Exotic Fruits: Dragon Fruit, Durian, Rambutan and Starfruit

Tropical and unusual fruits you may never have tasted: the pink dragon fruit, the spiky durian, famous for its strong smell, the hairy red rambutan, the starfruit that makes star-shaped slices, the tiny kumquat you eat whole, peel and all, the guava, the papaya, the persimmon and the passion fruit.

Most of them come from Southeast Asia and the tropical Americas. Dragonfruit, at 11 letters, crosses the grid from corner to corner.

Exotic Fruits Vocabulary: 9 Words to Find

Words run across, up and down, and diagonally; 4 of the 9 read backwards. The longest word is Dragonfruit, with 11 letters.

Dragonfruit: The fruit of a climbing cactus, with bright pink skin and white or red flesh full of tiny black seeds.
Durian: A large, spiky Southeast Asian fruit with a very strong smell and sweet, creamy flesh.
Guava: A tropical fruit with a sweet, fragrant pink or white flesh, rich in vitamin C.
Kumquat: A tiny citrus fruit, the size of an olive, eaten whole, sweet skin and sour flesh together.
Papaya: A tropical fruit with orange flesh and a hollow center full of black seeds.
Passion: With "fruit", the passion fruit, a round tropical fruit full of tangy, seedy pulp.
Persimmon: An orange fruit that looks like a tomato, very sweet when fully ripe.
Rambutan: A Southeast Asian fruit with red, hairy skin and sweet white flesh, related to the lychee.
Starfruit: A waxy yellow tropical fruit with five ridges that make star-shaped slices.

How to Solve the Exotic Fruits Word Search

"Dragonfruit" runs corner to corner on a backwards diagonal, from the bottom right to the top left. "Kumquat" has the only K and Q and runs straight down. "Papaya" and "passion" both start with PA.

Exotic Fruit Tasting Activities

Bring two or three of the fruits to class for a tasting and vote on the favorite.
Find where each fruit grows on a world map.
Ask students to describe one fruit's look, smell and taste without saying its name.