For libraries, activity directors and caregivers

Words at Rest is a free word search site for adults. This guide covers running a session, gentle theme picks, choosing a level, printing specs, playing on a shared TV, and short descriptions you are welcome to copy into a newsletter, resource list or activity calendar.

Choose a first activity

• Paper, any time of year: the Everyday Large Print pack has 6 puzzles with matching answers. Choose Letter or A4, then print at actual size.
• A seasonal session: choose Halloween, Thanksgiving or Christmas. Each pack page shows the sheets before you download.
• A church or adult study group: the Bible pack has two puzzles, answer keys and optional vocabulary notes with passage references.
• A shared screen: choose a large print online puzzle, select Larger, and let one person enter words suggested by the group. Setup steps are below.

For a paper session, keep the even-numbered answer pages separate. Photocopying for community activities is welcome; retain the credit printed on each sheet.

How to run a word search session

1. Pick one familiar theme. Everyday subjects such as gardens, kitchens or birds give people words they already know and something to talk about.
2. Start with large print. Hand out one large print sheet per person, or show one puzzle on a shared screen.
3. Read the word list aloud together before anyone searches. It warms up the group and helps the words stand out.
4. Work at the group’s pace. There is no timer and no score. Pairs or small tables can share one sheet; helping each other is part of the activity.
5. Talk about the words. Ask who grew tomatoes, kept a dog or baked bread. The conversation often matters more than finishing.
6. Close calmly. Check answers with the answer key, or simply stop when the group is ready. Twenty to thirty minutes is plenty for most groups.

Gentle, familiar theme picks

For mixed groups, including people living with dementia, familiar everyday themes usually work better than specialist ones. Each opens a theme page you can play online; pick an Easy puzzle and choose Larger under Grid size:

• Garden
• Flowers
• Birds
• Weather
• Kitchen
• Baking
• Farm animals
• Dogs
• Cats
• Beach
• Music
• Colors
• Fruits
• Spring
• Fall
• Friendship

On paper, the Garden, Animals, Ocean, Food, Music and Travel packs follow the same idea. Seasonal packs suit holiday programs. See all themes.

Tips for people living with dementia: keep sessions short, offer help freely, point to the first letter of a word if someone is stuck, and stop if it stops being enjoyable. Word searches are a pastime, not a treatment, and we make no health claims; the person’s care team is the right source for care advice.

Choosing a difficulty

• Large Print (9×9): 8 words, across or down only. The best first choice for most groups.
• Easy (10×10): 10 words, across or down only.
• Medium (12×12): more words, and diagonal words; no backwards words.
• Hard (15×15): 18 words in all eight directions, including backwards. For confident solvers.

Printing tips and specs

Every printable sheet has one 9×9 grid with 24-point bold letters in squares about ½ inch (12 mm) wide, and a list of 8 words in 18-point type. Words read only across or down. Each puzzle page is followed by its own answer key page, so a 2- or 6-puzzle pack prints as 4 or 12 pages. Every pack comes as a US Letter (8.5×11 in) PDF and an A4 PDF.

• Choose the Letter or A4 file to match the paper in your printer, and print at actual size (100%), not “fit to page.”
• Puzzle sheets are the odd pages and answer keys the even pages. Print odd pages only for participants.
• Black-and-white printing is fine; the sheets are designed in black on white, with answers shaded in grey.
• The sheets are free for personal, classroom and community activity use, including libraries and senior centers, so you may photocopy them for your group. Keep the Words at Rest credit printed on each page when you share or photocopy. No account or email is required.

More pack picks and answer-key tips are in the Activity Director Kit.

Fact sheet

Accessibility details and known gaps are on our accessibility page. We don’t make brain-health claims.

Using it on an activity-room TV or projector

1. Open wordsatrest.com/large-print or today’s puzzle in a browser on a laptop, tablet or smart TV.
2. Show it on the big screen: connect the laptop by HDMI, or cast the browser tab (Chrome “Cast…”, or AirPlay screen mirroring from an iPad or Mac).
3. Press F11 (Windows) or Ctrl+Cmd+F (Mac) for full screen, and zoom with Ctrl/Cmd and + until the letters are easy to read from the back row.
4. Choose Larger under Grid size. Large Print puzzles open in Larger automatically.
5. Let the group call out words; one person taps the first and last letter of each word. There is no timer, so take as long as you like.
6. For a paper round, hand out a sheet from the printable packs and keep the answer key for the leader.

Descriptions you can copy

Short (for a resource list):

Words at Rest (wordsatrest.com) offers free, calm word search puzzles for adults, with a Larger grid option, no sign-up, no timer, and 11 free printable packs with answer keys.

Longer (for a newsletter or website):

Words at Rest (wordsatrest.com) is a free word search website for adults and older players. It has 1,213 puzzles across 121 everyday themes in Easy, Medium and Hard levels plus a Large Print collection, plus ten new daily puzzles. There is no sign-up and no timer. Players can tap the first and last letter instead of dragging, and switch to a Larger grid. 11 free large print packs with 34 puzzles and answer keys, available as 22 Letter/A4 PDF downloads. Learn more: https://wordsatrest.com/for-libraries-and-caregivers

Questions, or want a theme for your group? Contact us.