Winter word search

Pick a list: three by age, plus one of animals that live with snow and ice. Change any word in the box, or clear it and type a class's spelling words. Then set the grid size and which ways the words run, and press Print. The answer key comes out on a second page.

Sheet number is the seed. The same words, settings and number always give the same grid. One key does for a whole class. Press New grid for a fresh layout of the same words.

For ages 5 to 7, keep the 10 × 10 grid with words only across and down. From about 8, add diagonals. Backwards words make the hardest puzzles, good for teenagers or a long evening by the fire.

None of the lists mention Christmas, so the sheets work all through December, January and February, in any classroom. For the holidays there is a Christmas word search and a Hanukkah word search, and the New Year word search takes over on 1 January.

Words go in longest first, each at a random spot that doesn't clash with letters already placed, and random letters fill the gaps. Filler can spell a short word by accident, so every word is checked after the fill and the filler rerolled until each appears exactly once. Spaces and punctuation are dropped inside the grid, so HOT CHOCOLATE is hidden as HOTCHOCOLATE.

Long words are easier to spot than short ones, because they cross more of the grid. To make a sheet harder, add short words.