Colors and numbers Word Search
- AMBER
- RED
- EIGHT
- TWELVE
- TEAL
- BROWN
- YELLOW
- FOUR
- NINE
- MAROON
- FIVE
- SILVER
Created for free at puzzleandprint.com
Colors and Numbers Word Search
Color words, every number word from zero to fifteen, the tens up to fifty, and a hundred.
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Colors and numbers Word Search, Answer Key
- AMBER
- RED
- EIGHT
- TWELVE
- TEAL
- BROWN
- YELLOW
- FOUR
- NINE
- MAROON
- FIVE
- SILVER
Created for free at puzzleandprint.com
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Four sheets, each with a different job. Every one is a two-page PDF, the puzzle, then the answer key on its own page.
Colors and numbers word search, large print11 × 11 · 7 words · EasyDownload PDF ↓
Colors and numbers word search, everyday14 × 14 · 11 words · MediumDownload PDF ↓
Colors and numbers word search, more words15 × 15 · 14 words · MediumDownload PDF ↓
Colors and numbers word search, challenge17 × 17 · 15 words · HardDownload PDF ↓Every sheet here is free to print as often as you like. If one saved you time, the tip jar is on Ko-fi.
Colors and number words are among the very first vocabulary children are asked to read rather than count or point at, and this list holds both: 19 color words and 21 number words running from ZERO to HUNDRED.
The words are short, which means a small grid with big letters works well. This is a reasonable first word search for a child who has just started reading whole words.
The number words are worth more attention than the colors. A child can usually count to twelve long before they can read the word twelve, and the gap between those two skills is exactly what this sheet exposes.
If it is going slowly, step back to the large-print sheet: seven color words on an eleven by eleven grid, running only left to right or top to bottom. Finishing quickly and asking for another is a far better outcome than grinding through a full page.
Which number words change their spelling, from four to forty
FORTY drops the u that FOUR and FOURTEEN keep, one of several number words on the list whose spelling changes from the small number it grew out of, and nothing in the way it is said warns a child. THREE becomes THIRTEEN and THIRTY, FIVE becomes FIFTEEN and FIFTY, and of the three teens on the list only FOURTEEN keeps its small number whole. TWO, TWELVE and TWENTY all start with tw because they grew from the same old word for two, which is also why two is still spelled with a w that nobody says.
ELEVEN and TWELVE break the teen pattern altogether, and their names are older than it: they come from old English words meaning one left over and two left over, counting on past ten. That makes them the two number words a child simply has to learn by sight, and both are on the more-words and challenge sheets. The everyday sheet is the place to start counting, since it runs ONE to SEVEN in order beside ORANGE, PURPLE, PINK and BROWN, and a child can say each number aloud as it is found and hold up the right number of fingers.
Are all seven rainbow colors on the colors word search
All seven rainbow colors are on the colors and numbers list, RED, ORANGE, YELLOW, GREEN, BLUE, INDIGO and VIOLET, but they are split between sheets: the first five are on the large-print sheet, and INDIGO and VIOLET wait until the challenge sheet. The split suits the reading, since INDIGO and VIOLET are the two least everyday color words of the seven, and it means a younger class can find five on the first sheet and be asked which two are missing. Painting a rainbow in the right order afterwards, with the last two stripes added once the challenge sheet is done, ties each word to its color.
Most of the colors on the challenge sheet also name something else: SILVER and GOLD are metals, VIOLET a flower, AMBER fossilized tree resin, CREAM a food, TEAL a small duck, INDIGO a plant dye, and MAROON a word for leaving someone stranded. GRAY is the exception. Asking a child what else each word means is a quick way to show that color names are often borrowed from things, ORANGE most famously, which was the name of the fruit before it was the name of the color.
Common questions
Why are the number words harder than the color words?
Because several number words are not spelled the way they are said. ONE begins with a w sound but has no w, and EIGHT hides a silent gh, while color words such as RED and PINK can be sounded out one letter at a time. THIRTEEN, eight letters long and only on the challenge sheet, is the longest number word on any ready-made sheet.
Is this usable before a child can really read?
Partly, and it is worth trying. A child who knows their letters can match RED or SIX shape by shape without reading either, which is real practice. Hold back ELEVEN, THIRTEEN and FOURTEEN until whole words are going in, or they will just be long strings.
Which numbers are on the colors and numbers sheets?
ZERO to THIRTEEN: the large-print sheet is all colors, ONE to SEVEN are on the everyday sheet, THREE to TWELVE and ZERO on the more-words sheet, and NINE to THIRTEEN with ZERO on the challenge sheet. FOURTEEN, FIFTEEN, TWENTY, THIRTY, FORTY, FIFTY and HUNDRED appear only in the maker at the top of the page, which draws from the whole list.
Want to know when new printables go up?
New printables when they go up, mostly seasonal, a few times a year.