The first half of our term has finished, and it seems that finally spring has arrived, at last! (or is it summer now?) In our French classes for babies and toddlers, we have been learning French words through songs and rhymes around the themes of springtime, gardening, insects and flowers.
One of the best ways how to teach your child French is through songs and fun activities. You can download our free spring themed vocabulary printables for a lovely visual way to practise the words, then you can incorporate them into your activities. Children learn best through play, so here's a round up of some spring themed arts and crafts projects so you can put the French words to use in context and have fun at the same time.
April showers bring May flowers, or so the saying goes, anyhow. In London we've had plenty of rain in both April and May, and hopefully sunnier days are here to stay now. Here's an craft idea featuring both le soleil et la pluie - the sun and the rain!
Check out Easy Peasy and Fun for instructions on how to make this cute project. When it's done, it will make a lovely display hung up around the house somewhere, and serve as a reminder that after every storm comes the sunshine!
And now for les fleurs - the flowers. This is an easy craft that can be done by even the youngest ones, and it uses simple items that you're likely to have at home - cupcake cases and popsicle craft sticks! It's very straightforward, but if you'd like step-by-step instructions, check out this tutorial by Laughing Kids Learn.
I love the layered look of the flowers, and cutting cupcake cases to different sizes is a great way for your little one to work on motor skills and spatial awareness.
To go along with the flowers, how about un papillon - a butterfly. For me, butterflies embody the spirit of spring, symbolising transformation and new beginnings. This is another easy craft using items that you're likely to have on hand - paper plates and popsicle craft sticks, once again! If you follow the instructions from Artful Parent, you'll also learn a marble paint technique that looks pretty impressive, or just keep it simple and use paint, markers or stickers to decorate. Once it's finished, the butterfly works well as a puppet that your child can fly around - and it's the perfect prop to go along with the song Vole, vole, vole papillon which you can find in our Video Library!
Hopefully these crafts provide an opportunity to have fun together with your child as well as use the French vocabulary that we learned this term in our French classes. We'd love to see what you've made - send us your pics or tag us on social media with your makes!
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As for me, my arts and crafts suggestions aren't particularly of interested to my eight year old son. Instead, we're taking a break and going camping for a few days - with our kitten! Everyone I know either is also going to be away or they already have a cat so they can't take ours. I have no idea if/how this will work out but apparently it is possible from what I've read. We've been practicing taking him outside and going for a walk in his harness, so fingers crossed we are all ready for this and it goes well. I'll leave you with this pic, because everyone loves a cat in a bag!
