Eagles, ostriches and toucans, named in German and buried in letters

The birds here are the showy ones: an eagle, an ostrich, a vulture, a peacock, a pelican and a toucan. Their German names hide in the grid, and the picture list tells your child which six to look for. PELIKAN and TUKAN are close enough to English that most children spot them on the first pass, which is a kind way to begin, because the harder words then feel manageable.

ADLER, GEIER and PFAU have to be learned outright, since nothing in them hints at the English. STRAUSS is the odd one out: it means ostrich, though it looks to a child like a surname met somewhere else. Saying each word aloud before the hunt begins fixes the sound to the picture, so the search rehearses a word rather than a pattern of letters.

This suits a child who already holds a handful of German animal words and wants more. It works quietly at a table, on a long journey, or as the thing to do while a sibling finishes something. If a word cannot be found, give the direction rather than the place. Saying that it runs downwards keeps the finding, and the satisfaction, with the child. Print it again whenever the same six words need another airing, and keep the first attempt to compare.