Character Education Words word search, scramble and crossword puzzle

Character Education Words word search, scramble and crossword puzzle

I made this character education puzzle set for my 2nd and 3rd graders during our social-emotional learning unit. The kids could say "be good" but had no idea what words like respect, responsibility, or honesty meant in character education. So I put together a word search, a word scramble, and a crossword using words like respect, responsibility, honesty, kindness, fairness, trustworthiness, caring, citizenship, integrity, patience, compassion, generosity, perseverance, self-discipline, courage, and gratitude. Nothing fancy — just puzzles to help the character trait words 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 being honest is always the right choice. The crossword I use for partners. I added a couple simple star, heart, and trophy drawings but nothing too busy.

Works for 2nd through 4th grade. Print and go. Sometimes I have early finishers pick one character trait and write a sentence about it on the back. The kids actually ask for these now.