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Five Senses Word Search (free printable)

A free five senses word search with twenty-two words (sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch and the words that describe them), a word bank and an answer key. Set to Easy.

22 words. “Polar bear” becomes POLARBEAR. Add a clue after a colon (“snow: white flakes”) to put clues in the bank.
Grid size
Difficulty
Up to 40 letters. They fill the first leftover squares, so the letters nobody circles spell it. On the board it flies into place when the last word is found.
Sort and find: the look-alikes hide in the grid and the word bank too, so children decide which to circle.

Use this list in: bingo cards

Five Senses Word SearchFive Senses Word SearchNameDateTONGUEMLTHOHIIGMNSMELLETGSACQUIETDGTLOUDEARSUENOARHSIGHTSYSUSALTYCEPOEWCZTSOURUFFSEHBSKINUBITTERHEARINGJAITONOSESCEHSCPUSMOOTHGSTKTGGBUMPYDEEYRHFIND THESE WORDSSIGHTHEARINGSMELLTASTETOUCHEYESEARSNOSETONGUESKINLOUDQUIETSOFTROUGHSMOOTHSWEETSOURSALTYBITTERCRUNCHYSTICKYBUMPYPuzzle 18763Free at teach.peabody.kids
Puzzle ·
Five Senses Word Search: answer keyFive Senses Word Search: answer keyEvery word to find is circled.TONGUEMLTHOHIIGMNSMELLETGSACQUIETDGTLOUDEARSUENOARHSIGHTSYSUSALTYCEPOEWCZTSOURUFFSEHBSKINUBITTERHEARINGJAITONOSESCEHSCPUSMOOTHGSTKTGGBUMPYDEEYRHPuzzle 18763Free at teach.peabody.kids
Answer key ·

To save a PDF, choose Print, then “Save as PDF” as the printer. Only the sheets print.

All 22 words are in the grid, and each one appears once.

About this set

Twenty-two words about the senses in a 12 by 12 grid, with the words running only across and down so that kindergarten and first grade can start. The puzzle has the five senses and the body parts that do the sensing (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin), then the describing words children learn in the unit: loud and quiet for hearing, soft, rough, smooth and sticky for touch, sweet, sour, salty and bitter for taste, and crunchy. Most words are short and easy to sound out, and the longest, hearing and crunchy, are seven letters. For older students, choose Medium or Hard and a 15 by 15 grid and the same words become a real puzzle.

Grades: Kindergarten to 3rd grade. Best in: September, October.

The words to find

Sight · Hearing · Smell · Taste · Touch · Eyes · Ears · Nose · Tongue · Skin · Loud · Quiet · Soft · Rough · Smooth · Sweet · Sour · Salty · Bitter · Crunchy · Sticky · Bumpy

How to use it: five ideas

  1. Sense sort: after solving, students write each word under the sense it goes with (sweet under taste, loud under hearing).
  2. Draw and label: students pick one body part from the puzzle and draw it, labeling the sense that it helps with.
  3. Sentence strips: students use a describing word from the puzzle in a sentence about something they can see in the room.
  4. Partner puzzle: two students share a puzzle and a pencil and take turns finding and circling one word each.
  5. Take it home: send it home with a note asking families to find one thing at home for each of the five senses.

Related

Questions

How hard is this puzzle?

It is set to Easy on a 12 by 12 grid: words run across and down only, never diagonally or backwards. Choose Medium or Hard and a larger grid for second and third grade.

Can I change the words to match our unit?

Yes. Edit the list in the box, for example to add umami or the names of your own mystery-bag objects, and the puzzle rebuilds at once.

Can I change the words or the difficulty?

Yes. Edit the 22 words in the box, choose Easy, Medium or Hard, pick a grid size from 8 to 25 and a shape, and add a secret message if you like. The puzzle rebuilds as you change it, and any word that cannot fit is listed.

Can we play it on the board?

Yes. Press “Play on the board”: the class finds words by dragging across them or tapping the first and last letters, each find plays a note, and H gives a hint. Press F to fill the projector.

How do I save it as a PDF?

Press Print and choose “Save as PDF” as the printer. The puzzle is page one and the answer key is page two.

How do I get a different layout?

Press “Make another”. The same words are placed in a new arrangement, which is handy when neighbors should not have the same puzzle.

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