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Vacation Word Puzzle

Enjoy a copy of this free printable vacation word puzzle for kids. It’s a fun print and go educational activity to take with you on your family’s next vacation.

The printable puzzle is like 3 word puzzles in 1. It’s a mix of a crossword, word scramble, and word search.

It has 30 travel themed words that need to be solved, unscrambled and then found.

Vacation word puzzle for kids.  3 puzzles in 1: a crossword, word scramble & a word search.

Difficulty Level

3 in 1 Word Puzzle

The 3 in 1 vacation word puzzle is perfect for upper elementary to middle school students, or 10 years old and up.

Although some of the vocabulary might challenge them a bit, most of the words to solve should not be overly difficult.

The three word puzzles would be especially ideal for 5th graders learning to spell the vacation themed spelling list as all of their words are included in this puzzle.

Previously learned 3rd grade vacation spelling words are also included.

Word Search

The word search by itself is challenging enough for anyone 5th grade or older.

The difficult vacation word search has 30 words hidden in a 19 X 21 grid of letters. They are hidden in every possible direction: forwards, backwards, upside down – horizontally, vertically and diagonally.

#1 – Crossword Puzzle

The first part of the word puzzle are crossword like clues.

Kids are given the definitions of 30 different vacation words to solve.

#2 – Word Scramble

The next part of the word puzzle is a word scramble.

To help kids solve each clue, the answer is given but in scrambled form.

After reading a clue, they can look at the scrambled word to help them figure the word out. The first letter of the jumbled word is given to them.

A screenshot of one page of a 3 in 1 printable vacation word puzzle for kids.  There are 30 clues to solve.  The answer for each clue is given in its scrambled form.

As they solve each word, they can write it in the blanks provided.

Just the act of writing the word makes this word puzzle especially good for students learning to spell these vacation themed words. It also helps that they have the letters of the jumbled word to help them with the spelling.

#3 – Word Search

After having written out and solved all 30 words, the next part of this word puzzle is finding all the words in a printable word search.

The words they have written are the words to find and circle.

2 Versions of the Difficult Vacation Word Search

There’s 2 versions of the word search to choose from. You can choose to print a copy with or without the words.

If you choose the copy without the words, the child has the option of searching for each hidden word as soon as they’ve solved a word to find.

Or you could choose the version with words, but it would need to be done after the first page of the puzzle was complete.

A screenshot of a vacation word search printable with 30 vacation themed words hidden in a 19 X 21 grid of letters.  The black and white printable has images decorating the puzzle that kids can color.  There's an image of a plane, cruise ship, island, sun hat, starfish, shell, sandal, and a boy pulling a suitcase.

The page with words could also be used as a standalone difficult vacation word search.

Printable Vacation Word Puzzle

The vacation word puzzle can be downloaded free below.

The 4 page pdf includes:

  • the crossword / word scramble page
  • 2 versions of the word search to choose from (with or without words given)
  • answer page

To complete the word puzzle, only two pages need to printed.

More Travel Word Games for Kids

Here are more than 150 free word puzzles for kids you could choose from to take on your family’s next trip.

It includes puzzles like these:

Vacation Word Puzzle Answer Keys

You can find the answer keys below.

Vacation Word Scramble Answer Key

Here is the answer key for the 1st part of the puzzle:

A vacation word scramble answer key.

Vacation Word Search Answer Key

There is an answer page for the word search included in the printable pdf. However some prefer this color coded answer key:

A color coded vacation word search answer key.

You can find some more fun printable travel activities for kids here.