Thanksgiving crosswords for kids
These free Thanksgiving crossword puzzles are written for elementary students. The easy puzzle prints its answers in a word bank, so early readers can match each clue to a word. The medium puzzle covers the foods and traditions of the holiday. The hard puzzle is a history crossword about the Pilgrims, the Wampanoag and the 1621 harvest feast, which works as a review at the end of a social studies lesson. Every PDF is US-letter size with the answer key on page two.
Clues in each puzzle
Turkey Time (easy, Ages 6–8)
Across
- 1. A very big, special meal
- 4. The people who live with you and love you
- 5. Yellow kernels that grow on a cob
- 6. A big round orange squash
- 8. They turn red and orange and fall from trees
Down
- 2. On Thanksgiving we give ___ for what we have
- 3. A big bird many families eat on Thanksgiving
- 6. A sweet dessert baked in a crust
- 7. A short sleep after a big dinner
Harvest Feast (medium, Ages 8–10)
Across
- 1. A sport many families watch on Thanksgiving
- 3. You can mash these with butter and milk
- 7. Small red berry cooked into a tangy sauce
- 9. Giant balloons and floats march down the street
- 10. Another name for fall
- 11. Vegetable family that includes pumpkins
- 12. Warm brown sauce poured over potatoes
Down
- 2. The day of the week Thanksgiving is on
- 4. Bread mix baked inside or beside the turkey
- 5. Gathering crops at the end of the growing season
- 6. Feeling thankful
- 8. The month Thanksgiving comes in the United States
The First Thanksgiving (hard, Ages 9–12)
Across
- 1. Patuxet man who showed the Pilgrims how to plant corn
- 5. Native nation whose people joined the 1621 harvest feast
- 8. The 1621 feast celebrated a good one
- 9. Horn of plenty overflowing with fruits and vegetables
- 12. Deer meat the Wampanoag brought to the feast
- 13. President who made Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1863
- 14. Colony the Pilgrims built in what is now Massachusetts
Down
- 2. The ocean the Mayflower crossed
- 3. Cold season when about half the Pilgrims died
- 4. Ship that carried the Pilgrims across the ocean in 1620
- 6. English settlers who sailed to America in 1620
- 7. Wampanoag leader who made a peace treaty with the Pilgrims
- 10. A formal agreement between two groups
- 11. A settlement ruled by a faraway country
Want your own word list? The crossword maker turns any spelling or vocabulary list into a printable crossword, with the same thanksgiving borders. Looking for more? Try our Thanksgiving word searches, Thanksgiving mazes and Thanksgiving color by number.
