Arbor Day Vocabulary word search, scramble and crossword puzzle

I made this Arbor Day vocabulary puzzle set for my 2nd and 3rd graders during our April unit. The kids had heard of Earth Day but had no idea what Arbor Day was or what words like tree, forest, or planting meant when we talked about the importance of trees. So I put together a word search, a word scramble, and a crossword using words like Arbor Day, tree, plant, forest, nature, leaf, branch, root, trunk, air, shade, fruit, and celebrate. Nothing fancy — just puzzles to help the Arbor Day vocabulary finally stick.

The PDF is four pages. Three puzzles plus one answer key page. The word search works well for quiet time after recess or indoor recess. The scramble gets them talking because they argue about whether Arbor Day is the same as Earth Day. The crossword I use for partners or as a review. I added a couple simple tree, leaf, and sapling drawings but nothing too busy.

Works for 2nd through 4th grade. Print and go. Sometimes I have early finishers draw a tree and label its parts on the back. The kids actually ask for these now.