the point is twenty quiet minutes with warm hands.

Printing tips

The puzzle prints in black on one page and the answer key on a second page, so a two-page print covers one child. Any paper works, and the big letters of the 14 by 14 grid are easy to circle with a crayon. If you only have a phone, print straight from the browser; the page sets itself to letter or A4.