Let's celebrate Valentine's day with some fun French learning!
Valentine’s Day is a day to celebrate LOVE. February 14th gives you the perfect opportunity to create more love in your family, not only between child and parent, but also between siblings. Too often we forget to tell the people we love just how precious they are to us. Valentine’s day reminds us to tell all of our loved ones how glad we are that they are in our lives.
Want some simple ideas to celebrate Valentine’s Day? Below are some crafts, activities and games to help you celebrate… en Francais!
1. Start with a sweet treat!
A sweet treat: start the day with Heart-Shaped Pancakes! Make heart-shaped pancakes by putting a cookie cutter in the skillet before pouring in your batter. Add toppings like strawberries (des fraises), bananas (des bananes), or maybe even a little bit of “chocolat”!
2. A Love treasure hunt / Une chasse au trésor d'amour
Let your kids know your love is with them all day! Hide little love notes (ex: Je t’aime …. or J’Adore…) on construction paper for them to find around the house. You’ve now created a quick and easy treasure hunt.
3. Spread the love with cards (des cartes)!
Create home-made Valentine’s Day cards to give to family and friends near or far. One of our favourites is to create a “Je t’aime de la tete aux pieds” card. Simply paint your child’s feet in pink or red, and press them onto a piece of paper or canvas in the shape of a heart. Using a marker, you can title your artwork “Je t’aime de la tete aux pieds” (I love you from your head to your toes). Another craft idea is to mail a hug. Spread out a long sheet of butcher paper. Trace your child’s head, arms and upper torso onto the paper. Decorate and then cut it out. Fold it all up and pass it on to a family member or friend. We’ve also got a fun bouncy French valentine idea here!
4. Musical hearts: A Valentine's music & movement game
Write some action words on foam (or construction paper) hearts and then lay them face down in a circle. Have your child(ren) go from heart to heart while the music is playing, but when the music stops… “Arrête”! Flip the heart over and do what’s on the other side. This gets everyone up and moving, and practicing some French action vocabulary. Some examples are: “Saute en place 5 fois” (jump 5 times), “Tourne sur toi-même 3 fois” (spin around 3 times), “Donne un gros câlin” (Give a big hug), “Danse pendant une minute” (dance for one minute), etc.
5. Love Twister
Another activity using your heart shapes from above is to play a game of Twister. Spread your coloured hearts along the floor, and then have someone call out different moves. For instance, “Main gauche sur un coeur rouge” (left hand on a red heart), “Pied droit sur un coeur rose” (right foot on a pink heart), etc. This is a great way to practice your colours in French along with different body parts, and of course, to have some fun while you learn!
6. Dinner & dance
Have the family dance together before or after dinner with these French love songs, “La vie en Rose” by Edith Piaf, or “L’hymne de l’amour”. “C’est si bon” by Yves Montand is also another French classic.
Ps. Did you know that Madame Amy has created her very own love song between parent and child? Her song, Je t’aime, je t’aime can be found on YouTube at https://youtu.be/AOAVUxsyd30.
End your dance with a family hug (un gros câlin!)!
7. Lastly, here's some French vocabulary to use throughout your day:
Joyeuse Saint-Valentin = Happy Valentine’s Day, pron: “jwah-yuhz saih vah-law-taih”
Je t’aime = I love you, pron: “juh tem”
Un coeur = a heart 💜, pron: “uh kuhr”
Rose = Pink, pron: “roh-zuh”
Rouge = Red, pron: “roo-juh”
Pour toujours = Forever, pron: “poo-r too-joor”
février = February, pron: “fay-vree-yay”
les fleurs = flowers, pron: “lay fluhr”
Le chocolat = chocolate, pron: “luh sho-koh-lah”
Les bonbons = Candy, pron: “lay bohw-bohw”
Cupidon = Cupid, pron: “kew-pee-dohw”
We hope you enjoyed these quick and easy ideas to celebrate une “Joyeuse Saint Valentin” and to have fun with those you love most.
123 Petits Pas Inc.
Madame Casey & Madame Amy
123 Petits Pas : Where French learning is a hobby!