Digestive System Journey Word Search
- Free
- No account
- Answer key
- Challenge
- About 22 min
- 10 words
Follow food through the digestive system with precise vocabulary, family discussion prompts, an answer key, and a printable puzzle PDF.
For parents and caregivers
What your child will practice
- Sequence major digestive structures from the mouth through the intestines.
- Explain that digestion breaks food down so nutrients can be absorbed and used.
How to use this puzzle at home
- Preview the vocabulary and have your child arrange mouth, esophagus, stomach, and intestine in order.
- Solve the puzzle and use the answer key to check spelling as well as word locations.
- Ask your child to retell the journey of one bite of food using at least five puzzle words.
Word List
- MOUTH
- TEETH
- SALIVA
- ESOPHAGUS
- STOMACH
- INTESTINE
- NUTRIENT
- DIGESTION
- ENERGY
- WASTE
Printable Puzzle
Vocabulary guide
Use these short definitions before or after the word search. Ask your child to explain a few in their own words.
- Mouth
- The opening where teeth and saliva begin breaking down food.
- Teeth
- Hard structures that cut, tear, and grind food into smaller pieces.
- Saliva
- Liquid in the mouth that moistens food and starts chemical digestion.
- Esophagus
- A muscular tube that moves swallowed food toward the stomach.
- Stomach
- A muscular organ that churns food and mixes it with digestive juices.
- Intestine
- A long digestive organ where nutrients and water are absorbed.
- Nutrient
- A useful substance in food that supports growth, repair, or energy.
- Digestion
- The process of breaking food into substances the body can absorb.
- Energy
- The ability to do work, supplied to the body by nutrients in food.
- Waste
- Material left after the body absorbs what it can use from food.
Talk about the science
- Why is chewing an important first step in digestion?
- How are digestion and nutrient absorption different processes?
- What might happen if food moved through the digestive system in the wrong order?
Try one more thing
Extension activity
Draw a labeled digestive pathway on a sheet of paper. Add one action beside each structure, then trace the route with a finger while explaining where food changes and nutrients enter the body.
Teacher and tutor note
Classroom adaptation
Assign small groups one stage of digestion to illustrate and caption. After the puzzle, arrange the group pages in sequence and conduct a gallery walk from mouth to waste removal.
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