Yikes – December snuck up on me! Here are some fun and easy French vocabulary-building activities you can do with your kids.

Christmas Bingo in French (no parent French needed)

This web site has a great printout for Bingo that’s free: http://prescolaire.cssh.qc.ca/spip.php?article223 Click on the “documents joints à cet article” at the bottom and you’ll get a 2-page pdf. The first has 25 Christmas images on it. Have your kids pick 9 that they like, cut them out and glue them on to the Bingo card on the second page. Then, you’re ready to play! Play either a row or full card, depending on the ages and attention span of your kids.

Here are the words for the images starting at the top left:

• un sapin, une couronne, un renne, le père Noël
• vingt-cinq, les trois sages, des boules, un ange
• un bocal, une cloche, un traineau, un cadeau
• bonhomme en pain d’épices, une canne à sucre, une crèche, une voiture
• une carte, une poupée, une étoile, des bas.

I printed an extra copy of the image page, cut out the images, wrote the names on the back (I always forget whether it’s “un” or “une” but double-checked for the list above), cut them out, put them in an envelope, and used these as my call list for the game. Each child took a turn pulling a picture out of the envelope and naming it before everyone marked it on their card if they had it.

French song with videos and activities (no parent French needed)

The lyrics to most Christmas songs are quite complex so I don’t really recommend them as a learning tool except for those who already have an extensive language base.

That being said, Vive le Vent (Jingle Bells) is always a kid favourite and they can catch on to the chorus quite easily even if they don’t get all of the vocabulary contained in the verses.

I have prepared a pdf download for e-mail subscribers that contains video links, activities, and some copywork & drawing to go with this song. To get the download, subscribe by using the right sidebar or the link at the bottom of this post, and you’ll get the link automatically. I will not inundate your inbox.

Nativity scene Christmas skit (parent French needed)

Last year, I wrote a simple Christmas skit depicting the First Christmas from Luke chapter 2 in the Bible. I simplified the dialog as much as possible. The French Bible “Parole de vie” version made this much easier (see image on left).

This year, we have 7 children in our group who will put on this play. One of the moms will be the narrator and a few of the children will need to play 2 parts. We’ll practice a few times through and then take a video of the final version with costumes when we’re done. Memorizing a few lines is a great way to help children (and adults!) get the flow and feel of a language.

If you’d like to go through the play with your children, you can download the pdf script here. It’s really quick – less than 5 minutes from start to finish. The length of the lines is doable for beginners and last year the kids had so much fun putting it together that they were more than willing to do the same thing again.

Joyeux Noël!

If you're not reading this post in your e-mail, sign up for updates right here and get your free guide to Getting Started Teaching French at Home: We never share your address, and you can unsubscribe at any time.