Summer word search
Twelve summer words are soaking somewhere in this grid, from the beach towel to the lemonade. No sunscreen required for this version.
Curated by 
Esme Rook
·
Updated August 2026
Play it right here
Drag across the letters to select a word. Words hide across, down and diagonally, forwards and backwards. Works with mouse and touch.
Packed in this grid
Beach, sunshine, waves, sandals, popsicle, swimming, vacation, seashell, picnic, lemonade, towel and pool. POOL looks easy and is not: two identical letters in the middle of a word make your eye skip, and the grid knows it. SWIMMING pulls the same trick with its double M.
The car trip test
This is the sheet to print before a long drive: it needs one pencil, it survives being folded into a pocket, and it lasts longer than any battery. Print two copies and make it a race at the rest stop. For the trip home, the solution sheet doubles as a checklist of what was found.
Print it or play it
The board on this page, the PDF and the solution sheet are all the same generated puzzle. Solve it with sandy fingers on a phone or with a pencil on paper; the words are in the same places.
Frequently asked questions
Is the summer word search free to print?
Yes. The summer word search is free to print for home, for a classroom, for a summer camp or for a childminder, in any quantity and with no attribution required. It is a popular end-of-term filler. The PDF may not be sold or re-uploaded elsewhere; see the licensing policy.
What age is the summer puzzle for?
Ages 6 to 10, or US grades 1 to 4. The 12x12 grid hides twelve summer words from four letters (POOL) up to eight (SUNSHINE). It is an easy, cheerful puzzle designed to be finished, not to defeat anyone in July.
Can I play the summer word search online?
Yes. The grid on this page plays in the browser on a phone, a tablet or a laptop, which is handy on a long car journey or by the pool. Drag across the letters and each found word is struck off. The free PDF is there too if a screen is the last thing you want.
Is there an answer key?
Yes. A separate solution PDF marks all twelve summer words on the same 12x12 grid. Download it from the Solution button next to the puzzle. Camp leaders usually print one copy of it for themselves and hand out the clean puzzle sheets to the children.
Seven summer word searches to print, one for each part of the season
Summer splits by place and by hour rather than by object, so that is how the six extra boards split: where you are (the beach, away, camp), what you eat, what bites you, and the part of the evening the other three seasons simply do not have. These are the sheets to print BEFORE the drive, not after. Two word terms run together on the grid: flip flops is FLIPFLOPS, boarding pass is BOARDINGPASS, sleeping bag is SLEEPINGBAG.
The 12x12 board on this page
The board above as a sheet: twelve summer words, with POOL and SWIMMING both hiding behind their double letters, which is the oldest trick a word grid has.
The beach: everything but the sand
A 12x12 board of the strip between the car park and the water: the dunes, the pebbles, the seaweed, the tide pool, the deckchair, the snorkel, the lifeguard and the sunburn that follows.
Away: the logistics of the fortnight
The sheet for the airport, printed on a 13x13 grid: the suitcase, the passport, the boarding pass, the ferry, the road trip, the campsite, the time zone and the postcard sent from the last day.
Ice cream and the picnic basket
The best smelling board of the seven, 13x13: the sundae, the sorbet, the gelato, the waffle cone, the toppings, the watermelon, the barbecue, the hamper and the whole thing melting.
The insects: the ones you can hear
Summer is the only season with a soundtrack made of insects, and here they are on a 12x12 board: the cicada, the cricket, the bumblebee, the dragonfly, the firefly and the mosquito that ruins it.
The long evenings, which only summer has
The axis the other three seasons cannot copy, on a 13x13 board: the sunset that takes an hour, the gloaming, the campfire, the fire pit, the hammock, the night swim and shadows twice your height.
Camp: two weeks in a cabin
A 13x13 board for the fortnight away: the cabin, the bunk bed, the counselor, the canoe, the kayak, the archery range, the lanyard nobody finishes and the camp song everybody remembers for life.
