Seven Wonders of the Ancient World word search, scramble and crossword

Seven Wonders of the Ancient World word search, scramble and crossword puzzle

I made this Seven Wonders of the Ancient World puzzle set for my 4th graders during our ancient civilizations unit. The kids had heard of the pyramids and maybe the hanging gardens, but they had no idea there was a whole list of incredible structures from classical antiquity—many of which they couldn't even pronounce . So I put together a word search, a word scramble, and a crossword using the seven names we always learn: Great Pyramid of Giza (the only one still standing), Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Statue of Zeus at Olympia, Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, Colossus of Rhodes, and Lighthouse of Alexandria . I also tossed in a few key terms like "Pharos" (the Greek word for lighthouse that the Alexandria one gave us), "ancient," and "wonder" because they kept coming up when we talked about what made these structures so impressive for their time.

The PDF is four pages. Three puzzles plus one answer key page. The word search works well for quiet time after recess or independent practice. The scramble gets them talking because they argue about how to spell "Halicarnassus" or whether the "Hanging" gardens actually hung (they didn't—the name comes from the Greek word for "overhanging" because of the terraces) . The crossword I use for partners or as a review after we've read about what happened to each of them. I added a couple simple pyramid, lighthouse, and statue drawings but nothing too busy.

Works for 4th through 6th grade. Print and go. Sometimes I have early finishers pick one of the seven and write one fact about what happened to it on the back. The kids actually ask for these now.