5 activities to spark an interest in French

Article

Learning French can be a challenge. Fortunately, the love of language can be cultivated over time through play! Here’s a short list of activities to motivate your youngster and help them develop an interest in this essential subject.

Become pen pals with a friend

In today’s digital age, the idea of corresponding “the old-fashioned way” (by mail) may seem outdated, but this method has many advantages. Children get to experience what it’s like to wait for a letter. Plus, writing letters in French helps them do the following:

Tips and tools

If your child isn’t wild about “vintage” correspondence, suggest email instead.

Go on a song hunt

French songs are treasure troves filled with beautiful images and rich, colourful vocabulary. Take your child on a little tour of the French chanson repertoire and pick out some beautiful texts. Then try these ideas together:

  • Look up the definition of new words or expressions
  • Talk about the song’s theme
  • Write your own song “in the style of . . .”
  • Find the rhymes
  • Replace certain words with synonyms
  • Etc.

Hold a reading marathon

Children’s books and all the worlds they contain are like Cupid’s arrows: once they strike your heart, you’re in love! Help your child fall in love with books by planning a reading marathon. How? It’s simple:

  • Dedicate an entire day to the activity
  • Choose several books
  • Dive into your respective books
  • Schedule breaks to discuss your reading (What do you like about this book? Can you summarize the story? Etc.)
  • Etc.
Tips and tools

Looking for some French book recommendations? We have several thematic lists on our website.

Find the most beautiful words

What makes a word beautiful? The answer depends on the reader! For instance, a word may sound beautiful, make you think of something nice, or have several similar letters. Whatever your definition, hunting for the beautiful words all around us is a fantastic way to enrich your vocabulary. For example, you can challenge your child to do the following:

  • Come up with 10 beautiful words per week
  • Find and write out the definition of each word
  • Explain why they love this word
  • Write a text that contains one or more of the words
  • Etc.

Make an exquisite corpse

What’s an exquisite corpse? It’s a hilarious multiplayer game where each person contributes to a sentence by adding a single word. Here’s how to play:

  • Choose a French sentence structure (e.g., [determiner + noun] + adjective + conjugated verb + [determiner + noun])
  • Write the first word at the top of the page and fold it to hide the word
  • Pass the page to the next player, who writes the second word
  • Repeat the exercise until the sentence is complete
  • Unfold the page
  • Read the result out loud
  • Have a good laugh
  • Repeat as many times as you want!
Tips and tools

Is your child wondering why learning French is so important?  Learn about some of the main reasons in our article.

Useful documents
Tool

exquisite-corpse-word-game.pdf

Healthy life habits and educational activities All grades
Tool

My portable spelling game

All grades

Collaborators

Writing : The Alloprof Parents' team

References