Idioms word search, scramble and crossword puzzle

I made this idioms puzzle set for my 3rd and 4th graders during our figurative language unit. The kids would read phrases like "it's raining cats and dogs" and think it meant actual animals falling from the sky. So I put together a word search, a word scramble, and a crossword using common idioms like raining cats and dogs, piece of cake, break a leg, hit the sack, spill the beans, cost an arm and a leg, under the weather, let the cat out of the bag, bite the bullet, and kill two birds with one stone. Nothing fancy — just puzzles to help the real meanings 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 "break a leg" really means good luck. The crossword I use for partners with meaning clues. I added a couple simple cat, dog, and cake drawings but nothing too busy.

Works for 3rd through 5th grade. Print and go. Sometimes I have early finishers use an idiom in a sentence on the back. The kids actually ask for these now.