From the small PASSERO to the nine-letter AVVOLTOIO: a second bird hunt

A second set of Italian birds, this time the everyday ones: a sparrow, a falcon, a duck, a quail, a chicken and a vulture. The words waiting in the grid are PASSERO, FALCO, ANATRA, QUAGLIA, POLLO and AVVOLTOIO. Pictures sit beside the puzzle, so nothing has to be guessed, and every word found gets a ring drawn round it. Six words in all, and no time limit on any of them.

This sheet asks a little more than a first bird hunt did. QUAGLIA carries the gl cluster, which Italian says rather like the lli in million instead of two separate sounds. AVVOLTOIO runs to nine letters with a doubled v. Doubled consonants matter in Italian — they are genuinely held longer in speech — and noticing them here pays off in spelling later. Say the doubled letters slowly and the difference is easy enough to hear.

Keep this one for a child who has already met a few Italian words and wants something with more bite. Reading the list aloud before starting helps, particularly with POLLO, which appears on menus constantly and is worth knowing cold. FALCO and ANATRA are normally found first. Half now and half tomorrow costs nothing; there is no clock on the page. Free to print, as many copies as a class needs.