Explore the origins and significance of Memorial Day with these themed activity worksheets.

What is Memorial Day? We have heard about the Memorial Day, but do you know what we celebrate this day? Let's take a look! In the United States, a national holiday for paying respects to our national heroes is observed every year. Since they gave their life away for our country, the day is known as Memorial Day. It is always celebrated on the last Monday of May each year. Every individual has their own way of paying respects to the martyrs. Memorial Day began as a day to honor the fallen soldiers during the Civil War. The first time, this day was officially observed in 1868 when Decoration Day was observed. In 1967, the name was changed to Memorial Day. Every year, the national concert is held on the lawn in front of the U.S. Capitol. Dressing up in the flag's colors, children wave flags to honor the heroes. Every year, a parade in Ironton, Ohio, is held too!

Our Memorial Day worksheets contain a number of different activities using a dedicated set of vocabulary words related to the Memorial Day observance, including word search, fill in the blanks, scrambled words, word wall flash cards, acrostic poems, crossword puzzles, and more. The collection also includes six different packs of Bingo cards, which can be used during discussions of the topics. Last but not least, a KWHL (know, what, how, learn) diagram is included to help students pick a topic to explore in more depth. This holiday is also referred to as "Decoration Day". During this holiday we remember all of those that gave their life during military service. This is not to be confused with Veterans Day where pay homage to all those who have served the military.

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Print Memorial Day Worksheets

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Memory Passage

Memorial Day is a U.S. Federal holiday. Its purpose is to remember the men and women who have lost their lives while serving in the U.S. armed forces.

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Passage Questions

Memorial Day began after which war?

The History

More people died fighting during the Civil War than have died in any other conflict in our country's history. Following the Civil War, the first national cemeteries in the U.S. were established.


Great for younger students.

Word Search

Find the Memorial Day related words in the puzzle. Write each word you find on a line.


Use the clues to complete the puzzle.


Clean up both paragraphs.

Counting Syllables

In Memorial Day words.

Practicing Dictionary Skills

Use the dictionary entries to answer the questions.

Writing Worksheet

Why do you think that Memorial Day is a national holiday? Why is it an important holiday to observe?

What We Do?

What are you doing on that day?

Home of the Brave

Complete that project.

Word Scramble

What does that word say?

In Service to their Country

Find the words that connect the pair of words provided, changing only one letter per step.


The law that established the day of the week on which Memorial Day would be observed.

Acrostic Poem

Write an acrostic poem about Memorial Day.

Visual Crossword

Some of these will require some thought and vocabulary.

Word Search

Ceremony, Commemorate, Freedom, Monument, Remember, Respect, Sacrifice, Service, Tradition, Tribute, Unknown, Wreath

Missing Letters

Don't miss those letters. Spelling becomes fun.

Alphabetic Order

See if the kids know the significance of the wreaths.

Visual Addition

Add up all those soldiers.

Visual Subtraction

Symbols of the United States are taken away. How many are left?

Word Chop

A really good phonics activity fro students.

Word Scramble

There are no capital letters to use as anchors here.


Help the solider find the troops.


A good question to ask is what is the difference between Memorial Day and Veteran's Day.

Bingo Card #1

Words like: tradition hero sacrifice wreath remember

Bingo Card # 2

medical ceremony service commemorate monument

Bingo Card #3

salute honor Free Space troops decoration

Bingo Card #4

loyalty country military cemetery soldier

Bingo Card #5

Vocabulary words include: unknown respect tribute freedom

Bingo Card #6

The last card in the set.

Freedom Poem

We have seen some students write very powerful poems with this acrostic setting.


See if the students understanding the difference between liberty and freedom.

Acrostic Poem

Write a well thought out poem.

Word Wall

Cut out the words on these 12 pages.