Name six things in the room, in Finnish

Everything on this list is within arm's reach of the child doing it: KIRJA the book, TUOLI the chair, KELLO the clock, SAKSET the scissors, LYIJYKYNÄ the pencil, and OPPILAS, which means pupil — the child themselves. That last one usually raises a laugh, and it tends to be the one they remember by the end of the week. A picture sits beside each word, so nobody needs to be told what anything means before starting.

LYIJYKYNÄ is the hard word here, and it repays unpicking rather than skipping. It puts KYNÄ, a pen, behind LYIJY, meaning lead: a lead pen, which is exactly what a pencil is. Split in two, the nine letters become manageable, and a child who has done that once finds the word in the grid without much trouble.

Use it in the first week of a Finnish topic, when labelling the room is the obvious next step. Sticky notes on the real chair and the real clock, then this sheet to settle it all. It prints on a single page and calls for no equipment beyond a pencil, which also makes it a sensible thing to leave for a cover lesson. Ten minutes is usually plenty, and it survives being folded into a book bag.