Word pu zzles for KS1 English Key Stage 1 English puzzles Liven up English review sessions with your child with fun activities that reinforce what they’ve been taught in class while engaging their problem-solving skills. We’ve designed this puzzle pack to highlight some of the main literacy concepts taught in year 1 and year 2, challenging your child to practise handwriting and spelling as well as grammar and sentence structure. These puzzles offer a fun way to revise and work on each of the following English concepts. If you find that your child needs a bit more help with connectives, nouns, spelling or other areas, browse through the range of Key Stage 1 English worksheets on TheSchoolRun to review these further. Connectives As a general rule, connectives (or conjunctions) link words and phrases to continue a thought, improve the way a collection of sentences sound together or explain a process or series of events. Commonly-used connectives include for, and, but, or, then, because, as, when, whereas and unless. High frequency words Some of the puzzles in this pack use the high frequency words that are taught in Key Stage 1 and will be included in your child’s weekly spelling and reading assignments. These words don’t necessarily follow the phonetic rules that students are also being taught, so the sound and spelling need to be memorised. High frequency words include days of the week and months of the year. Mind your Cs and Vs! This puzzle pack also helps your child practise three-letter and four-letter words, which you may have heard referred to as CVC words or CVCV words. All words consist of consonants (C) and vowels (V). Your child will first learn how to read and spell three-letter CVC words, then move on to more complicated four-letter words with more potential CV combinations. Proper and common nouns The basic definition of a noun is that it is a person, place or thing. Nouns are classed as either proper or common, the main rule being that proper nouns are always capitalised. Proper nouns are specific people, places and things such as countries (England, France), first names (Betty), titles and surnames (Mrs. Smith), geographical landmarks (River Thames), events (Olympic Games) and cultures (Chinese, Swedish). Common nouns can refer to any person place or thing, and are not capitalised unless they are the first word of a sentence. www.theschoolrun.com Quick wordsearch These common words are hidden in the wordsearch below. How quickly can you find them all? laugh another sixteen people jump home ball sister school purple brother little could may much How long did it take you to finish the puzzle? water time night put year because seen there High frequency words: solution Sentences challenge, part 1 Which three-letter word is missing from each clue below? How many words can you use in complete sentences on the Across 1 When you sit down, the top of your legs become your ---. 3 If you stand outside with no umbrella when it's raining, you'll be ---! 4 If you go to sleep for a little while during the day, you're taking a ---. 6 If mum says you can't eat the whole bar of chocolate, she may let you have a little ---. 8 The container that we put rubbish in is called a ---. 9 When balloons burst, they make a noise that sounds like ---. 10 Another word for turning down the lights. Down 1 A candle is --- to make a flame appear. 2 A writing tool that is not a pencil. 3 You have to look closely to see the --- that a spider spins. 5 Fried eggs are cooked in a ---. 7 A piece of clothing that has sleeves – long, short, or none at all! 8 The item of furniture in your room that you sleep on at night. Sentences challenge, part 2 After you’ve decoded the clues in the crossword, can you use the words you found in complete sentences? Write them here, and give yourself a point each time you use one of words from the crossword puzzle. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. How many points did you get? Crossword solution: Three-letter wordsearch Each word in the wordsearch below has just three letters and contains one vowel. After you’ve found a word, write it in the correct vowel box below. We’ve done one for you. Hint: there are 24 more words to find! A E O dog I U Three-letter wordsearch: solution A bat car dam hat man E bed hen leg peg pet I dip him hit pin win O dog dot fog mop son U bun but mug rug run Four-letter wordsearch Find words with four letters. Three words start with B Five words start with F Six words start with L Seven words start with P Four words start with S B After you’ve found a word, look at the letter it starts with and write it in the correct box below (we’ve done one for you). Can you find all the hidden words? F 1. 1. 1. 2. 2. 2. 3. 3. 3. 4. 4. 5. 5. 6. P S 1. pear 5. 2. 6. 3. 7. 4. L 1. 3. 2. 4. Four-letter wordsearch: solution B Best Blob Bold F Frog Fake Fast Fine Five L Lake Lane List Live Look Lost P Path Pear Peel Pine Plot Poke Push S Sack Safe Ship Sock Alphabet wordsearch, part 1 There is one word for each letter of the alphabet, from A to M, hidden in this puzzle. After you find each word, write it next to the correct letter below. Good luck! A H B I C J D K E L F M G How long did it take you to finish the puzzle? Alphabet wordsearch, part 1: solution Ant Ball Clock Duck Earth Frog Goldfish Horse Igloo Jungle Koala Ladybird Moon Alphabet wordsearch, part 2 There is one word for each letter of the alphabet, from N to Z, hidden in this puzzle. After you find each word, write it next to the correct letter below. Good luck! N U O V P W Q X R Y S Z T How long did it take you to finish the puzzle? Alphabet wordsearch, part 2: solution Nose Owl Penguin Quail Robot Sweet Turkey Unicorn Vine Whale Xray Yellow Zebra Find the proper nouns All of the words below have one thing in common – they are proper nouns, which are specific people, places or things. The first letter of a proper noun is always capitalised. Wales Robert Germany John Nile Asia England Claire Monday Olympics Belfast Marie Indian August Sally Emma French Harry Isabel Thames Bonus challenge: Can you think of six more proper nouns? Find the proper nouns: solution Proper or common? All these hidden words are nouns, but what kind? Write them in the correct box below, then find them in the puzzle. Hint: you might need to add a few capital letters! river april tuesday cake friday london spring kite mask berlin winter island boat tiger apple atlantic chinese child jack mrs baby june ben book dr katie paris Proper nouns Common nouns Proper or common?: solution Proper nouns: June, April, Atlantic, Ben, Tuesday, Berlin, Chinese, Dr, Friday, Jake, Katie, London, Paris, Mrs Common nouns: river, kite, apple, mask, book, cake, winter, child, island, boat, spring, tiger, baby Connectives crossword The answers to the clues below are all connectives. We’ve given you some hints below, but be careful – you won’t use all of them! because or until after while however then when yet besides also but if although and Across 2 She dried the dishes --- she washed them. (5) 4 I said hello to Jenny --- I saw her. (4) 5 Mum says I can’t have pudding --- I’ve finished dinner. (5) 8 --- cake, I also like ice cream and sweets. (7) 10 Mary thought she’d stay awake to see the Tooth Fairy, --- she fell asleep. (3) Down 1 I won the game --- my piece got to the end of the board first. (7) 3 He woke up, --- he got dressed. (4) 4 We played ‘I spy’ --- we were on the bus. (5) 6 My favourite meals are pasta --- pizza. (3) 7 Rob invited Charlie to the party, and he --- invited Claire. (4) 8 Jane wanted to wear her new hat, --- she couldn’t find it. (3) 9 We will arrive on time --- we leave right now. (2) Connectives crossword: solution What comes first? First, put these words in the right order. Then, can you find them in the wordsearch? How quickly can you finish it? April August December February Friday January July June March May Days of the week Monday November October Saturday September Sunday Thursday Tuesday Wednesday Months of the year What comes first?: solution Days of the week Months of the year Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday January February March April May June July August September October November December