Skip to the content
Peabody TeachFor teachers and grown-ups

Healthy Food Word Search (free printable)

A free healthy food word search with twenty-two words (strawberry, broccoli, oatmeal, vitamins, fiber), a word bank and an answer key for a nutrition unit.

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

Healthy Food Word SearchHealthy Food Word SearchNameDateTLTFFIBERSRIIEDECAPZEXUYOGURTASMBLUEBERRIESNIPARTTEFOYEPEASRIGWATERMELONSIYNRRCBEANSIAECRWAERATVPWLBLCRFNCOCRPOIOOBAEIODHFURUECTALBGTABSMCOTCSTAWEROPMECUTOOEEAMCAAPKAEMRMGMRLSIIRLRMIBOETTAORANGEEIDEVASXNTEESSUGAPROTEINDORFNAWFIND THESE WORDSAPPLEBANANAORANGESTRAWBERRYGRAPESBLUEBERRIESWATERMELONCARROTBROCCOLISPINACHPEASTOMATOCUCUMBEROATMEALBEANSYOGURTPROTEINVITAMINSFIBERGRAINSDAIRYVEGETABLESPuzzle 13205Free at teach.peabody.kids
Puzzle ·
Healthy Food Word Search: answer keyHealthy Food Word Search: answer keyEvery word to find is circled.TLTFFIBERSRIIEDECAPZEXUYOGURTASMBLUEBERRIESNIPARTTEFOYEPEASRIGWATERMELONSIYNRRCBEANSIAECRWAERATVPWLBLCRFNCOCRPOIOOBAEIODHFURUECTALBGTABSMCOTCSTAWEROPMECUTOOEEAMCAAPKAEMRMGMRLSIIRLRMIBOETTAORANGEEIDEVASXNTEESSUGAPROTEINDORFNAWPuzzle 13205Free 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 food and nutrition words in a 15 by 15 grid. The grid hides fruits (apple, banana, orange, strawberry, grapes, blueberries, watermelon), vegetables (carrot, broccoli, spinach, peas, tomato, cucumber), foods from the other groups (oatmeal, beans, yogurt, cheese) and the words of the lesson itself: protein, vitamins, fiber, grains, dairy and vegetables. Strawberry, watermelon and blueberries are ten and eleven letters long, so the puzzle gives older students something to do while younger students begin with the short ones, such as peas, corn and apple. No food is judged good or bad, and the answer key is on page two.

Grades: 1st to 5th grade. Best in: March, September.

The words to find

Apple · Banana · Orange · Strawberry · Grapes · Blueberries · Watermelon · Carrot · Broccoli · Spinach · Peas · Tomato · Cucumber · Oatmeal · Beans · Yogurt · Protein · Vitamins · Fiber · Grains · Dairy · Vegetables

How to use it: five ideas

  1. Group the answers: students write the answers under five headings (fruits, vegetables, grains, protein, dairy) and discuss the ones that fit two places.
  2. Color hunt: students underline each word in the color of the food, which makes a rainbow of the finished puzzle.
  3. Our favorites: each student picks one food from the puzzle they like, and the class makes a bar graph of the results.
  4. Menu planning: students use five words from the puzzle to plan a breakfast or a snack and draw it.
  5. Take-home fun: send the puzzle home and ask families to find one new food in the puzzle to try together.

Related

Questions

Does the puzzle include foods that are not healthy?

No, and it does not label anything as bad either. It is a list of fruits, vegetables, grains, protein, dairy and the words for nutrition. Add the foods you want to talk about to the box.

Can I leave out foods that are allergens?

Yes. Delete any line from the box (cheese, yogurt, beans) and the puzzle rebuilds without it. Nothing you edit leaves your browser.

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.

Nothing you do here is sent to us. Your edits stay in this browser. No sign-in, no ads.