How to Use a Computer to Make a Word Search Puzzle
Here is an easy step by step discussion of how to use a computer to make a word search puzzle.
Word search puzzles are good for a variety of purposes — keeping kids quiet in the car on long trips, an additional tool for school projects, staving off boredom, etc. Using your computer to make a word search puzzle takes all the hard work out of this otherwise arduous task.
- Use a word search puzzle generator online. There are plenty of them to choose from, though admittedly some are less user-friendly than others. I like the generator at the blog A to Z Teacher Stuff. It is easy to use, the page isn’t too visually “busy”, and there are solid step by step instructions. Plus, you can generate a million word search puzzles if you’d like and play around getting it just right. Using a word search puzzle generator is by far the easiest way to do it, even though it may feel a bit like cheating. Just plug in the words you want in the puzzle, and the details of the puzzle you want to create, and like magic you’ve got your word search puzzle.
- If you don’t want to use a word search puzzle generator, you can use the ubiquitous Microsoft Word program (most likely already present on your computer) to make your own puzzle. The first step is to decide on a theme for your word search puzzle and a list of words to be searched for. Just about any theme can be turned into a word search puzzle. For the purpose of this “how to”, let’s pretend we’re making a Halloween puzzle.
- Once you’ve decided on your theme and puzzle words, it is time to open your Microsoft Word program.
- When the program has opened, you’ll see a blank page. Start your word search puzzle by writing the theme (ours is “Halloween”) in a fairly large and interesting font centered at the top of the page.
- Move down a few lines from the title (so there’s space between the title and the puzzle) to begin the word search puzzle itself.
- Type any letter, doesn’t matter which. Now, highlight the letter you typed, select the font you want to use for the puzzle (don’t use anything too busy or it will distract the user) as well as the font’s size, and apply these settings to the letter you selected. Ideally, Microsoft Word will apply these settings to all of the other letters you’re about to type, but if not, you can simply alter the font size and style at the end of the puzzle making process.
- A good size for a word search puzzle is 20 or so letters across and about 14 letters down. This will give you enough space to hide a good number of words without making a puzzle that’s too cramped on the page. Once you’ve decided on your size, it is time to start adding words in letter by letter.
- Don’t forget to put a space between each letter across, to make the word search a bit easier on the eyes.
- To insert your first word (for our Halloween theme, let’s make it “GHOUL”), try to hide the letters G H O U and L on the first horizontal line. Remember that you’ve got around 20 letters across to hide it in, so be creative.
- Once you’ve got your first word hidden, the rest is easy. Where you put the words is up to you — hide them horizontally, vertically, diagonally, or however you want.
- Don’t forget to make a word bank at the bottom so the word search puzzle user has a guide.
- To finish formatting your puzzle, select all your letters (somewhere around 280 in total) and “Center” them by hitting the “Center” tab under the “Paragraph” selection at the top of the screen. This puts your puzzle firmly in the center of the page, where it belongs.
- Print your new word search puzzle and let someone give it a go! It may be too difficult or too simple for the age group you’re after, so be sure and test it before handing it out.
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