Cambridge YLE Starters Word Search: 15 Topic Puzzles From the Official List
Published 14 September 2026
The Cambridge YLE Starters vocabulary list has around 450 words, all of them ordinary — cat, kitchen, helicopter, purple. The difficulty for a six- or seven-year-old is not any single word but the sheer number, and the fact that the Listening and Reading & Writing papers expect the child to recognise the spelling of every one of them. Starters doesn’t test spelling directly the way a school test does, but a child who can’t tell bread from beard on the page will lose marks in Reading & Writing Part 1.
A word search is close to ideal for this, because recognising a correctly spelled word in a field of similar letters is precisely what the Starters Reading & Writing paper asks the child to do. Below are fifteen ten-word puzzles, one per topic on the official list, with settings and a plan. Paste any set into a generator or an app, or use the built-in versions.
How the sets are organised
Cambridge groups the Starters list by topic, and the exam papers follow those topics: a picture of a bedroom with things to name, a listening task about clothes, a matching task with animals. So the sets below are grouped the same way. Each has ten words chosen for being the most frequently tested in that topic, all from the official list.
Settings for Starters-age children (6–8): 8×8 grid for the first few puzzles, 10×10 once they’re confident · across and down for a beginner, add diagonal after a couple of weeks · capitals · word clues for a first pass, picture clues for revision (the Starters list is almost entirely concrete nouns, so pictures work for nearly every word). More on why these settings matter in the difficulty guide by age.
The 15 puzzles
1. Animals
cat · dog · fish · bird · rabbit · duck · frog · horse · elephant · monkey
2. Colours
red · blue · green · yellow · orange · purple · pink · white · black · brown
3. Numbers
one · two · three · four · five · six · seven · eight · nine · ten
4. Food and drink
apple · banana · cake · milk · juice · bread · egg · rice · water · chicken
5. Family
mum · dad · baby · brother · sister · grandma · grandpa · aunt · uncle · cousin
6. Clothes
shirt · shoes · hat · dress · coat · socks · trousers · jacket · boots · skirt
7. Transport
car · bus · train · plane · boat · bike · taxi · ship · helicopter · lorry
8. Home and rooms
house · kitchen · bedroom · bathroom · garden · door · window · table · chair · sofa
9. School
book · pen · pencil · bag · desk · teacher · ruler · eraser · notebook · classroom
10. Weather
sun · rain · wind · snow · cloud · rainbow · hot · cold · storm · fog
11. Sports and hobbies
football · tennis · swimming · reading · painting · dancing · singing · cycling · cooking · fishing
12. Nature
tree · flower · grass · sea · mountain · river · leaf · rock · sky · star
13. Places
school · park · shop · hospital · zoo · library · beach · farm · cinema · restaurant
14. Feelings
happy · sad · angry · scared · hungry · tired · excited · bored · surprised · proud
15. Body
head · nose · mouth · eyes · ears · hands · feet · arm · leg · hair
A note on Set 3: number words are short and share letters (one/nine, six/seven), so this is a surprisingly tricky puzzle for its length. Use an 8×8 grid with across-and-down only, even for a child who is managing diagonals elsewhere.
A four-week plan
Fifteen puzzles is roughly one a day on school days for three weeks, with a fourth week for revision. A workable schedule:
| Week | Puzzles | Clue type | Goal |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sets 1–5 | Word | Meet the words; child sees the spelling |
| 2 | Sets 6–10 | Word, then picture for any repeated | Widen vocabulary |
| 3 | Sets 11–15 | Picture where possible | Recall, not recognition |
| 4 | Regenerate any set the child needed hints on | Picture or spoken | Fix the weak topics |
Each puzzle takes a 6–8-year-old five to eight minutes. Regenerating the same set later in the week with a fresh grid — new positions, same words — counts as a second exposure and is worth more than a new set. The reasoning is in why the classic puzzle is real spelling practice.
From recognising to spelling
Starters itself is mostly recognition, but Movers and Flyers increasingly need the child to write the word, and school spelling tests do from the start. The step from a word search to spelling is the clue: once a child can find every word in a set with the words printed, switch to picture clues so they have to recall the spelling before they search. Our post on picture word searches explains the mechanism. For the writing side of Starters preparation, SpellEasy’s complete guide to the YLE Starters word list covers the spelling practice that follows naturally after the puzzles.
Using the built-in versions
WordSearchEasy ships these fifteen Starters lists as built-in topics (plus Movers and Flyers sets), each word with a picture and a translation into Chinese, Japanese or Korean, so the picture-clue version is one tap rather than a craft project. Two topics per level are free; the rest are part of the premium subscription. The lists can also be printed as a two-page puzzle-and-answer PDF if your child prefers paper.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Cambridge YLE Starters test spelling?
Not directly — there’s no spelling test as such. But the Reading & Writing paper requires the child to copy words correctly from a given list and to recognise correctly spelled words, and the Listening paper requires matching heard words to written ones. A child who is unsure of spellings loses marks on those tasks, which is why recognition practice matters even at Starters level.
How many words are on the Starters vocabulary list?
Around 450, according to Cambridge’s published handbook. They’re grouped into topics such as animals, clothes, food, the home, school and transport, and the sets on this page follow that grouping. A child does not need to know all 450 to pass — the tests sample from the list — but the common topic words appear repeatedly.
What age is Cambridge Starters for?
Cambridge suggests roughly 7 to 8 years old after around 100 hours of English lessons, though children in Hong Kong and Singapore commonly sit it at 6 or 7. The puzzles here are pitched at 6–8: small grids, forward-only words to begin with, and picture clues once the child is confident.
Is a word search enough to prepare for Starters?
No — it covers vocabulary recognition, which is one part of the test. Listening practice, speaking practice and the specific task formats (matching, copying words, yes/no picture questions) need separate attention. Word searches are a good way to make the vocabulary part painless and to check which topics are weak.
Should I use the printed word list or picture clues?
Word clues first, so the child meets the spelling; picture clues once they’ve done a set before. The Starters list is nearly all concrete nouns and simple adjectives, so pictures work for almost every word, and the switch turns the puzzle from recognition into recall.
Can I make puzzles from the Movers and Flyers lists too?
Yes, the same approach works — Movers and Flyers add more abstract words (because, sometimes, dangerous) where a picture won’t do, so use meaning or spoken clues for those. Grid size should go up too: 10×10 to 12×12 with diagonals for Movers, 12×12 with all directions for Flyers.
WordSearchEasy turns your child’s own word list — or one of 300+ built-in topic lists — into a word search in seconds, with picture and sound clues and a printable answer key. Download free on the App Store.