Life in the canopy
The rainforest is the busiest place on Earth, and this word search gathers the whole jungle. You'll be spotting the sleepy SLOTH hanging in the branches, the spotted JAGUAR on the prowl, the cheeky MONKEY swinging past, and the loud, colourful MACAW and TOUCAN calling from the treetops.
Each puzzle pulls a fresh selection from the jungle, so the canopy changes every time you play — gentle on Easy, and a Hard-mode expedition once the diagonals and backwards words appear (an ORANGUTAN likes to climb in backwards).
The weird and wonderful
The rainforest is full of animals you won't see anywhere else. Keep an eye out for the striped-legged OKAPI, the giant CAPYBARA, the long-nosed COATI and the night-climbing KINKAJOU. There's the armoured ARMADILLO, the colourful MANDRILL and PARROT, the wide-eyed TARSIER and LEMUR, the GORILLA, CHIMP, ANTEATER and TAPIR, the huge flightless CASSOWARY — and the toothy PIRANHA in the rivers below for sharp-eyed explorers.
Why the rainforest is so crowded
Rainforests cover only a small slice of the planet, yet they're home to more than half of all the world's plant and animal species — more kinds of living thing than anywhere else on Earth. The secret is the warm, wet, year-round climate and the way the forest grows in layers, from the dark floor up to the sunny canopy, giving every animal its own level to live on. The SLOTH and MONKEY rule the treetops, the JAGUAR prowls the shadowy floor, and birds like the TOUCAN and MACAW fill the air between.
Living in such a packed, competitive place pushes animals to specialise in clever ways. The SLOTH moves so slowly that algae grows on its fur, hiding it from predators; the toucan's huge beak helps it reach fruit and stay cool; and tree frogs flash bright colours to warn that they're poisonous. Many of these species — the ORANGUTAN, the GORILLA — live nowhere else and are now endangered as their forests are cut down, which makes the rainforest a powerful topic for a lesson on habitats, biodiversity and protecting wild places.
Great for a rainforest or habitats topic
Easy mode keeps the grid small with no diagonals or reverse words, perfect for a layers-of-the-rainforest or endangered-animals lesson. Play online, print a PDF pack, or use Make Your Own to build a grid from your own jungle animals.
Frequently asked questions
Which rainforest animals are in the word search?
All the jungle stars — sloth, jaguar, toucan, monkey, gorilla, orangutan, macaw and more, plus unusual ones like okapi, capybara and kinkajou. Each puzzle uses a fresh mix.
Which rainforests do these animals come from?
A mix — South American stars like the SLOTH, JAGUAR and MACAW share the grid with African and Asian forest animals like the GORILLA and ORANGUTAN.
Is it good for a rainforest or habitats topic?
Made for it. Easy mode keeps the grid small with no diagonals or reverse words, perfect for a layers-of-the-rainforest or endangered-animals lesson.