About this puzzle
September is a month of switching gears. In the United States it opens with Labor Day and a last cookout, then quickly fills with football kickoffs, new library cards, and lunches packed for school. Halfway through, the autumnal equinox marks the start of fall in the Northern Hemisphere, and the Harvest Moon rises big and orange over fields of goldenrod.
This list also covers the month's celebrations and history: Grandparents Day, Constitution Day, Johnny Appleseed's birthday, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the Mid-Autumn Festival's mooncakes, and the start of Hispanic Heritage Month. That variety makes this September word search handy for classroom morning work, since almost every word connects to something students are hearing about that week. The notes below give teachers a ready-made fact for each one.
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)
- Autumn
- Autumn is another word for fall. Astronomers count autumn from the September equinox, while weather forecasters start meteorological autumn on September 1.
- Backpack
- A new or refilled backpack is part of going back to school. Pediatricians suggest a loaded backpack weigh no more than about 10 to 20 percent of a child's body weight, worn on both shoulders.
- Cookout
- Labor Day weekend is often treated as the unofficial end of summer, and many families mark it with one last backyard cookout before the school year gets busy.
- Cricket
- Male crickets chirp by rubbing their wings together. They chirp faster when it's warm and slower when it's cool, so the sound changes as September nights get chillier.
- Equinox
- The autumnal equinox falls around September 22 or 23. It marks the first day of fall in the Northern Hemisphere, when day and night are nearly the same length.
- Kickoff
- September is when high school, college, and professional football seasons get going. Every game, and every half, starts with a kickoff.
- Labor Day
- Labor Day, on the first Monday in September, honors American workers. The first Labor Day parade marched through New York City in 1882, and it became a federal holiday in 1894.
- Pencil
- Most pencils use a mix of graphite and clay, not lead. The yellow paint became popular in the United States in the late 1800s and stuck as the classic school pencil color.
- Sapphire
- Sapphire is September's birthstone. Most people picture it as deep blue, but sapphires also come in pink, yellow, green, and other colors. A red one is called a ruby.
- School Bus
- American school buses are painted National School Bus Glossy Yellow. A 1939 conference chose the color because yellow with black lettering is easy to see in early morning and late afternoon light.
- Sunflower
- Sunflowers bloom in late summer and September. Young sunflower plants turn to follow the sun across the sky, but most grown flower heads settle into facing east.
- Teacher
- For many kids, September means meeting a new teacher and a new classroom. World Teachers' Day, a day to thank teachers around the globe, follows soon after on October 5.
Added in Medium and Hard (8)
- Apple Picking
- September opens apple-picking season at many orchards in the northern United States. Early favorites like McIntosh and Honeycrisp are often ready to pick this month.
- Appleseed
- Johnny Appleseed was the nickname of John Chapman, born September 26, 1774. He planted apple tree nurseries across Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana as settlers moved west.
- Aster
- The aster is one of September's birth flowers. Its name comes from the Greek word for star, because of the way its thin petals spread out around a yellow center.
- Grandparents
- National Grandparents Day falls on the first Sunday after Labor Day. President Jimmy Carter signed the proclamation creating it in 1978.
- Harvest Moon
- The Harvest Moon is the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox. For several evenings it rises soon after sunset, which once gave farmers extra light to bring in crops.
- Hurricane
- The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30, and its peak usually comes around September 10, when ocean water is at its warmest.
- Monarch
- In September, monarch butterflies from the eastern United States and Canada start flying south. Some travel up to 3,000 miles to spend the winter in the mountain forests of central Mexico.
- Squirrel
- In September, squirrels get busy collecting acorns and nuts for winter. Gray squirrels bury them in many separate spots and find them later using memory and their keen sense of smell.
Added in Hard (10)
- Concord Grape
- Concord grapes ripen in September. Ephraim Bull developed the variety in Concord, Massachusetts, and it later became the classic grape for American grape juice and jelly.
- Constitution
- The US Constitution was signed in Philadelphia on September 17, 1787, by 39 delegates. Constitution Day is observed on that date every year.
- Goldenrod
- Goldenrod paints fields yellow in September and is often blamed for fall allergies. The real culprit is usually ragweed, whose light pollen floats on the wind.
- Heritage
- National Hispanic Heritage Month runs from September 15 to October 15. It starts on the independence day of five Central American countries, and Mexico and Chile celebrate theirs soon after.
- Hummingbird
- Ruby-throated hummingbirds head south in late summer and September. Many fly nonstop across the Gulf of Mexico, a trip of more than 500 miles, after fattening up on nectar.
- Library Card
- September is Library Card Sign-up Month in the United States. Libraries use it to remind families that a library card is one of the most useful school supplies a kid can have.
- Mooncake
- Mooncakes are round pastries shared during the Mid-Autumn Festival, celebrated in China and across East and Southeast Asia on the full moon of the eighth lunar month, usually in September.
- Morning Glory
- The morning glory is September's other birth flower, along with the aster. Its trumpet-shaped blooms usually open in the morning and close by the afternoon.
- Rosh Hashanah
- Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year and usually falls in September or early October. A ram's horn called a shofar is blown, and apples dipped in honey wish everyone a sweet year.
- Yom Kippur
- Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, closes the Ten Days of Awe that begin on Rosh Hashanah, so it falls in September or October. It is observed with fasting and prayer.
A few facts to share while you solve
- September comes from the Latin word septem, meaning seven. It was the seventh month in the early Roman calendar, which started in March.
- September and December both begin on the same day of the week every year, because there are exactly 91 days, or 13 weeks, between them.
- The Constitution signed in September 1787 is often called the oldest written national constitution still in use.
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 | 12 × 12 | The 12 most familiar words, reading forward across and down. |
| Medium | 20 | 15 × 15 | Twenty words across, down and diagonally. No backwards words. |
| Hard | 30 | 18 × 18 | Every word, in all eight directions including backwards, with look-alike filler letters. |
| Large print | 12 | 12 × 12 | The 12 most familiar words on a small grid with big letters. No backwards words. |
Hard and large print versions
Hard september 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 september 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
- 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 holidays are in the September word search?
The list includes Labor Day, Grandparents Day, Constitution Day, Rosh Hashanah, and the Mid-Autumn Festival through the word Mooncake. It also nods to Hispanic Heritage Month, which begins September 15, and Johnny Appleseed's birthday on September 26. Dates for Rosh Hashanah and the Mid-Autumn Festival move each year because they follow lunar calendars.
Is this September word search good for the start of the school year?
Yes. Many teachers use it as morning work during the first weeks of school. Words like Library Card and Pencil feel familiar, while Constitution and Equinox tie in to social studies and science. Easy works for early readers, and medium or hard keeps older students busy.
How is this different from the fall word search?
The fall puzzle is about the whole season, like leaves, cider, and corn mazes. This one is built around the calendar month itself, including September's holidays, birthstone, birth flower, and the Harvest Moon. The two pair nicely if you want one puzzle for each.
Is there an answer key for this september 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 30 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.
