Before the internet, there were word searches and crossword puzzles. Word searches are an age-old method of entertainment. As children we enjoy solving these puzzles and as adults it proves to be a calming form of entertainment. Learn how to create your own in minutes using Microsoft Word.
The first step to creating a Halloween word puzzle for your children or students is to find Halloween-related words. You can perform a search or simply think of as many words as you can. It shouldn’t be more than twelve words as the attention span of a child is very short. You don’t want the puzzle to bore them. Here are a few words I thought of for your Halloween word search:
- Broom
- Candy
- Costumes
- Goblins
- Ghouls
- Halloween
- Pumpkins
- Treat
- Trick
- Witches
- Ghosts
After you have decided what words to use you will be ready to create a table. To do this click Insert, you can draw your grid here (I suggest a 10X8 grid) or choose one of the following options:Insert Table, Draw Table, Excel Spreadsheet, or Quick Tables. I will explain each option below but I would not suggest them, because although they may get the job done, they are also tedious and time consuming. To continue with my way, skip this section.
Insert Table: Opens a dialog box allowing you to alter values and table properties.
Draw Table: Allows you to use the drawing tools to draw the table manually. It’s quite frustrating to draw box after box. You will grow tired of this method very soon.
Excel Spreadsheet: This option allows you to import a table created in the Excel program.
Quick Tables: Inserts a pre-formatted table of your choice. There are no tables here adequate for creating a word puzzle.
After creating your 10X8 grid (table), you can begin inserting your words and the surrounding letters. This is the fun part, but don’t make it too difficult to find the words as children may become irritated and bored if they find the project requires too much work.
Once you have entered the words it’s time to Autofit the cells (blocks). To do this right-click the table, select AutoFit, and then Autofit to Contents. Your cells will now be the perfect size and you’re all done!
Creating a Halloween word search with Word is time-saving, fun, and most importantly inexpensive. Begin creating yours now to celebrate the holiday with your children at home or in the classroom!
