Bonjour! Welcome to the third lesson in our French for Kids language learning series, Bath Time in French where you will learn vocabulary to use during your bath time and bedtime routine with your kids as well as some bedtime story suggestions. You will also find some fantastic printable materials to use at home and practice.
I am Felicity, creator of Mini Languages and mother of three bilingual children.
Hopefully, you have checked out the previous lessons in this series from the start which all have tons of tips, vocabulary and resources to get you started on your language adventure with your children. I will refer back to some of these lessons so you may wish to have a read of them first!
I wanted to take this opportunity to really emphasise that learning a new or additional language with your child really should be approached as if it were an adventure. Keeping up momentum and positivity is key to success in language acquisition. Therefore, making sure that the language is nurtured through fun and play is very important in the early-years. Choosing times when you are both feeling at ease and have time to interact will help.
So, with all this in mind, this month’s topic is…
…C’est l’heure du bain! It is bath-time!
Today’s lesson in our French for Kids series will focus on bath-time and the evening routine including;
- vocabulary to use with printable cheat sheets
- a brief overview of forming commands in French
- 3 suggested bath-time activities including a song download
- a selection of suggested French bed-time books
Bath Time
The wind down in the bathroom before bed is often the part in the day where you have special one-on-one time together with your child while they wash and prepare for bed. If they are with siblings then the learning can become a family affair!
French words and phrases
Repeating the same expressions in your routine will help your child learn more effectively and with, what I think of as, “stickability” i.e. they will be able to recall these words and expressions because they were used in regularly and in context.
Top Tips:
- Bring the language to life. Each time you use a French word or expression, point, act or show your meaning with actions.
- Don’t get disappointed when a child replies in English. If they have understood, then that is actually a reason to celebrate!
Key Nouns in the bathroom
- la baignoire – bath
- la douche – shower
- le tapis de bain – bath mat
- le lavabo – sink
- le robinet – tap
- le savon – soap
- les jouets de bain – bath toys
- le shampooing – shampoo
Key Verbs:
- se déshabiller – to undress yourself
- se laver – to wash yourself
- se brosser les dents – to brush your teeth
- prendre un bain/ une douche – to take a bath/ shower
- sortir du bain/ de la douche – to get out the bath
French Commands:
Look back at the Starter Kit in this series where I touched on forming commands. With regular verbs, to ask someone (singular) to do something you use the ‘je’ part of the verb on its own. If the verb you are using is reflexive (i.e. se laver = to wash yourself) then you add ‘toi’ to the end with a hyphen.
Using the verbs above, what do the following mean?
- Déshabille-toi!
- Lave-toi bien!
- Sors du bain/ de la douche!
Questions:
Using the techniques we used to form questions in the Starter Kit, ask your child questions at bath-time (see printable resource)
- Préfères-tu un bain ou une douche? – Do you prefer a bath or a shower?
- On sort du bain? – Shall we get you out the bath?
- Est-ce que tu t’es déjà lave les dents? – Have you already brushed your teeth?
- As-tu envie de faire pipi? – Do you need a pee-pee?
SAVE & PRINT THESE HANDY BATHROOM CHEET SHEETS HERE
-Labels with pronunciation guide
-Bathroom Questions cheat sheet
Suggested French Activities for Kids
Start building the phrases we have learned so far in this series, into bath-time. As you will probably know if you have followed this series, use my Mini Languages materials or follow me on social media, I am a big fan of singing to learn a language and music is a key activity in my tutoring classes. So, one of the activities is to learn a water-based song together!
- Learn a cute French song about ducks. Use your rubber ducky and sing along to a Mini French ® favourite! Link to MP3 & Song words
- Each evening, choose three objects from the bathroom nouns and point them out. Then ask your child to point to them when you say them. Continue until you are comfortable with all 8 words.
- Have a timed race to get undressed. Tell your child “Déshabille-toi le plus vite possible pendant que je compte jusqu’à dix!” Get undressed as fast as you can while I count to 10!” You could also point out the names of the clothes. Perhaps a topic for a future lesson!
Some of my favourite books for bed-time
- Dix petits bisous by Alex Sanders (Amazon USA/ Amazon UK)
In this book we learn counting and meet lots of animals with a simple but vocabulary rich sentence on each page.
- Lou et Mouf: L’heure du bain (Amazon)
A series of books which I think is great for French learners. In this one you will find lots of bath-time vocabulary perfect for this topic.
I hope you have enjoyed this set of French learning activities and that you are inspired to build small amounts of French into your daily routine. By starting with small steps, the learning is manageable and fun making the whole experience enjoyable for you and your child.
Looking forward to our next lesson? Keep checkin our French for Kids post!
À bientôt! See you soon!
Felicity
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