Circle the Italian seaside — starting with CONCHIGLIA, ten letters long

Seaside words in Italian, hidden across and down. The picture clues show a seashell, a jellyfish, a palm tree and a cloud, so your child is hunting for CONCHIGLIA, MEDUSA, PALMA and NUVOLA, plus OMBRELLO and INFRADITO. Recognising a long word whole is the skill being practised, and CONCHIGLIA at ten letters gives a good deal of practice in one go.

Two of these repay a moment's talk. MEDUSA is the jellyfish, named after the Greek monster with snakes for hair, which children remember instantly once they hear why. OMBRELLO is the umbrella, built on ombra, meaning shade. INFRADITO is the flip-flop, and it breaks up neatly as infra plus dito: the thing that goes between the toes. Both are words your child will hear on any Italian beach, which is the best reason of all to learn them.

Print it the week before a holiday, or for the car on the way there. Ask your child to say each word as they circle it, since Italian is spelled much as it sounds and the two arrive together. PALMA and NUVOLA usually go quickly, being short and vowel-heavy. The long ones take longer, and that is fine — nothing here is timed or scored. A sunny doorstep works just as well as a kitchen table for this.