Sight Word Games: Word Searches

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Another great game that’s educational and entertaining is sight word search – locating hidden words. This fun activity helps a child learn to automatically recognize high frequency words.

Dolch Sight Word Searches

We created sight word searches using Dolch’s sight words. A child is more likely to encounter lowercase letters; as a result, all of the word searches below are in lowercase letters.

Pre-Primer Sight Word Search

Emergent readers are learning print concepts, e.g. we read left to right. To avoid any confusion, we created all the word searches below from left to right (across or horizontal).

Sight WordsWord Search PDFAnswers PDF
a, and, in, is, it, the, to & youSight Word SearchAnswers
can, come, for, here, I, me, my & weSight Word SearchAnswers
up, look, go, big, not, said, see & playSight Word SearchAnswers
blue, red, yellow, run, make, jump, help & downSight Word SearchAnswers
one, two, three, find, away, funny, little & whereSight Word SearchAnswers

Primer Sight Word Search

Similar to pre-primer sight words, we created the word searches below so that each word can be found left to right (across or horizontal). To avoid any confusion, there are no vertical, backwards or diagonal words.

Sight WordsWord Search PDFAnswers PDF
am, are, at, have, on, that, was & withSight Word SearchAnswers
be, he, she, no, so, like, yes & thisSight Word SearchAnswers
eat, get, ate, ran, ride, saw, do & didSight Word SearchAnswers
all, but, what, who, came, too, say, & mustSight Word SearchAnswers
there, they, want, went, our, under, out & intoSight Word SearchAnswers
good, new, pretty, please, well, soon, will & nowSight Word SearchAnswers
black, brown, white, four, on, that, was & areSight Word SearchAnswers

Sight Word Word Searches

Using our progressive sight word list, we carefully selected our words. We choose the most common English words that early elementary students typically use in their writings. Some of these words are phonically irregular.

Easy Sight Word Word Searches

These are ideal activities if your child is just learning to automatically recognize sight words – these high frequency words appear often in printed material.

Medium Sight Word Word Searches

After your child masters these words using the easy word searches, use the sight word games below which provide a perfect review. Scholars recommended reviewing previously taught words daily. The medium puzzle below incorporates the 2 easy word searches above.

  • Medium Word Search 1 – includes the following words: I, the, to, and, a, is, it, in, you, on, my & we.
  • Medium Word Search 2– includes the following words: I, the, to, and, a, is, it, in, you, on, my & we (same words, different placement).

Create Sight Word Search

This is an activity that you can very easily create with a pencil and paper. Write the words horizontally, vertically or diagonally. Create your own grid or use graph paper and enter one letter per box.

If you are proficient in Microsoft Word or Excel it may be easier to use one of these programs to create your word search (see below). If your child is just learning sight words consider creating a word search with mostly horizontal words.

If your child knows some sight words, create a word search using words that your child can automatically recognize as well as new ones. It is recommended to review previously taught sight words on a daily basis.

Make a Sight Word Search Using Microsoft Word

Creating a sight word search in Microsoft Word can be done fairly quickly by inserting a table. This is a good exercise if you want to hand select your sight words.

How to Insert a Table into Word

  • Go to the toolbar located at the top of the Word document and left click on Insert.
  • Left click table from the menu.
  • Two options exist for setting up a table.
    • Option 1(Easy Method): Left click the 1×1 table below the insert table caption (upper left corner) and highlight the number of columns and rows for your table by dragging your mouse over the appropriate number of boxes.
    • Option 2: In the drop down menu, select insert table. You will need to manually adjust the table size. The number of columns and rows to select will depend upon the size of the word search. A good starting point is to set the number of columns to 10 and number of rows to 10. Leave the AutoFit behavior to default settings (fixed column width). Select the “OK” button
  • Begin creating word search by entering a letter in each cell.

    • Make a Sight Word Search Using Microsoft Excel

    If you are proficient in Excel, create a new spreadsheet and begin creating a word search by putting a letter in each cell. Adjust the width of each column to provide the ideal spacing between each letter – select column A and drag along each desired columns and then globally set the width. For example, if you want 10 columns – left click column A and drag the curser along until column J (unclick) and when you hover over the column you have the ability to make the columns smaller or larger so adjust accordingly.

    My family and I enjoy completing word searches especially when we eat out and the restaurant provides a kid friendly menu filled with fun games. Playing sight word games, like locating hidden words, are entertaining activities that help a child obtain a sight word vocabulary.

    If you really want to your child to learning how to read, spell and understand sight words, play Erudition™, a sight word board game.

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