Long Vowel Words word search, scramble and crossword puzzle

I made this long vowel words puzzle set for my 1st and 2nd graders during our phonics unit. The kids could read short vowel words but got confused when the same vowel made a different sound like in "cake" versus "cat." So I put together a word search, a word scramble, and a crossword using words like cake, bake, lake, make, take, name, game, same, time, like, bike, kite, five, nine, home, hope, rope, note, use, cute, tube, cube, tree, see, bee, feet, meet, boat, coat, road, soap, and rain. Nothing fancy — just puzzles to help the long vowel patterns finally click.

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 "rain" has the long a sound. The crossword I use for partners with picture clues. I added a couple simple cake, bike, tree, and boat drawings but nothing too busy.

Works for 1st through 3rd grade. Print and go. Sometimes I have early finishers list one long vowel word for each vowel on the back. The kids actually ask for these now.