With schools going back online, parents are trying to prepare for yet another semester of homeschooling. If your kid is also in online extracurricular activities, like our FranceABC tutorials, you may be looking for some fun ways to keep them interested. Alas, Canadian winters hardly help. With restricted access to the outdoors in this frosty season, a lack of exercise can start to hinder a child’s developmental progress and mental health. That’s why we’ve come up with some fun French activities to keep your kids entertained and active indoors.
French Charades and Pictionary
Who doesn’t love a good game of charades? This is a simple twist on the game that can get the kids up and moving and give the entire family a fun break. All you need is a set of flash cards and some French nouns. Choose a theme to take the game one step further. If you would like to include objects, then allow for a pictionary element. For that you may need some paper or a white board.
After that, the rest is simple. Write your French nouns on the flash cards. These can be anything - let your imagination run wild. Everyday objects are perfect items for the pictionary aspect - types of buildings (houses, restaurants, shops, and so on), types of food, transportation, entertainment items (books, televisions, computers, etc.), and articles of clothing. For charades, choose animals and types of figures - teacher, mom, dad, student, friend, neighbour, or a chef, to name some examples.
Toss the cards into a bowl and let the game begin!
Toss It
This is a pretty simple game. All you need is a ball, and four or more players.
Stand in a circle. The first person holding the ball should start the game by saying “zéro”. They will then toss the ball to the next person who says “un”. The counting and tossing continues until one person mispronounces or cannot name a number. They then step out of the circle and the game begins again. The last person standing is the winner. This game can also be played with the alphabet.
Play Simon Says
Simon Says - a classic! For this French take on Simon Says, you’ll need the names of body parts in French. Agree with your kids what it means when you say, for example, “Simon says… le nez!”. Will they need to tap their nose? What about la main? Shake their hand?
Come up with some actions to get your kids out of their seats and onto their feet. This is a great game to help kids learn the parts of the body.
To expand to household objects, place a few common objects in front of each child. For instance, if you say “Simon says… le livre”, your child(ren) would need to pick up the book in front of them. Once Simon Says naming only body parts gets too easy, this can add a fun new twist.
French Scavenger Hunt
Scavenger hunts are one of our favourite fun French activities. Create a list of objects for your kids to find but make sure each is listed in French. Don’t include an English translation! This is about helping them learn the names of everyday objects.
But play fair - make sure there’s a French-English dictionary available on the coffee table. This is an excellent way to help your kids learn how to hunt for answers to questions. Encourage them to try to figure out the meaning of the word for a few minutes before looking up the translation. Ask them to write the English translation to all the words they know and find those objects first. Then go back and try again with those they missed before turning to the dictionary.
Add Spice to the Challenge
Why not add a little extra fun? Perhaps the winner gets to pick the movie for your next movie night, or gets the weekend off chores. Maybe they can choose tomorrow’s dinner. Add in a little prize for the winner to encourage your kids to fully engage in these games and take part in the learning.
Do you have any other ideas for fun French activities? Leave your favourite indoor exercises and learning games in the comments below. In the meantime, take a peek at the monthly FranceABC newsletter for some other ideas for fun French activities and learning resources.