A French phonics, decoding and pronunciation challenge using a Christmas cipher code and eight festive French tongue twisters.

A creative phonics activity to bring Christmas energy into GCSE French lessons.
Students use a symbol–letter grid to decode eight tongue twisters – from Le lutin loyal lustre le lampion luisant to Les bonshommes de neige blancs battent un bizarre blizzard.
The task blends decoding and pronunciation challenges with a festive twist, making it ideal for end-of-term lessons, cover work, or a light-hearted phonics focus.

• Full A–Z Christmas cipher grid with festive icons
• 8 tongue twisters sequenced from rhythmic to challenging
• Scaffolded layout with space to decode
• Guided pronunciation challenges with expert-level prompts
• Translation task (decode and translate at least three lines)
• Creative writing task – invent your own festive tongue-twister
• Suitable for pair work, group work or timed challenge play

Available in colour PDF and editable PPTX.
Designed for GCSE French – Foundation to Higher crossover.

This is a purposeful way to consolidate pronunciation, phonics and decoding skills while keeping lessons fun and focused.

I hope you and your students enjoy it.

This resource is part of my seasonal GCSE collection. For year-round idiom and pronunciation resources, visit my shop where you might like:

• Expressions idiomatiques – Idioms in context – French GCSE (Higher tier)
• French tongue twisters – KS3 pronunciation worksheet

© Part of the La belle étoile collection (2025)