Crossword Puzzles about Africa

Students solve crossword clues about African capitals, cities, countries and landmarks. Answer keys accompany the puzzles.
Grades
Grades 4–7, Elementary, Middle School
Pages
22
File type
PDF
Answer key
Included

Updated Nov 20, 2022

Subject
Social Studies, Geography, Vocabulary, Language Development, ELA
Topic
Africa geography, African capitals
Resource types
Crosswords Puzzles, Worksheets, Worksheets & Printables
Answer key
Included

Product description

From the author

Eight crossword puzzles cover Africa’s capitals, cities and general geography. Three ask for capital cities, four ask which country contains a named city, and one uses general-knowledge clues.

The twenty-two-page PDF includes instructions for spaces, special characters and shortened country names, followed by the puzzles and eight answer pages.

In the classroom

Teaching tips & learning objectives

Learning objectives

  • Identify the capital city of a given African country

  • Recall major African geographic landmarks and facts, such as the Nile, Victoria Falls, and Mount Kilimanjaro

  • Use crossword-solving strategies, including cross-checking intersecting answers, to fill in geography vocabulary

Teaching tips

  • Choose a puzzle type to match the lesson: capital cities (1–3), city-to-country identification (4–7), or general knowledge (8)

  • Review the intro page's instructions with students first, since spaces and special characters each take their own square and long country names are abbreviated (e.g., 'DR Congo,' 'CAR')

  • Use the built-in answer key at the back of the packet to check work quickly, since every puzzle has a matching key

Skills covered

  • Political geography recall — students identify capital cities for over a dozen African countries across the first three puzzles.

  • General geography knowledge — the eighth puzzle's descriptive clues cover landmarks and facts such as the Suez Canal, Victoria Falls, and the Serengeti.

  • Crossword-solving strategy — students use clue numbering and letter overlaps to complete each grid, including handling multi-word answers with blank squares.

Good to know

Questions teachers ask about this resource

Do all eight crosswords cover the same topic?

No. The first three ask for a country's capital city, the next four ask which country a named city is in, and the eighth is a general-knowledge puzzle covering landmarks like the Nile and Mount Kilimanjaro.

How are long country names handled in the grid?

They're shortened to fit the squares — for example, 'Democratic Republic of the Congo' becomes 'DR Congo' and 'Central African Republic' becomes 'CAR' — with the convention explained on the intro page.

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Resource details

Concepts & topics

Core concepts

  • African capitals

  • African countries and cities

  • African geography landmarks

  • Crossword solving

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