puzzTricky printable word search for kids
Eleven letters square with nine or ten words in it, and every one of the eight compass directions in play — across, down, both diagonals, and all four of those run backwards as well. A word can start at the bottom right and climb to the top left. This is a proper challenge sheet, and it takes most children in the range fifteen minutes or more.
What stops it being merely tedious is that the grids are still built rather than stuffed. Each word appears in exactly one place and one direction, verified by re-scanning the finished grid in all eight directions, so time spent hunting is never wasted on an ambiguous find. The filler letters are also checked against a blocklist, which matters more on a grid this size because there are simply more accidental readings available.
What is in this pack
| Grid | 11x11 letters | |
|---|---|---|
| Words hidden | nine or ten per puzzle, four to nine letters each | |
| Directions | all eight, including backwards and diagonally upwards | |
| Best for | ages 9-12, long car journeys, and stubborn completists | |
- Four A4 pagesThree puzzles, then a full answer key. Print the first three only if you would rather keep the answers.
- One verified solution eachEvery puzzle is passed through a solver and discarded unless exactly one answer fits.
- No sign-up, no watermarkA direct PDF download. No email address, no account, nothing to dismiss.
- Free to photocopyUse them at home, in a classroom, at a childminder or in a holiday club.
Teaching tip. On an eleven-square grid, hunting the first letter is inefficient — there are too many. Hunt an unusual letter instead. If the word is PENGUIN, sweep for G; there are far fewer of them, and each one is a much stronger lead.
How to solve a word search
There is a method beyond staring, and children who learn it get dramatically faster.
- Read the word list firstLook at the list before touching the grid. Pick one word to hunt for rather than trying to spot all of them at once — searching for a single target is far faster than scanning for anything at all.
- Hunt the first letter, not the wordChoose the word you want, then sweep the grid for just its first letter. Every time you land on one, glance at the neighbouring letters to see whether the second letter follows. Most letters are ruled out in under a second.
- Start with the longest wordsLong words are much easier to spot and, once ringed, they cut the grid down for everything else. Working longest-first also means the hardest finds happen while the child is still fresh.
- Check every direction the grid allowsEasy grids hide words across and down only. Medium grids add both diagonals, and tricky grids also run words backwards, upwards and diagonally up. If a word will not appear, it is nearly always running in a direction the child has not thought to look in yet.
- Ring it and cross it offDraw a loop round each word in the grid and strike it off the list at the same time. Keeping the two in step stops the frustrating end-game of re-hunting a word that was already found.
Who this pack suits
Nine or ten longer words, running in all eight directions including backwards.
How the word search packs compare
| Word Search pack | Ages | What it asks of them |
|---|---|---|
| Easy, 7x7 | 5-7 | Five or six short words, across and down only. Nothing backwards, nothing diagonal. |
| Medium, 9x9 | 7-9 | Seven or eight words, and diagonals appear for the first time. |
| Tricky, 11x11 | 9-12 | Nine or ten longer words, running in all eight directions including backwards. |
| Themed packs | 5-9 | A single subject per pack — good for topic work, a party or a rainy afternoon. |
Questions about this pack
Are words really hidden backwards?
Yes. All eight directions are used: across and back, down and up, and all four diagonals. If a word will not appear, the direction not yet checked is usually diagonally upwards.
Is this too hard for a nine-year-old?
It is at the bottom of the range rather than beyond it. A nine-year-old who has finished the medium pack will manage, though probably over two sittings. If frustration sets in, hand over the answer sheet for one word to break the deadlock.
How long do these take?
Fifteen to twenty-five minutes per grid is typical, which makes one puzzle a decent single activity rather than a five-minute filler.
Can two words overlap in the grid?
They can share letters where they cross, which is normal and intended. What cannot happen is the same word appearing twice — the finished grid is scanned in all eight directions and rebuilt if any target word reads more than once.
More free worksheets
Other word search packs
Other kinds of puzzle
See all 17 free worksheet packs.
Hundreds more of these in the app
Puzzeroo is an iPhone and iPad app with two hundred word search levels alongside three other puzzle types — eight hundred in total, all generated by the same verified engines that made this worksheet, all working fully offline with no adverts and no accounts. The worksheets and the app draw from completely separate puzzle ranges, so printing these gives nothing away.