French spells the barbecue rather differently

GRIL has one L in French where English wants two. FRITES is what French calls chips, and it ends in an S that nobody pronounces. Small differences like these are the whole reason a spelling puzzle helps in French: the child has to look at the written word rather than trust their ear. Six words hide in this grid — those two, plus LIMONADE, LIBERTÉ, HAMBURGER and BASEBALL.

HAMBURGER and BASEBALL are spelled exactly as in English, so they go quickly and get a child moving. LIMONADE is one letter away from ours, though the French word covers a fizzier drink than a child may expect. LIBERTÉ is the word that needs explaining: the accent on the final E is not decoration, it tells you to sound that E rather than swallow it, and in a grid it makes the word simple to pick out. Read all six aloud before starting.

The theme is an American summer holiday, so this suits a class comparing celebrations across countries, or a family who simply like a barbecue. Nothing on the page is timed or scored. After the circling, the picture list is the better half of the exercise: point at the fries and see whether FRITES comes back unprompted, then ask what LIBERTÉ might mean when it turns up on a French coin.