🦁 80 free puzzles
Animal Word Search
Wild animals, farm friends and sea creatures hide in these printable animal word searches. They are a favourite for zoo trips, nature units and any child who can name every dinosaur and every dog breed.
Generate a new animal word search
🌱 Easy Animal word searches
Easy word searches hide words across (left to right) and down (top to bottom), always forwards. Words never cross each other.
⭐ Medium Animal word searches
Medium word searches add diagonal words (reading down-right and up-right) to across and down. Words are still always forwards.
🔥 Hard Animal word searches
Hard word searches use all 8 directions, including backwards and up, and words are allowed to cross and share letters.
🧸 Kids Animal word searches
Kids word searches use a small 10×10 grid with only short words (3–6 letters) hidden across and down, printed with extra-large letters.
Words you might find
Every animal puzzle uses words from a list of 49, so no two sheets are the same. A few of them: Lion, Tiger, Zebra, Giraffe, Elephant, Monkey, Panda, Koala, Kangaroo, Penguin, Dolphin, Whale, Shark, Octopus, Turtle, Rabbit, Squirrel, Hedgehog, and more.
Puzzle guide
About animal word search puzzles
What they are
Animal word searches hide creatures from every corner of the planet, from LION and ZEBRA on the savanna to OCTOPUS and SHARK in the sea and HEDGEHOG in the back garden. The word list has 49 animals, and each of the 80 puzzles draws a different mix from it.
How to play
Read the list beside the grid, then hunt for each animal in the letters. Circle or highlight it when you find it and tick it off the list. Online, drag across a word to mark it.
Tips
Long names such as KANGAROO and FLAMINGO are easiest to spot because of their unusual letter runs. Look for rare letters too: the Z in ZEBRA, the K in KOALA or the double O in KANGAROO jump out of a busy grid.
Who they suit
Animal puzzles are the first word search many children try. They suit zoo and farm topics in kindergarten through fourth grade, wildlife clubs and any child who can name every animal at the aquarium.
Printing
Each grid fits on one sheet with its word list, and a separate answer key shows where every animal is hiding.
Good to know
Animal Word Search questions
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Animal riddles to go with your word search
A word search trains your eye for patterns; a riddle trains your mind to see the trick. Here are a few riddles with answers, then more brain games from the club.