Oh, la la! What fun we had during our France Theme Home Preschool Week! As you'll see, there was lots of food involved! I took French for 7 years in school, so I felt comfortable and excited about this theme. We did a bit of French language, but mostly we looked at French culture (especially food!), famous landmarks, and art.
If you regularly do preschool using weekly themes, be sure to check out Over 30 COMPLETE Weekly Preschool Theme Units that we've completed as well as my entire list of 52 Weekly Preschool Themes. You may also want to check out of Daily Home Preschool Schedule and this handy FREE Printable Preschool Planning Page.
Let's go to France!
Let's go to France!
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Crepes (and other French goodies)
We are lucky enough to live in a town large enough to have a specialty French cafe. I took the girls downtown and we enjoyed some crepes! Lena practiced saying, "Bonjour, je m'appelle Lena," on the way, and was pleased as punch with herself after she spoke to our server there. If there is not a creperie in your town, I'm pretty sure that iHop has crepes (though probably a bit less authentic) or you could be extra adventurous and make your own at home.
While we were at the cafe, we picked up some croissants to have with our dinner, and a package of petit fours for dessert. Yum!
French Yogurt Cake
I first heard about this French yogurt cake when I read Bringing Up Bebe by Pamela Druckerman. Apparently French children learn to make this simple cake early in life as an exercise in independence.
I found a great recipe on Montessori Works, and let the girls get to work. Lena 'read' the picture recipe, the girls took turns scooping and measuring, and we spread it in the pan. They loved this project, and we were all quite pleased with the results.
The cake was just right as a little snack cake during the week-- not too rich or decadent. I see why this is popular in France!
My girls still needed quite a bit of help, but we have plans for them to practice until they can do it on their own.
Frere Jacques/Nursery Rhymes
Teach your little ones some simple French nursery rhymes! We learned Frere Jacques this week and have enjoyed singing it. I let the girls watch this little cartoon version of the song on YouTube. While it drove me bonkers, the girls were mesmerized. I'm sure there are other versions available online that are less mind-numbing.
Eiffel Tower Craft
This Eiffel Tower craft was tons of fun, and was great for fine motor development. Read all about it in this post.
Counting in French
It is easy for your kids to learn to count to 10 in another language! Their brains are wired to absorb language. Every time we counted anything this week, we just did it in French. The kids had it by the end of the week!
Picture Books
I found lots of books this week that made me want to visit France. Well, that's not happening anytime soon, so I enjoyed my picture book tour instead! You can find our picture book selections in this post.
Water Lily Craft
I saw an image of this craft from Creativity Takes Flight and knew that we'd do it this week. Show your children a picture of Monet's water lily paintings, as well as some pictures of real water lilies.
Paint a paper plate green, let it dry, and then cut a small wedge out and glue some tissue paper poof to the center. Ta da! World's Easiest Craft!
Music
Once again, I turned to Pandora Internet Radio to help with our music for the week. Edith Piaf was a great French singer, so we listened to her 'channel' while we read our French books and did our French crafts and our French baking. It was all very French.
Coloring Pages
I loved these simple coloring pages from HelloKids. There are several available of different French landmarks. Coloring is one of the best fine motor activities your children can do and is great for keeping little hands busy while you make dinner.
Television
The girls watched Madeline: Meet me in Paris which we rented from the library. There are 2 30-minute episodes on the DVD, which suited us perfectly.
If you like Disney movies, your kids can watch The Hunchback of Notre Dame this week. It is available on Netflix. Lena is a wee bit sensitive to scary things, so we only made it about 30 minutes in. The images of Notre Dame are beautiful, and there are some nice scenes of French life.
I think it's important to expose your children to different cultures. For many of us, however, extensive travel just isn't possible, but there are lots of ways to provide that exposure at home.
Need even more ideas for an France and French culture week? Follow the Cutting Tiny Bites on Pinterest or check out the France theme board below!
[Related Read: Over 30 Complete Weekly Preschool Theme Units]
You Might Also Be Interested In
Books About Healthy Eating For Kids
Around The World Suitcase Activity from Stay At Home Educator
Experiencing Schools In France from Kid World Citizen
Tour de France Inspired Bicycle Craft from The Gingerbread House
From Other Great Bloggers
Making Crepes With Kids from The Educators' Spin On ItAround The World Suitcase Activity from Stay At Home Educator
Experiencing Schools In France from Kid World Citizen
Tour de France Inspired Bicycle Craft from The Gingerbread House
