Slither, scuttle and snap
Reptiles are some of the oldest animals around, and this word search gathers a whole basking rock of them. You'll be tracking the legless SNAKE and its relatives the COBRA, PYTHON and ANACONDA, the colour-changing CHAMELEON, and the toothy CROCODILE and ALLIGATOR lurking by the water.
Each puzzle pulls a fresh selection from the basking rock, so the line-up changes every time you play — gentle on Easy, and a Hard-mode safari once the diagonals and backwards words appear (an IGUANA likes to sun itself backwards in a corner).
Not just the big biters
The smaller reptiles get a look-in too. Keep an eye out for the wall-climbing GECKO, the speedy SKINK, the watchful MONITOR and venomous GILA, the slow and steady TORTOISE and the pond-loving TERRAPIN and TURTLE. There are vipers and ADDERs, the MAMBA and BOA, the giant KOMODO dragon, and the rare TUATARA — a living fossil — for sharp-eyed trackers.
Cold-blooded and clever
Every animal in this grid is cold-blooded, which doesn't mean its blood is cold — it means a REPTILE can't warm itself from the inside the way we do. Instead it relies on its surroundings, which is why you'll see a LIZARD or SNAKE basking on a warm rock in the morning to get going, then slipping into shade when it's too hot. Because they don't burn energy keeping warm, some reptiles can go weeks between meals, and a big PYTHON or CROCODILE may eat only a few times a year.
Their bodies are full of clever tricks. The CHAMELEON swivels each eye on its own and changes colour to blend in or signal its mood, the GECKO has toe pads covered in microscopic hairs that let it walk up glass, and a SNAKE 'tastes' the air with its flicking forked tongue to track prey. Reptiles are also true survivors — they've been around far longer than mammals, sharing the planet with the dinosaurs and outlasting them. That makes them a brilliant topic for a lesson on cold-blooded animals, habitats and how living things are classified.
Great for a cold-blooded animals topic
Easy mode keeps the grid small with no diagonals or reverse words, handy for a topic on reptiles, habitats or classification. Play online, print a PDF pack, or use Make Your Own to build a grid from your own favourite reptiles.