About this puzzle
This puzzle mixes the parts of the body kids can point to, like the elbow, thumb, and ankle, with the hidden organs that keep them going, like the kidney, liver, and lungs. Every word comes with a short explanation below the grid, so a solver who finds Spine also learns that it protects the spinal cord running down the back.
It fits neatly into a health or science unit on the human body, a quiet indoor recess, or a waiting room with a curious child. Younger kids can start with the easy level and short words like Heart and Brain, while older students can try a harder grid and then quiz each other on what the organs do.
The 24 words in this puzzle
Every word, with a short note. Handy for teaching the vocabulary before or after solving.
In every version (12)
- Brain
- The brain is the body's control center, handling thinking, memory, movement, and the senses. An adult brain weighs about three pounds.
- Elbow
- A hinge joint where the upper arm bone meets the two forearm bones. The tingly funny bone feeling actually comes from bumping a nerve there.
- Finger
- Each finger has three bones, except the thumb, which has two. Every person has their own fingerprints, and even identical twins have different ones.
- Hand
- Each hand, counting the wrist, has 27 bones. Hands can grip, pinch, wave, and feel textures through sensitive fingertips.
- Heart
- A muscular organ about the size of your fist that pumps blood through the body. It beats roughly 100,000 times a day.
- Knee
- The knee is the largest joint in the body. A small, flat bone called the kneecap, or patella, protects the front of it.
- Mouth
- The mouth is where digestion begins. Teeth chew the food while saliva softens it, and your lips and tongue help shape the sounds of words.
- Nose
- Your nose warms and cleans the air you breathe, and tiny hairs inside trap dust. It also works with your tongue to give food its flavor.
- Skin
- Skin is a waterproof covering that keeps germs out, helps control body temperature by sweating, and lets you feel touch, heat, and cold.
- Teeth
- Kids have 20 baby teeth, which fall out to make room for up to 32 adult teeth. Tooth enamel is the hardest substance in the body.
- Thumb
- Our thumb can swing across to touch each fingertip, which is called being opposable. It lets us grip a pencil, button a shirt, or open a jar.
- Tongue
- A strong group of muscles that helps you taste, chew, swallow, and talk. Its surface is covered with thousands of tiny taste buds.
Added in Medium and Hard (8)
- Ankle
- The joint that connects the leg to the foot. It lets you point and flex your toes and helps you balance on uneven ground.
- Eyebrow
- Eyebrows help steer sweat and rain away from the eyes. They also help us show feelings like surprise, worry, or confusion.
- Lungs
- These two spongy organs take in oxygen when you breathe in and push out carbon dioxide when you breathe out. The left lung is a little smaller to make room for the heart.
- Muscle
- The body has more than 600 muscles. They work by pulling, never pushing, which is why many come in pairs, like the biceps and triceps.
- Shoulder
- A ball-and-socket joint that lets the arm swing in a full circle. It has a wider range of motion than any other joint in the body.
- Skeleton
- The frame of bones that holds the body up and protects organs. Adults have 206 bones, while babies are born with more that slowly fuse together.
- Stomach
- A stretchy, J-shaped bag where food is mixed with strong acid and churned by muscles before it moves on to the small intestine.
- Wrist
- The wrist is made of eight small bones called carpals, arranged in two rows. They let your hand bend, twist, and wave.
Added in Hard (4)
- Kidney
- Most people have two bean-shaped kidneys that filter waste and extra water out of the blood, turning it into urine.
- Knuckle
- Knuckles are the joints in your fingers where the bones meet. They bend so you can make a fist, wave, or hold a ball.
- Liver
- The largest organ inside the body, the liver cleans the blood, stores energy, and makes bile to help digest fat. It can even regrow damaged parts.
- Spine
- Also called the backbone, the spine is a stack of small bones called vertebrae. It holds you upright and protects the spinal cord inside it.
A few facts to share while you solve
- The skin is the body's largest organ, and it constantly sheds and replaces its outer layer of cells.
- The smallest bone in the body is the stapes, found deep inside the middle ear. It is about the size of a grain of rice.
- The femur, or thigh bone, is the longest and strongest bone in the human body.
Four versions of this puzzle
Pick a version with the buttons above the grid. Each one has its own grid and answer key, and your progress on each is saved separately in this browser.
| Version | Words | Grid | Directions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Easy | 12 | 10 × 10 | The 12 most familiar words, reading forward across and down. |
| Medium | 20 | 13 × 13 | Twenty words across, down and diagonally. No backwards words. |
| Hard | 24 | 16 × 16 | Every word, in all eight directions including backwards, with look-alike filler letters. |
| Large print | 12 | 10 × 10 | The 12 most familiar words on a small grid with big letters. No backwards words. |
Hard and large print versions
Hard body parts word search: all 24 words on a 16 × 16 grid, hidden forward, backward, up, down and along both diagonals, with filler letters borrowed from the word list. Print it without the word list for an extra challenge. Play the hard version, or see all hard word searches.
Large print body parts word search: the 12 most familiar words on a 10 × 10 grid, printed with big letters and a big word list, and no backwards words. Play the large print version, or see all large print word searches.
Printing this word search
Press Print / PDF above the puzzle. You get a clean one-page sheet with the title, the grid, a word list with tick boxes, and optional name and date lines. The answer key prints on a second page. Prefer a file? Download it as a PDF or an image to print later or drop into a worksheet. Whatever version is showing on screen is the one that prints, and the large print version prints with bigger letters.
How to play online
- Find a word from the list in the grid. Scanning for its first letter is the quickest way.
- Drag across the word from its first letter to its last. On a phone, you can also tap the first letter, then the last.
- Found words get highlighted and crossed off. Stuck? Hint circles the first letter of a word you haven’t found.
Read the full guide to solving word searches, with tips that make big grids much faster.
Questions and answers
What age is this body parts word search for?
It is written for kids about 5 to 10 years old. Words like Heart, Brain, and Thumb suit early readers, and longer ones like Skeleton and Shoulder give older kids more of a challenge. Older students can use the notes to quiz each other.
Does the puzzle include organs or only outside body parts?
Both. About half the list is body parts you can see and touch, like the elbow, ankle, and eyebrow, and the rest are organs and systems inside the body, like the liver, kidney, lungs, and skeleton. That mix makes it handy for a human body lesson.
How can teachers use this puzzle in a health lesson?
After solving, ask students to sort the words into groups, such as bones and joints, organs, and parts you can see. Then have them pick one word and use its note to explain to a partner what that part of the body does.
Is there an answer key for this body parts word search?
Yes. Choose Print / PDF above the puzzle and keep “Add an answer key page” ticked. The key prints on its own page, with every word highlighted. While playing online, Show answers outlines any words you haven’t found yet.
Can I print copies for my class or group?
Yes. Every puzzle on BetterWordSearch is free to print for personal, classroom, library and homeschool use. Print as many copies as you need. To change the words or make several different versions of the grid, use the word search maker.
What changes between Easy, Medium, Hard and Large print?
Easy hides the 12 most familiar words, reading left to right and top to bottom. Medium uses 20 words and adds diagonals. Hard hides all 24 words in every direction, including backwards, with look-alike filler letters. Large print uses the same words as Easy on a small grid and prints with big letters.
