Wheat and the Tares Crossword for Kids (Easy, Medium and Hard)

These free Wheat and the Tares crossword puzzles come in three levels, so every reader in your class can finish one. Every answer comes from the King James Bible (Matthew 13:24–30), and each level downloads with or without an answer key.

• Easy (ages 5–7): short answers, simple clues and a word box to pick from.
• Medium (grades K–2): more words and no word box.
• Hard (grades 3–5): kids look up each verse in their Bible to find the answer.

Use them after the The Wheat and the Tares Sunday school lesson, with the maze and word search.

The Bible story

Jesus told about a man which "sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat." When the servants asked if they should gather up the tares, he said no, "lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them." "Let both grow together until the harvest," he said; then the reapers would bind the tares in bundles to burn them, "but gather the wheat into my barn." Read the whole story in Matthew 13:24–30 (KJV).

Memory verse: "Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn." (Matthew 13:30, KJV). It is printed on every level.

The clues

The easy crossword has 6 answers and a word box to pick from. The medium crossword has 8 clues like these:

• But while men ___, his enemy came. (Matthew 13:25)
• His enemy came and sowed ___ among the wheat. (Matthew 13:25)
• When the ___ was sprung up, then appeared the tares also. (Matthew 13:26)
• The ___ of the householder came and said unto him, Sir. (Matthew 13:27)
• "Wilt thou then that we go and ___ them up?" (Matthew 13:28)
• "Lest while ye gather up the tares, ye ___ up also the wheat." (Matthew 13:29)
• "I will say to the ___, Gather ye together first the tares." (Matthew 13:30)
• The tares would be bound in ___. (Matthew 13:30)

The hard crossword has 11 clues, each with its verse printed after it, so kids find the answers in their own Bible.

Answer keys

Each level downloads two ways: the puzzle on its own, or with a second page that shows the answer (the filled grid with each answer's verse). Print the key for helpers, or let kids check their own work.