Printable word scramble

What is on the sheet

• Three worksheets: animals, food and nature, twelve words each.
• A word bank at the top of every sheet, so nobody has to guess what is hiding in the jumble.
• A blank line under each scrambled word to write the answer on.
• The full answer key on the last sheet.

How to print

• Print at 100 percent so the letters are big enough to read.
• Give each child a different sheet, or use one sheet for the whole class and compare times.
• Cut the answer key off before handing the worksheets out.
• Photocopy freely for classroom and family use - no attribution needed on the copy.

Why scrambling works better than spelling tests

Unscrambling a word is a different task from copying it, and a more useful one. To unscramble BUTTERFLY a child has to hold the whole word in mind, notice which letters are there, and test a candidate against the shape of the word - the same thing they do when reading and when searching a page for a word they half-remember. A spelling test measures whether a child can reproduce a sequence they have seen; a scramble asks them to rebuild one, which is the harder and more transferable skill. It is also much less stressful, and a child who is stuck can usually get there by saying the word out loud.

Each sheet is themed, so the words are related and the vocabulary sticks: a page of animals is a list worth learning, and a page of food is a vocabulary lesson that happens before lunch.

Related sheets and games

The printables hub also has themed word searches, where the words are hidden in a grid instead of jumbled. On screen, the anagrams game does the same thing against a ninety-second clock, and the word search hides words in a 12 by 12 grid.