Monkey Facts: Primates, Troops and Life in the Trees

Monkeys are primates, like apes and humans, and among the most intelligent animals on Earth. This puzzle covers how they live: agile climbers that swing through the trees of the jungle, in social groups called troops, with a long tail that some species, in the Americas, can use like a fifth hand.

The banana is here as the famous monkey snack, although wild monkeys eat a far wider diet of fruit, leaves, seeds, insects and flowers. Intelligent, at 11 letters, reads normally across the grid.

Monkey Vocabulary: 12 Words to Find

Words run across, up and down, and diagonally; 6 of the 12 read backwards. The longest word is Intelligent, with 11 letters.

Agile: Able to move quickly and easily, like a monkey leaping between branches.
Banana: A long yellow fruit, the famous monkey snack. Wild monkeys eat a much wider diet of fruit, leaves, seeds and insects.
Intelligent: Able to learn, remember and solve problems. Some monkeys use stones as tools to crack nuts.
Jungle: A thick tropical forest full of plants, home to many monkeys and tigers.
Monkey: A primate, usually with a tail, that lives in the trees of tropical forests or on grasslands.
Primate: The group of mammals that includes lemurs, monkeys, apes and humans, with grasping hands and forward-facing eyes.
Social: Living in groups and interacting with others of the same kind.
Species: A group of animals that look alike and can breed together. There are hundreds of species of monkey.
Swing: To move from branch to branch by hanging from the arms or the tail.
Tail: The part of the body at the end of the spine. Some monkeys of the Americas can grip branches with their tails.
Tree: A tall plant with a woody trunk, home and highway for many monkeys.
Troop: A group of monkeys that live and travel together.

How to Solve the Monkey Word Search

"Intelligent" is the longest word and reads normally across, with a double L. "Monkey" has the only K and Y, and "jungle" the only J; both are diagonal. "Tree" and "troop" both start with TR: tree is diagonal and troop reads backwards.

Monkey and Primate Lesson Ideas

Sort a list of animals into monkeys and apes, using the tail rule.
Ask students what makes primates intelligent: tool use, problem solving, social life.
Compare a monkey troop with a wolf pack and a lion pride.