Where the drum, the trumpet and the cymbals are called TAMBOUR, TROMPETTE and CYMBALES

Three of the six words on this sheet will look oddly familiar to an English-speaking child, and that is worth pointing out. TROMBONE is spelled exactly as it is in English. TROMPETTE and NOTE are close cousins. The other three — TAMBOUR, ACCORDÉON, CYMBALES — have to be learned properly. Each has a picture beside it, and each is hidden somewhere in the grid.

The look-alikes are a trap as well as a gift. A child who spots TROMBONE quickly may then assume the rest will be just as easy, and give up when ACCORDÉON does not behave. Its accent and its nine letters make it the slowest find on the page. NOTE, at four letters, is the fastest — and the one children overlook, because short words disappear inside a grid.

Music words pair naturally with anything the child already plays or bangs, so this sheet sits well beside a recorder lesson or a percussion box. Adults using it at home need no French themselves: read the picture list, let the child hunt, and check the circles afterwards. Twenty minutes is plenty; leave the last two words for another day if attention runs out. The sheet keeps, and half a grid finished carefully is worth more than a whole one rushed through in a hurry.