This winter crossword puzzle set has five puzzles for snowy afternoons and cold school mornings, and each one asks a little more than the one before. It opens with two easy grids that have a word bank, moves to a medium grid without one, and ends with a tricky puzzle and the hardest one. The first holds seven short words, such as snow, coat and boots. The last has twelve, some as long as Antarctica, frostbite and snowshoes.
The clues are written for upper elementary readers: a sea animal with long tusks, a truck that clears the roads, the shortest day of the year. Every puzzle is a free PDF made for this site, with the answer key on page two, so a grown-up can check a grid in a minute. The PDFs print on US Letter and A4 paper, and there is no sign-up and nothing to install.
The set suits ages 8 to 12. Newer solvers can start with the word bank puzzles and match each clue to a word in the list. Confident spellers can jump to the last three, where every answer comes from the clue. More themes are on the crossword puzzles page.
Download the winter crossword puzzles
Easy Snow and Scarf Crossword
The easiest page, with seven short words such as snow, coat, boots and scarf and a word bank under the grid, a gentle first puzzle for newer solvers.
Download PDFWord List: BOOTS, COAT, COLD, SCARF, SEAL, SLED, SNOW
Reveal Word List
Cabin and Cocoa Word Bank Crossword
Eight words including cabin, cocoa, moose and gloves, with the word bank still printed under the grid, a good next step once the first page is done.
Download PDFWord List: CABIN, COCOA, FLAKE, FROST, GLOVES, MOOSE, POLAR, SKATE
Reveal Word List
Penguin Crossword With No Word Bank
Ten words like penguin, walrus, snowman and mittens with no word bank, so every answer comes from the clue, a step up for confident readers who finished the first two.
Download PDFWord List: FLURRY, FREEZE, MITTENS, PENGUIN, SKIS, SLEET, SLUSH, SNOWMAN, SWEATER, WALRUS
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Tricky Blizzard and Toboggan Crossword
Eleven longer words such as blizzard, toboggan, earmuffs and snowplow, with no word bank and more crossing squares to sort out, for kids who want a tougher grid.
Download PDFWord List: ARCTIC, BLIZZARD, CARDINAL, CHIMNEY, EARMUFFS, HOCKEY, PINECONE, SNOWBALL, SNOWPLOW, THERMOS, TOBOGGAN
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Hardest Avalanche and Solstice Crossword
The hardest page, twelve words with no word bank, from thaw and icicle to Antarctica, avalanche and solstice, for strong spellers who like a real challenge.
Download PDFWord List: ANTARCTICA, AVALANCHE, EVERGREEN, FIREPLACE, FROSTBITE, HIBERNATE, ICICLE, JACKET, SNOWSHOES, SOLSTICE, THAW, WINTER
Reveal Word ListHow to use these puzzles
Each PDF has two pages. Page one is the puzzle, and page two is the answer key, with every square filled in and the clues beside it. To keep the answers out of sight, choose page 1 only in your print settings, then print the key once for yourself. Print at 100 percent or pick Fit to page. The PDF is US Letter size with margins that leave room for A4, so the grid and both clue lists print whole on either paper.
Plain copy paper works well. A sharp pencil with an eraser is the best tool, since a wrong letter often shows itself once a crossing word goes in. A fine pen suits a child who likes to write only sure answers, and a highlighter helps mark each clue as it gets solved. To reuse a page, slide it into a clear sheet protector and fill it in with a dry-erase marker.
Easy Snow and Scarf Crossword is the gentlest page, with seven short words and a word bank under the grid. Cabin and Cocoa Word Bank Crossword adds one more word and keeps the list, so it makes a good second puzzle. Penguin Crossword With No Word Bank is the first page without the list, with ten words such as mittens, snowman and flurry. Tricky Blizzard and Toboggan Crossword has eleven longer words, and Hardest Avalanche and Solstice Crossword has twelve, with answers up to ten letters long.
Before a child starts, share one habit that helps on every grid: fill in the answers you are sure of, then use the letters where words cross to crack the harder clues. Counting the empty squares tells you how long each answer is, which rules out a lot of wrong guesses.
Ideas for these puzzles
- Morning work: Set Easy Snow and Scarf Crossword on desks before the bell on a cold morning. It gives a busy room a calm start, and early finishers can write one sentence that uses three of the answers.
- Animal study: Circle every animal in the answers, from seal and moose to penguin, walrus and cardinal. Then sort them into animals of the far north, the far south and the backyard, and find one fact about each.
- Science tie-in: Use the hibernate, solstice and frostbite clues to open a short lesson on winter. Talk about why bears sleep through the cold months, why the days are short in December and how to keep fingers warm.
- Write new clues: Give older students a copy of Penguin Crossword With No Word Bank and ask them to write a fresh clue for every answer. Partners swap papers and solve each other's clues on a blank copy.
- Buddy solving: Pair a strong reader with a newer one on a single sheet. One reads each clue out loud, the other counts the squares and suggests an answer, and they trade jobs after every word.
- Spelling list: Copy the answers from Hardest Avalanche and Solstice Crossword onto lined paper and use them as a week of spelling words. Antarctica, evergreen and hibernate give strong spellers something real to practice.
- Snow day folder: Keep all five winter crossword puzzles in a folder by the door with two sharp pencils. When school closes for snow or the weather is too cold for the yard, the folder is ready.
- Travel pack: Clip a puzzle and a pencil to a clipboard for long car rides during the winter break. The two word bank pages suit a bumpy road, because the short answers are quick to check against the list.
- Make your own: Hand out squared paper and ask children to build a small crossword with five winter words for a friend. Finding two words that share a letter and cross neatly takes real thought.
- Weather watch: Each morning, pick one weather answer such as frost, sleet, flurry or thaw and look out of the window together. Write a short note about what the sky and ground look like and add a small sketch.
What age is this winter crossword puzzle for?
The set is made for ages 8 to 12. Third graders and newer readers usually do best on the two word bank puzzles, since they can check each answer against the list. Fourth and fifth graders, and older kids who enjoy a challenge, tend to like the last three, where the clue is the only help and the words run up to ten letters.
Is this winter crossword puzzle printable on A4 paper?
Yes. The PDFs are set to US Letter, and the margins are wide enough for every page to print in full on A4 too. Keep scaling at 100 percent or choose Fit to page, then check the preview before printing. The grid, both clue lists and the answer key all stay on the sheet, and the numbers in the small squares stay easy to read.
Where is the answer key?
Every PDF has two pages. Page one is the puzzle, and page two shows the same grid with every answer filled in beside the clues, so you can check a finished puzzle at a glance. If you would rather children not see it, print page one only and keep a single copy of the key in a folder or the teacher's desk.
Can I use these winter crossword puzzles in my classroom?
Yes. Teachers, homeschool parents and tutors can print as many copies as their own students need. The puzzles are free for personal and classroom use. Please do not sell them, add them to a paid bundle or post the PDF files on another website. Sharing a link to this page with other teachers or families is always welcome.
How can my child solve a winter crossword without a word bank?
Start with the clues they know for sure and write those answers in first. Each one adds letters to the words it crosses, so a hard clue gets easier with every answer. Counting the squares helps too. If a word still will not come, give the first letter as a hint, or let them look up one answer on page two and carry on.
