Where German keeps its corners: SECHSECK and RECHTECK

German builds its shape words out of parts, and this grid is a good place to notice it. SECHSECK is the hexagon: SECHS means six, ECK means corner, so the word says six-corner. RECHTECK, the rectangle, is put together the same way. Once your child sees ECK sitting at the end of both, they stop reading letter by letter and start recognising the piece.

The picture list carries all the meaning, so nothing needs explaining before you begin. KREIS is the circle and MOND the moon, and at five and four letters they are the two your child will ring first. PYRAMIDE and ZYLINDER run to eight letters each and look reassuringly close to their English cousins — close enough to find unaided, different enough to reward a second look. Let your child say both aloud once before starting.

The catch is that SECHSECK and RECHTECK share six of their eight letters in the same positions, so a child scanning quickly will circle one thinking it is the other. Checking against the picture settles it every time. Adults tend to use a sheet like this alongside a shapes lesson in English, so the maths vocabulary and the German vocabulary arrive together rather than competing for the same half hour of attention.