Educational Crossword Puzzles Tutorial
Microsoft Excel
Objective: Use Microsoft Excel's formatting features to design an educational crossword puzzle.
Introduction: Microsoft Excel's column and row layout, along with it's formatting features, allows for the creation of unique documents, such as educational crossword puzzles. Educators can design crossword puzzles to help students learn vocabulary words, definitions, historical facts, and other concepts relevant to practically any area of the academic curriculum. Crossword puzzles can serve as useful and fun assignments, and a great way for students to review material prior to a test.
Skill Practice: Create an Educational Crossword Puzzle
Step 1: On graph paper, sketch a "rough draft" of a crossword puzzle, with questions and answers, that corresponds with a specific academic lesson plan.
Step 2: Open a new worksheet in 
.
Step 3: Begin the construction process by making a group of spreadsheet columns narrow. Click on a column letter at the top of the spreadsheet, and "drag" the mouse across as many columns as you will need for your puzzle. The selected columns should now appear shaded (highlighted). Point the cursor in between two of the letters - as you do this, your cursor should change into a "double-sided arrow". "Drag" your cursor to the left to make the width of the columns smaller.
Step 4: Use the same process described in Step 3 to make the height of the rows you will need larger.
Step 5: Now you need to format the cells that will include the small numbers, indicating puzzle clues. First, click in an individual cell where a number will go. Second, go to Format > Cells - the Format Cells menu will appear. On the Format Cells Menu, click on the Alignment Tab. Select Left (indent) under "Horizontal", and Top under "Vertical". Click on OK. This will cause a number inserted into this cell to appear in the top, left corner.
Step 6: Format the cell to have a dark border. Select the desired cell. On the formatting menu, click on the Borders Button 
. Click either Outside Borders or Thick Box Border.
Step 8: Format the cell to have a small font. Right click on the formatted cell. On the "pop-up" menu, select Format Cells. The "Format Cells Window" will appear. Select the Font tab. Choose a smaller font size (7 or 8). This font size will be applied to all numbers that you insert into puzzle cells. In the formatted cell, type a number and press Enter. If cell formatting was successful, a small number should appear in the top, left corner of the cell.
Step 9: Use "copy" and "paste" commands with the Edit menu bar to create duplicates of your formatted cells (this will save you time). "Click" and "drag" on previously formatted cells. These cells will become highlighted. Go to Edit > Copy. The border of the highlighted cells will now appear "activated", or "blinking". On your worksheet, choose (click on) neighboring cells where you want to "paste" the "copied" cell(s). Go to Edit > Paste. A duplicate of your copied cells will appear in the neighboring cells you selected. Continue this process as you develop the structure of your crossword puzzle. Add numbers to the cells where puzzle clue numbers should appear.