Printable kids’ crossword puzzles
Pick At home for everyday objects or Outdoors for plants, weather and other things outside. Each original crossword has eight short answers. Print the two puzzle pages together, then choose whether to add the optional word banks and crossing examples.
Two-page pencil-and-paper PDFs. No account or email needed. Help and answers are in separate files below; the puzzle download contains neither.
Puzzle 1: At home
The clues point to familiar objects around a home. Answers are three to five letters long. One square is the start of both 1 Across and 1 Down, so the same clue number appears in both lists.
Read puzzle 1 clues and grid
Across
- 1. Look at this to tell the time. (5 letters.)
- 3. A flat dish for your meal. (5 letters.)
- 6. Use this to eat soup. (5 letters.)
- 7. Read its pages. (4 letters.)
Down
- 1. A seat with a back. (5 letters.)
- 2. A small container to drink from. (3 letters.)
- 4. Switch this on to light a room. (4 letters.)
- 5. Wear this on your foot inside a shoe. (4 letters.)
Grid rows run from top to bottom; columns run from left to right. An unused space is outside the puzzle.
Show At home word bank
BOOK, CHAIR, CLOCK, CUP, LAMP, PLATE, SOCK, SPOON.
The words are alphabetical, not in clue order. Match a clue to a word, check its length, then use the crossing letters.
Explain one At home crossing
1 Across, “Look at this to tell the time.”, is CLOCK. Start at square 1 and write it to the right. 1 Down, “A seat with a back.”, is CHAIR; write it downward from square 1.
Letter 1 of CLOCK and letter 1 of CHAIR share one square. Both are C. Write that letter once; it belongs to both answers.
| C | L | O | C | K | |||
| H | |||||||
| A | |||||||
| I | |||||||
| R | |||||||
This filled crossing is an example from the optional help file. The matching squares in the puzzle download are blank.
Puzzle 2: Outdoors
This puzzle uses four- and five-letter words. Its clues describe outdoor things, without a picture to identify. You can start with whichever clue you know, even if its number comes later.
Read puzzle 2 clues and grid
Across
- 3. A tall plant with a trunk and branches. (4 letters.)
- 6. A small piece of rock. (5 letters.)
- 7. Water drops that fall from clouds. (4 letters.)
- 8. An animal with feathers and a beak. (4 letters.)
Down
- 1. The green plants that make up a lawn. (5 letters.)
- 2. A flat, often green part of a plant. (4 letters.)
- 4. A long stream of water flowing toward a lake or sea. (5 letters.)
- 5. A white or gray shape floating in the sky. (5 letters.)
Grid rows run from top to bottom; columns run from left to right. An unused space is outside the puzzle.
Show Outdoors word bank
BIRD, CLOUD, GRASS, LEAF, RAIN, RIVER, STONE, TREE.
The words are alphabetical, not in clue order. Match a clue to a word, check its length, then use the crossing letters.
Explain one Outdoors crossing
3 Across, “A tall plant with a trunk and branches.”, is TREE. Start at square 3 and write it to the right. 2 Down, “A flat, often green part of a plant.”, is LEAF; write it downward from square 2.
Letter 4 of TREE and letter 2 of LEAF share one square. Both are E. Write that letter once; it belongs to both answers.
| L | ||||||||
| T | R | E | E | |||||
| A | ||||||||
| F | ||||||||
This filled crossing is an example from the optional help file. The matching squares in the puzzle download are blank.
Follow the clue number, then its direction
Read an Across or Down clue and find that number in the grid. Across answers go left to right. Down answers go from top to bottom. Put one letter in each outlined square, starting with the numbered square. The small printed number stays in the corner; it doesn’t take a letter’s place.
The number in parentheses after a clue is the answer length. A five-letter guess needs five connected squares. If your answer has the wrong number of letters, try another word before writing it in.
You can leave a clue and come back to it. Once another answer crosses that space, its letter may help you find the missing word. If two answers need different letters in the same square, check both clues, the spelling, and where each word begins.
These are short word puzzles, rather than grade-level worksheets. If a child needs help reading a clue, read it aloud and let them choose the answer. The optional word bank supplies all eight possible words without telling you where they go.
Print help or answers separately
The help PDF has one page per puzzle, with an alphabetical word bank and the crossing explained above. It reveals those two crossing words, so leave it aside if you want to work from the clues alone. The answer PDF shows each complete filled grid.
Print at full size
Choose US Letter for 8.5 × 11-inch paper or A4 for 210 × 297-millimeter paper. Print in portrait at Actual size or 100%. At full size, each grid square is about ⅖ inch wide. Check your printer’s preview for cut-off edges; printer margins and automatic scaling vary.
Print page 1 for At home, page 2 for Outdoors, or both. Use the PDF for printing and the images for previewing. Dark outlines on a white background work in black and white. A pencil makes it easier to correct a crossing.
The files have no editable fields or online solving controls. Downloading a fresh copy gives you the same blank puzzles, not new words. Keep the answer pages out of view until you want to check.
Save a puzzle for later
For a different word puzzle, print a sports word search with easy and standard grids, or choose Hangman for two players. More paper activities are in the printable library.
Published October 10, 2026.