Philosophy for Kids Vocabulary word search, scramble and crossword puz

Philosophy for Kids Vocabulary word search, scramble and crossword puzzle

I made this philosophy for kids puzzle set for my 4th graders during our "big questions" unit. The kids loved asking questions like "What is real?" and "Does anything really matter?" but they had no idea what words like philosophy, ethics, or justice meant when we started talking about how to think about those questions. So I put together a word search, a word scramble, and a crossword using words like philosophy, ethics, justice, truth, reality, fairness, logic, wisdom, happiness, and knowledge . I also made sure to include a few like "Plato" and "Socrates" because they kept asking who came up with the big ideas .

The PDF is four pages. Three puzzles plus one answer key page. The word search works well for quiet time after recess, and the scramble gets them talking because they argue about the spelling of "philosophy" (that tricky 'ph' always gets them) or whether ethics and justice are the same thing (they're not—ethics is about personal or group standards of right and wrong, while justice is about fairness in society). The crossword I use for partners or as a review after a lesson, and I usually have a list of the big questions we've been discussing nearby for the kids who need a visual to connect the vocabulary to the conversations . I added a couple simple thought bubble and question mark drawings but nothing too busy.

Works for 4th through 6th grade. Print and go. Sometimes I have early finishers pick one word from the puzzle and write a question they have about it on the back. The kids actually ask for these now.