20 Fun Crossword Puzzles for Preschoolers and Kids

While it is important for children to learn new spellings and brush up on their vocabulary, they rarely look at reading as a fun activity. This is where crosswords come in. They are not only an interesting way of keeping your child busy while doing something productive but also fun, as they are more like riddles that your child will love to solve. Crossword puzzles for kids come in varieties and in different subjects. Do you like English? You’ll get an English crossword. Do you like Science? You got it! From animal and space to colours and treasure hunts, there are plenty of themes that will keep your little sunshine captivated and engaged.

Why Are Crossword Puzzles Good For Your Child?

From being a healthy distraction for your child to helping him improve important life skills, here are some reasons as to why kids crossword puzzles are good for your child:

• Help improve your child’s reading skills
• Improve spellings
• Helps gain general knowledge on different topics
• Improves your child’s thinking and processing time
• Helps build problem-solving skills in your child
• Helps develop memory
• Enable your child to focus
• Help improve observation skills
• Prepares your child for taking tests
• Serves as a way to bond with your child
• Sparks interest in reading and writing

Easy Crossword Puzzles for Preschoolers (Age Group 4-6 Years)

It is always best to start off with the development of important life skills early in life, and as already mentioned, easy crossword puzzles for kids are a great tool for many parents and teachers to help their children develop an interest in reading. Here are some easy preschool crossword puzzles that are best suited for your child:

1. Shape Crossword

There is more to shapes than squares, circles and triangles, something your child will soon learn with this fun crossword puzzle for kindergarten. It includes pictures of shapes, which your child will have to look at and complete the puzzle, where a few letters from each shape are given as clues for your kids.

2. Food Names Crossword

This crossword will introduce your child to the world of food and it comes with pictures that are numbered. Your child needs to simply look at the picture and fill in the name of the food and drink in the corresponding boxes. You can discuss the benefits of each food item with your child, their tastes and whether they are dessert foods or main meals.

3. Animal Names Puzzle

We have different classes of animals like birds, reptiles, primates and mammals. Use animal crosswords to teach your child about the different animal species in the world. You can discuss the sounds they make, the food they eat and whether they are domestic animals or wild animals.

4. Guess The Colour Crossword

Our world is full of colours, and your child will need to learn how to identify different colours. Crossword puzzles that will help your child learn colours by associating them with objects that are commonly found in certain colours will make learning colours a lot of fun for your child.

5. Fruit Puzzle

Fruits are colourful, delicious and healthy and make some amazing desserts. Your child can learn the names of fruits, and you can tell him which of his favourite treats are made from them and what they are good for. The puzzle will give your child the first letter of each fruit as a clue so that your child will have something to go on other than just an image.

Interesting Crossword Puzzles for Children (Age Group 7 to 8 Years)

Based on different themes and different levels of difficulty, crossword puzzles can benefit children of all ages. Here are some crossword puzzles that you must consider getting for your child.

1. Mysterious Word Puzzle

This fun puzzle will require your child to find hidden words in a jumble of alphabets. The words to find will be given on the side of the puzzle. This is one of the crossword puzzles for kids with answers, which are given in the bottom corner of the page. However, try not to allow your child to see the answers before attempting to solve the word puzzle on his own.

2. Sport Puzzle

From common sports, such as basketball, golf and tennis, to sports that are unheard of, such as polo and fencing, sports puzzles are a great way to introduce your child to the world of sports. You can also explain to your child how each sport is different and requires different skills. Your child can learn that there is a sport suited for everyone.

3. Music Puzzle

This crossword with musical instruments will make an expert out of your child. Not only will he be able to identify the different types of instruments, but you can also aid his knowledge by giving him some extra information and explaining to him how the instruments are played and what genre of music each of the instruments features in.

4. Hospital Puzzle

There are many more things related to the hospital than just doctors and nurses. With this puzzle, your child will know all about the different things that take place in a hospital and the terms used to describe them. He can learn all about tests, roles of hospital staff and their importance. This crossword will require your child to find the words hidden in a jumble of alphabets.

5. Christmas Puzzle

Children love Christmas, but they still have a lot to learn about it. Use a crossword puzzle to help familiarize your child about the different terms associated with Christmas and explain why and how the traditions have become so important to many people around the world.

6. Kitchenware Crossword Puzzle

This puzzle has illustrations about all the things one can find in the kitchen. Crosswords that are based on things found in the kitchen can improve your child’s vocabulary when it comes to the basic things in life. You can further enrich his GK by explaining the functions of these objects.

7. Guess The Month Crossword Puzzle

The months of a year are important, but learning them and how to spell them can be boring for your child. With this crossword, you need only unscramble the letters to improve your child’s spelling & help him remember the months of the year.

8. Space Word Puzzle

Teach your child all about space with crossword puzzles based on the subject. Your child will learn the names of numerous things related to space, such as rockets, the solar system and anything else that can be found in outer space.

9. Math Crossword

Improve your child’s skills in math with simple and fun math problems in a crossword format. He will learn to add and subtract like a pro after solving these puzzles.

10. Transport Puzzle

Today, we have many means of transportation, and it is worth educating your child about all the modes available. Other than the commonly seen cars, buses and bikes, your child will learn about others, such as submarines, rockets and excavators.

11. Planet Crossword

Our solar system boasts mind-blowing knowledge that is explored every day by scientists today. Each day is learning something new. Now that your little one is growing up, a quick introduction to our solar system and the planets through crossword puzzles is a great way to impart teaching to them. In this puzzle, your child will learn the names of the planets in our solar system. Who knows, this might spark the astronaut’s mind in them!

12. Dinosaur Crossword Puzzle

Dinosaurs are fascinating creatures that are adored by children because of their unique shapes and sizes, and let’s not forget their unique abilities. The fact that they lived millions of years ago never fails to amaze children and adults alike. A crossword puzzle featuring dinosaurs will help introduce your little one to the names and characteristics of dinosaurs rather than letting dinosaurs be just soft toys.

13. Sports Balls Crossword Puzzle

Leaning names of the sports is not enough. Learning how each sport is played and what is also important. This is why we have brought you an amazing and fun crossword puzzle featuring sports balls. After your little one has learned about the sports, you can introduce them to the sports balls. This will help them refine their knowledge about sports effectively.

14. Human Organ Word Search

Your kid will be delighted with another exciting and fun word search on human organs. Now that your little champ has learned what eyes and hands are, they need to go further from eyes and hands to learn about the heart and brain. And this human organ word search will help them with exactly that.

15. Nocturnal Animals Crossword Puzzle

How about taking a step ahead from learning about wild and pet animals to learning about nocturnal animals in particular? This crossword puzzle on nocturnal animals—animals that sleep during the day and stay active at night—will your little one hone their skills on everything about animals.

Ways to Make Crossword Puzzles Interactive for Kids

Introducing kids to crossword puzzles can transform traditional educational activities into fun and engaging learning experiences. Here are several creative ways to achieve this:

1. Apps

To make a crossword puzzle exciting and interactive, you can use crossword puzzle apps specially designed for children that use voice and animation to entertain children.

2. Use Multimedia

If it is a simple crossword puzzle, you can use external multimedia tools like sound clips, images, or videos for clues. For instance, you can play animal sounds for a puzzle about animals, and kids have to guess and spell the animal’s name and then write in the crossword.

3. Play With Them

Instead of forcing them to finish a crossword puzzle all by themselves, which may feel like a total task, join in the activity and solve the puzzle together. This strengthens your bond and makes it extra interactive.

4. Choose Themes

Make crossword puzzles on the themes your child likes. If your cutie patootie is fond of animals, then give them an animal crossword puzzle instead of a boring kitchen crossword, which will only tire them and take all the fun away.

FAQs

1. At what age should I introduce my child to crossword puzzles?

You can introduce your little pumpkin to crossword puzzles once they are in kindergarten. In kindergarten, they learn about colours, shapes and body parts, so you can slowly start with pictorial crosswords and continue to enhanced versions as they grow.

2. Can crossword puzzles be beneficial to my child’s cognitive growth, or are they a pastime?

Crossword puzzles and word searches are great tools for refining your child’s brain with attention, concentration, memory, vocabulary, and problem-solving skills. It is way more useful than just being a pastime activity for children.

3. How can I help my child who struggles with solving crossword puzzles and riddles?

It is important that you start slow and steadily with your little ones when teaching them something new. If they struggle with solving crossword puzzles or word searches, you can take a step back and focus on building their vocabulary first by encouraging plenty of reading time with them. This way, they will listen, see, and memorise words for the future. Later on, head to games like scrabble. If they perform steadily and positively, then start with crossword puzzles and riddles.

The entire family can have fun trying to solve a crossword puzzle so it is also an activity that can be used to promote family bonding. If you have children of similar ages, or your child has friends over, you can play some crossword puzzle games by giving them the same puzzle and a time limit to see who finishes first.

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Best Riddles for Kids to Boost Their Thinking Skills