A German HUT is not a hut, and it is hiding in here

Winter fills this grid, and among the hidden answers are STIEFEL, SCHNEEMANN, HUT and SKIFAHREN. The pictures alongside show boots, a snowman, a hat, skiing, cocoa and a pine, giving six clues for six words. Your child matches a picture to its German name, then follows the letters across or down until the whole word lines up and can be ringed. Nothing runs backwards or on a slant.

HUT is the one to talk about. It looks like an English word and is nothing of the kind: in German it means a hat, and the picture settles the argument. SCHNEEMANN is built from SCHNEE and MANN, snow plus man, while SKIFAHREN joins SKI to FAHREN, to travel. Long as they look, both break into pieces a child can hold in mind while scanning a row.

December and January are the obvious months, when snow is either outside the window or badly wanted. There are no timers here, no marks and no right order in which to work. If your child finds STIEFEL and then drifts off, that is a finished session; seven letters recognised on sight is real progress. Print two copies and work one yourself, because children search harder when someone searches beside them. Cocoa afterwards is not compulsory, but it does help.