Word search puzzles are puzzles based on an array of letters. Most commonly the letters are arranged in a square, but sometimes other shapes are used. Concealed within this array are words going horizontally (left to right, or right to left), vertically (downwards or upwards), or any diagonal direction. The person solving the puzzle's task is to search the array and try to find each of these words, and then circle them. In many variants of the game, the solver is told exactly what words to look for, but in other cases the solver may only be given a general theme (e.g. "US Presidents" or "Christmas"), and of course in the latter case the task is much harder.
These types of puzzles are very popular as both a leisure activity and in educational situations. One particular benefit in the latter case is that students solving these puzzles need to pay very close attention to the exact spelling of each word (otherwise they won't be able to find it in the letter array), and thus tend to improve their spelling even though they're not consciously learning spelling. It is perhaps for this reason that word search puzzles are increasingly popular with teachers and educators, especially in K-12 and ESL (English as a Second Language) environments.
There are basically two main options for creating word search puzzles. The first option is to do it manually with pencil and paper - of course this is really hard work and can be incredibly time consuming. The better option is to get your computer to do the work; you can get software into which you simply enter a list of words, and which will then generate a puzzle for you.
By S. Tanna. To create your own custom word search puzzles, please go to http://www.wordsearchprinter.com/
Source: www.articlecity.com
