The Cold War word search, scramble and crossword puzzle

I made this Cold War puzzle set for my 5th graders during our modern history unit. The kids had heard the term but had no idea why it was called "cold" or what the Soviet Union was. So I put together a word search, a word scramble, and a crossword using words like Cold War, Soviet Union, United States, communism, democracy, nuclear, missile, space race, arms race, Berlin Wall, spy, conflict, Vietnam, Korea, and fall. Nothing fancy — just puzzles to help the vocabulary finally make sense.

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 why the war was "cold" instead of hot. The crossword I use for partners. I added a couple simple wall and globe drawings but nothing too busy.

Works for 5th grade. Print and go. Sometimes I have early finishers write one fact about the space race on the back. The kids actually ask for these now.