Space Word Search

Blast off with this space word search. Twelve words wait in a big grid: Alien, Astronaut, Comet, Earth, Galaxy, Mars, Moon, Orbit, Planet, Rocket, Saturn and Star. Each one reads forward, across, down or on a slant, so it is a good fit for curious kids from about age six.

Astronaut is the longest at nine letters. Star and Moon are short, so start there if you want a quick win.

Use the space word search to learn the words

Some of these words are easy to mix up. A planet moves around a star. A comet is a lump of ice and dust with a long glowing tail. An orbit is the path one object takes around another. A galaxy is a huge family of stars, and ours is called the Milky Way.

Ask your child to explain one word in their own way after they find it. Saying it out loud helps it stick. Mars and Saturn are a nice pair to compare. One is the red planet, and the other has bright rings.

Tips for the hunt

• Look for the X in Galaxy, since X is a rare letter.
• Find the double O in Moon.
• Star, Saturn and Astronaut all share the letters S, T and A, so check each lead before you circle it.
• Run a finger along each slant, because a few words hide there.

Space activities to try at home

On a clear night, take the puzzle outside and look up. You may see the Moon, and on a good night you can spot a bright planet with no telescope. Make a chart and draw the shape of the Moon each night for a week. Kids are amazed at how it changes.

A paper rocket is another easy project. Roll a sheet of paper into a tube, tape on a paper cone and blow it off a straw. Write one word from the puzzle on each rocket and see which one flies the farthest.

For teachers

This sheet fits a unit on the solar system. Use it as a warm up, or keep it for the last ten minutes of a lesson. Solar System on Wikipedia is a handy source for facts, and it will help you answer the hard questions kids love to ask.

Answers and printing

The colored picture on this page is the answer key. Keep it hidden until the puzzle is done. The PDF fits US Letter paper, and plain printer paper works well.

Quick space facts to share

Each word on the list has a good story behind it. Earth is the only planet we know of with life. Saturn has rings made of ice and rock. Mars looks red because of rust in its soil, and robot rovers have driven across it. The Moon has no air, so the footprints left by astronauts can last for a very long time.

Kids often ask if aliens are real. The honest answer is that nobody knows, and scientists are still looking. That is a fine way to show a child that good questions do not always have answers yet.

For a simple art project, cover a sheet of white paper with wax crayon stars, then paint over it with dark blue watercolor. The stars show through the paint. Label your galaxy with words from the puzzle, and hang it near a bed. It takes about twenty minutes and needs very little mess. Try it.

More from the stars

Our space coloring pages have rockets, astronauts and a full solar system to color. You can also try the ocean word search or the main word search printable.

Questions