How to Create a Crossword Puzzle with H5P

H5P is a great tool for creating interactive activities, and one of the activities you can make is a crossword puzzle. What's really useful is that after you create the puzzle, you get a link that you can share with your students. Students don't need their own account to do the activity. They can simply open the link and start working on the crossword.

Crosswords work especially well for vocabulary practice. Students click on a square, read the clue, and type in the answer. For example, the clue might be not light; weighs a lot, and the answer would be heavy. Students can work through the puzzle and then check the solutions when they're finished.

Creating a crossword is pretty easy:

1. Create an account. Log in and go to the area where you can create new content.
2. Choose Crossword. H5P has several types of interactive activities, but for this one, choose the Crossword option.
3. Give your puzzle a title. For example, you could create a puzzle called Verbs.
4. Add your words and clues. Enter an answer and then write a clue for it. For example, the answer could be sleep and the clue could be I go to _____ at midnight.
5. Save the activity. H5P automatically takes your words and figures out how to arrange them into a crossword.
6. Share it with your students. Copy the link and send it to them. You can also embed the activity on a website.

For my example, I created a simple verb puzzle using words such as eat, sleep, drink, drive, wear, cook, and play. I was actually curious whether H5P would be able to create a crossword from such short words, but it figured out how to fit them together automatically. That's one of the nice things about the tool: you provide the words and clues, and it does the work of building the actual crossword.

I'm still fairly new to H5P, and crossword puzzles are just one of the activities you can create with it. There are lots of other options that I haven't explored yet. But even if you only use it to make simple vocabulary crosswords, it's a useful tool. The activities are interactive, easy to share, and students can access them without creating an account. It's definitely a tool worth exploring if you like creating your own activities for students.