School word search

Pack your backpack: this theme is the school day in words. Supplies (pencil, eraser, ruler, glue, scissors, stapler, highlighter), places (classroom, library, cafeteria, playground, hallway), subjects (math, science, history, art, music) and the moments in between, like recess, a quiz and a field trip.

Some school words are older than they look. School itself comes from a Greek word, skholē, that meant leisure, the free time a person could spend on learning. Kindergarten is German for "children's garden," a name chosen by the German educator Friedrich Fröbel around 1840. And the "lead" in a pencil is not lead at all but graphite mixed with clay.

This is a natural back-to-school puzzle for the first weeks of class, and the word list helps new students learn the names of things they will use every day, which makes it especially handy for English learners.

Play tip: on medium, words can run diagonally as well as across and down. Short words like PEN, MAP, ART and GYM are easy to miss on a diagonal, so after checking the rows and columns, run your eye along each diagonal, starting from the top-left corner.