Punctuation Marks for Kids Word Search and Crossword

Punctuation Marks word search, scramble and crossword puzzle

I made this punctuation marks puzzle set for my 2nd and 3rd graders during our writing unit. The kids could put a period at the end of a sentence but had no idea what a comma or apostrophe was for. So I put together a word search, a word scramble, and a crossword using words like period, question mark, exclamation point, comma, apostrophe, quotation marks, colon, semicolon, parentheses, dash, hyphen, end mark, pause, contraction, and list. Nothing fancy — just puzzles to help the punctuation names and uses 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 a comma goes inside or outside quotation marks. The crossword I use for partners. I added a couple simple dot, comma, and apostrophe drawings but nothing too busy.

Works for 2nd through 4th grade. Print and go. Sometimes I have early finishers write a sentence using a period, question mark, and exclamation point on the back. The kids actually ask for these now.