Halloween Crossword Puzzle (free printable)
A free Halloween crossword with thirteen words and friendly clues for grades 2 to 4: pumpkin, cobweb, skeleton, scarecrow and more, with numbered squares and an answer key.
To save a PDF, choose Print, then “Save as PDF” as the printer. Only the sheets print.
All 13 words are in the crossword (14 × 13 squares).
About this set
Thirteen Halloween words with a clue for each, written in plain sentences so a second grader can solve them with a partner and a fourth grader still has to think: an eight-legged creature that spins a web, all the bones inside a body, a straw figure that keeps birds away from crops. The clues are the cartoon kind of spooky, never scary, and the words cross at shared letters, so solving one gives a hint for the next. Turn the word bank on for younger students or off for older ones, and press Make another so each table gets its own layout. It is a quiet, low-prep activity for the last hour before the party.
Grades: 2nd to 4th grade. Best in: October.
The words and clues
- Pumpkin :
- A large orange fruit that is carved into a lantern in October
- Ghost :
- A white, floating figure in a story that says “Boo!”
- Witch :
- A storybook character with a pointed black hat who flies on a broom
- Costume :
- Clothes you wear to dress up as someone or something else
- Candy :
- Sweet treats like chocolate, lollipops and gumdrops
- Spider :
- An eight-legged creature that spins a web
- Cobweb :
- The sticky, silky threads a spider leaves in a corner
- Skeleton :
- All the bones inside a body, put together
- Mummy :
- A figure wrapped from head to toe in strips of cloth
- Broomstick :
- In stories, what a witch rides through the night sky
- Cauldron :
- A big iron pot that a witch stirs over a fire
- Scarecrow :
- A straw figure in a field that keeps birds away from the crops
- Bat :
- A furry flying animal that sleeps upside down
How to use it: five ideas
- Riddle time: read the clues aloud as riddles and let the class call out the answers before anyone writes.
- Word bank choice: second graders keep it on and read each clue with a partner, and fourth graders turn it off and solve from the clues alone.
- Clue writers: students write a new clue in their own words for any three answers, then swap with a neighbor to solve.
- Table layouts: press Make another at each table so every group has its own Halloween puzzle to solve.
- Fall festival edit: delete the spooky words from the box (witch, skeleton, mummy, cauldron) and add harvest words for a school that skips Halloween.
Related
Questions
Are the clues scary?
No. They describe things as picture books do: a figure wrapped in cloth, a pot a witch stirs, a furry animal that sleeps upside down. Nothing is violent or frightening.
What if a word does not fit?
A word is placed only where it crosses another. If one is left out it is listed under the preview, and Make another may find a layout that fits it.
Can I change the words and clues?
Yes. Each of the 13 lines is a word, a colon and its clue. Edit any of them, and the crossword is rebuilt with new numbers.
How do I save it as a PDF?
Press Print and choose “Save as PDF” as the printer. The puzzle is page one and the answer key is page two.
How do I get a different layout?
Press “Make another”. The same words and clues are placed in a new arrangement, so each table can have its own puzzle.
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