July Word Search

About this puzzle

July is the heart of summer in the United States and the rest of the Northern Hemisphere, and this puzzle tries to capture the whole month. You'll find the Fourth of July and its fireworks, of course, plus Canada Day and Bastille Day, the ruby birthstone, July's birth flowers, and a trip back to the Roman calendar, where the month was called Quintilis before it was renamed for Julius Caesar.

The rest of the list is pure summer: blueberries, sweet corn, fireflies, a lazy hammock, and the afternoon lightning that sends everyone indoors. This July word search works for summer camp, a library reading program, or a rainy afternoon at home. Each word has a short note below, so curious kids can learn why the Moon Landing date is worth remembering.

The 30 words in this puzzle

Every word, with a short note. Handy for teaching the vocabulary before or after solving.

In every version (12)

Beach

July is peak beach season in the Northern Hemisphere. Sunscreen, shade, and plenty of water help keep a long day on the sand fun and safe.

Campfire

July is a busy month for camping, and the campfire is where s'mores happen. Always keep water nearby and make sure the fire is completely out before bed.

Firefly

Fireflies are beetles, not flies. They make light with a chemical reaction in their bellies, and each species blinks its own pattern to signal to others on summer evenings.

Fireworks

Fireworks were invented in China more than a thousand years ago. In a 1776 letter, John Adams hoped American independence would be celebrated with illuminations from one end of the continent to the other.

Hammock

The word hammock comes from hamaka, a word used by the Taino people of the Caribbean, who wove hanging beds long before Europeans arrived.

Ice Cream

President Ronald Reagan named July National Ice Cream Month in 1984, and the third Sunday of July as National Ice Cream Day.

Parade

Many American towns hold a Fourth of July parade. Bristol, Rhode Island, is often credited with the oldest continuous Fourth of July celebration, dating back to 1785.

Picnic

A picnic is a meal eaten outdoors, often on a blanket in a park or backyard. Summer holidays like the Fourth of July are some of the most popular picnic days of the year.

Sparkler

Sparklers burn at around 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, much hotter than a campfire, so they should only be used with a grown-up and dropped into a bucket of water afterward.

Sunflower

Many sunflowers bloom in July and August. Young sunflowers turn to follow the sun across the sky, while grown flower heads usually settle facing east.

Swimming

Swimming is a favorite way to beat the July heat. Always swim where a lifeguard or grown-up is watching, and learn to float on your back in case you get tired.

Watermelon

Watermelon is about 92 percent water, which makes it a refreshing July snack. It belongs to the same plant family as cucumbers, pumpkins, and squash.

Added in Medium and Hard (8)

Barbecue

The word barbecue likely comes from barbacoa, a Spanish word borrowed from the Taino people of the Caribbean for a wooden frame used to cook food over a fire.

Blueberry

Blueberries are native to North America, and July has been recognized as National Blueberry Month in the United States, when many farms open for picking.

Fourth of July

The Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. Independence Day has been a federal holiday in the United States since 1870.

Heat Wave

A heat wave is a stretch of unusually hot days. In much of the United States, July is the hottest month of the year on average.

Lightning

Summer is peak lightning season in the United States. A good rule to remember is "When thunder roars, go indoors," because lightning can strike miles away from a storm.

Ruby

The ruby is July's birthstone. Rubies are a red form of the mineral corundum, the same mineral that forms sapphires, and they are among the hardest gemstones.

Sandcastle

Damp sand builds the strongest sandcastles, because thin films of water between the grains help them stick together. Bone-dry sand just slides into a pile.

Sweet Corn

Sweet corn ripens in midsummer. Each strand of silk on an ear connects to a single kernel, so a missing kernel usually means a strand never caught any pollen.

Added in Hard (10)

Apollo

Apollo 11 launched on July 16, 1969, and landed on the Moon four days later. NASA named its Moon program after Apollo, the Greek god of the sun and music.

Bastille Day

France's national holiday on July 14 remembers the storming of the Bastille, a Paris fortress and prison, in 1789. Today it is celebrated with parades, music, and fireworks.

Canada Day

Canada Day on July 1 marks the day in 1867 when three British colonies joined to form the country of Canada. It was called Dominion Day until 1982.

Declaration

The Declaration of Independence, mostly written by Thomas Jefferson, explained why the thirteen colonies were breaking away from Britain. Congress adopted it on July 4, 1776.

Dog Days

The dog days of summer, roughly early July to mid August, are named after Sirius, the Dog Star, which ancient Greeks and Romans linked with the hottest weather.

Julius Caesar

The Roman leader Julius Caesar was born in this month. After his death in 44 BC, the Romans renamed the month Iulius in his honor, which became July in English.

Larkspur

Larkspur is one of July's birth flowers. Its tall spikes of blue, purple, pink, or white blooms got their name because each flower's spur looks a bit like a lark's claw.

Moon Landing

On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first people to walk on the Moon while Michael Collins circled overhead.

Quintilis

Quintilis means fifth in Latin. July was the fifth month in the early Roman calendar, which began in March, before January and February moved to the front of the year.

Water Lily

The water lily is July's other birth flower. Its round, floating leaves are the lily pads frogs sit on, and the painter Claude Monet made around 250 paintings of water lilies.

A few facts to share while you solve

• July was named after Julius Caesar, and August was later named after his successor, Augustus. Both months have 31 days.
• The Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776, but most of the delegates signed the official handwritten copy on August 2, 1776.
• The Apollo 11 astronauts left a plaque on the Moon that reads, "We came in peace for all mankind."

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.

Hard and large print versions

Hard july word search: all 30 words on a 18 × 18 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 july word search: the 12 most familiar words on a 12 × 12 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

1. Find a word from the list in the grid. Scanning for its first letter is the quickest way.
2. Drag across the word from its first letter to its last. On a phone, you can also tap the first letter, then the last.
3. 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.