Grade 6 Ancient Civilizations Word Search and Crossword

Grade 6 World Ancient Civilizations word search, scramble and crossword puzzle

I made this world ancient civilizations puzzle set for my 6th graders during our social studies unit. The kids had heard of Egypt and Rome but had no idea where places like Mesopotamia, Indus Valley, or the Yellow River were, or what words like cuneiform, pharaoh, and ziggurat meant when we started reading about different cultures. So I put together a word search, a word scramble, and a crossword using words like Egypt, Rome, Greece, China, India, Mesopotamia, Nile, Tigris, Euphrates, Indus, Yellow River, pharaoh, pyramid, ziggurat, cuneiform, democracy, monarchy, empire, and civilization. Nothing fancy — just puzzles to help the key places and 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. The scramble gets them talking because they argue about the spelling of "Mesopotamia" or whether the Nile or the Tigris was more important to ancient peoples. The crossword I use for partners or as a review after we've covered a few civilizations. I added a couple simple pyramid, column, and compass drawings but nothing too busy.

Works for 6th through 7th grade. Print and go. Sometimes I have early finishers name one ancient civilization and the continent it was on, or write one fact about a civilization they found interesting on the back. The kids actually ask for these now.