Antonyms Vocabulary word search, scramble and crossword puzzle

Antonyms Vocabulary word search, scramble and crossword puzzle

I made this antonyms puzzle set for my 2nd and 3rd graders during our vocabulary unit. The kids could say "hot" and "cold" were opposites but had no idea what the word "antonym" even meant. So I put together a word search, a word scramble, and a crossword using words like hot/cold, big/small, happy/sad, fast/slow, tall/short, high/low, day/night, light/dark, wet/dry, full/empty, new/old, loud/quiet, hard/soft, thick/thin, rich/poor, strong/weak, and open/closed. Nothing fancy — just puzzles to help the opposite pairs finally stick.

The PDF is four pages. Three puzzles plus one answer key page. The word search works well for quiet time after recess. The scramble gets them talking because they argue about whether "up" and "down" are antonyms. The crossword I use for partners. I added a couple simple sun and moon drawings but nothing too busy.

Works for 2nd through 4th grade. Print and go. Sometimes I have early finishers list three antonym pairs on the back. The kids actually ask for these now.