We’re homebound as most you are and my goal is to be creative with indoor activities. Which includes a lot of crafting. My kids are obsessed with electronics so to break up some of that time, I made these printable crossword puzzles for them to fill out. My boys love when family visits, so I thought I’d use family member names for them to fill out. You don’t have to use family as a topic, but other topics of interest that will motivate them to solve the puzzle. I will be making a few more based on their interests too. If you’ll be home like we are for the next little while or heading on a road trip with your family, and looking for ideas for games for kids, then read on to make your own!
*This post contains affiliate links for products that I use and love!
The Benefits of Crossword Puzzles
Aside from being a fun activity for all ages, word puzzles are simple to make and can have many benefits. They can:
- Help with vocabulary, specifically spelling – crossword puzzles are amazing for this because you have to spell correctly to link the words
- Exercise the brain – it’s a cool way to train the brain as a game. That memory muscle is working hard and kids won’t even realize it (shhh, don’t tell them!)
- Improve problem-solving skills – crosswords can make your child think about how the words interact on the grid, allowing them to think logically and strategically
- Be fun for the whole family – Solving word puzzles can be a good opportunity to have some much needed bonding time among family members. Your love of language can be a regular activity, which is then passed on to your child.
- Be portable and inexpensive – These printable crossword puzzles are perfect for those moments when you need a cheap, quiet and portable way to keep your kids entertained when boredom sets in. Or like our household, when it’s time to put those electronics down.
- Can be fun gifts. Do you have friends or neighbors that are looking for some fun alternative indoor activities? Try making puzzles for them. I have the business edition of Silhouette Studio which allows me to print as a pdf. You can also use free online graphic tools like Canva to create your puzzles then send them over email so that they can print them out!
Now that we know how amazing crossword puzzles are, let’s make some!
Games For Kids – DIY Printable Crossword Puzzles: Materials
- Silhouette Studio – there is a free version! If you don’t have this, try using free versions of online tools like Canva
- Printer
- Scissors
- White Cardstock
- Pencil
- Scrap paper
Games For Kids – DIY Printable Crossword Puzzles: Instructions
Plan your crossword on scrap paper:
With your pencil and scrap paper, design your puzzle answers in a crossword pattern, making note of the clues you will use for the Down and Across sections of your puzzle
Create the crossword squares:
- Open Silhouette Studio
- In a new document, use the rectangle drawing tool to create a square. This is where each letter will be written for your crossword
- Change the line thickness and line color and fill of your square with color
- Replicate your square in the pattern you planned out on scrap paper
Add numbers to the squares:
- For each square that will hold the first letter of each word in your puzzle, use the text tool to add small numbers to the top left corner of these squares. These numbers will have to match the clues you will create in the Down and Across section (below)
- Now that you have the design ready, group everything together.
Add your Down and Across clues for your crossword puzzle:
- Use the text tool to type out your Down and Across headers
- Add the numbered clues below each fo the Down and Across Header. Make sure the numbers match the numbers in your puzzle design (above)
- Align and group the clues
Create a background with border for your puzzle:
- Place all your grouped elements of your crossword puzzle on the printable area of the software
- Once you are happy with the layout, create a large rectangle or square that will cover the entire puzzle. This will be your background
- Thicken the lines of your background and change the line color to make a border
- Fill the inside of the rectangle background with color
- Center the background with your puzzle and if it is not already there, send it to the back of your puzzle, so that your puzzle and clues are at the forefront and ready to print
Send Your Crossword Puzzle to Print:
Send as many copies as you need to print on cardstock. For each copy, I changed the background fill color before I sent each one to print
Cut Your Printable Crossword Puzzles:
Use your scissors to cut each crossword puzzle out, cutting closely around each border
If you own a Silhouette cutting machine (I own the CAMEO 3), you can use the Print and Cut feature to save time! Just remember to:
- To show the registration marks before sending to print
- Set the background (large rectangle) to Cut. Everything else should be set to No Cut
I love how they turned out and can’t wait for kids to see them! Let me know how your printable crossword puzzles turned out in the comments below!
Looking for some crafty more inspiration? Take a look at these tutorials on How To Make Your Own Stationery!