Do you have any suggestions about french games that I can play with kinder garden kids?

Question

I`m starting as a new French Teacher

Answer 1

kindergartners are very young (how old are yours, 4? 5?) and of course, you know they should learn French or any language like they learn English: listening, repeating, playing and having fun. I know you know that because of your question about looking for games. Some answerers to your question should know that very little kids, learning a language, should not have to study anything or write anything of even read anything. I think even older kids should learn French that way too and if most of high school kids are just turned off to any languages, it is because of annoying homework and grammatical rules…

I personally teach or for a more precise word “introduce” French to 1st graders and 5th graders (the 2nd graders, 3rd graders and 4th graders are introduced to other languages like Spanish, German or Japanese, depending on the availability of volunteer teachers). There is no homework and no grading. It is a program (one hour/week) intended to introduce little kids to other languages so they know that the whole planet does not only speak English. The teachers in that program are foreign volunteer parents willing to introduce their native language.

Personally, the 1st graders are the students I like best because they are so eager to please and it’s 100% about fun with them.

I usually use my imagination to come up with games. Anything fun, really, will amuse them.

I had a lots of fun using a perpetual calendar to find out the day of the week they were born, according to their birth date but this was for 5th graders (they knew how to say the days of the week in French) so I think it would be a little too evolved for kindergartners.

I had fun with 1st graders using the following game: (it is not really a French game, just one I made up, but since I’m French…)

After I told them how to say (not write or read, just say and understand) the numbers 1 through 10 (you can do 1 through 5, for younger kids, maybe…), I wrote the numbers 1,2,3, etc…on index cards. I gave each kids a set of index cards with the numbers 1 through 10 (and again, you could use 1-5 for kindergartners).

The game would start when I would shout “trois” and they would have to hold the correct index card over their head (the 3 card). They would get points for each correct answers…

You can do that game to teach anything like fruits for example. The index cards will then have the different fruits on them instead of 1-5.

You can also bring real fruits to your classroom (the real fruits always make a better impact than just the image of them) You bring an apple, a banana, a pear, an orange…then you teach them how they’re called in French. Then you put all the fruit on the desk and ask a kid, in French, to get the pear (if he/she gets the right fruit, he/she gets a point).

You could do a point system or an elimination system. You could use any object that you teach...a pen, an eraser, a piece of paper...

All the kids would get their chance and each time they get it right, they're up for the next round...

Answer 2

if they know they're numbers, you can teach them the game 'loulou quelle heure est t il?' One person is the wolf named Loulou, they stand in the middle of the room (or yard if you play this outside). Everybody is on one side, they ask the child in the middle 'loulou quelle heure est t il?'. The child in the middle replies 'il est... (picks a number)'. The children who do not have that number get to run across the room (or yard) freely. The children who do have that number have to run to the otherside without getting tagged. If somebody is tagged, they become the wolf.

I don't know if it's a bit advanced for your kids, but it works wonders.

Something simple to do is using alphabet cereal to learn the alphabet.

Answer 3

Depending on what they know so far, I think a fun game they is play is tapette.  My French teacher does this too (in high school, but everone really loves it).  

She puts on the white board (you might use a small one for kids) a whole bunch of words on the lesson, you can do numbers too or even alphabet letters, and divides the class into 2 teams.  

Then she gets 2 flayswatters, and gives it to each team.  The kids take turns going up and going against a person from the opposing team by speed and accuracy.  All you do is read maybe the English word/French word translated from the ones on the board, and the kid who taps the right answer first wins a pt for their team.  It helps for teamwork, accuracy, and just fun!  In the end, just give a prize to both teams for a job well done!

Hope that helps :)

Answer 4

Blocks are always frun for kindergarten kids but i dont think there is any blocks that has the "alphabet" in french or maybe matching games where u can a have picture of let's say a dog and underneath the picture it can have the word in french. But i'm not really sure since i'm not a teacher. Just think like a kindergartener. What games did you play when you were a kindergartener? Think of some and think of ways that you can turn it into french.

Answer 5

Get a sheet with 11th grade french and tell them to study it for the rest of the day. Tell them you're giving them a Huge test tomorrow and if they miss 1 question they FAIL!!!!

Then wait a few secconds and tell them it was a joke. Let them laugh. Then listen to someone elses answer for further instructions. Works everytime.