French For Kids – Learn Colours in French

Bonjour! Welcome to the fourth lesson in our Learn French for Kids series: French Colours – Learn Colours in French. 

I am Felicity, creator of Mini Languages and I am pleased to be collaborating with Bilingual Kidspot to bring you a series of easy, effective ‘lessons’ to use with your child to learn the foundations of French.

If you have already checked out the French Starter Kit, you will know that the Mini Languages ethos is about taking small steps and making sure to show enthusiasm. This creates a nurturing language environment where children WANT to learn more!

In this series, we have covered several topics so far including counting and bath-time. Make sure to read them as well!

Learning colours in French

Today’s lesson is about colours in French. This can be a fun topic as you can gain some ‘quick-learning-wins’. When a child sees that they are learning, it boosts confidence and encourages them to continue. Focus on how far you have come and, as ever, stay positive!

Practicing saying colours properly is great accent training as the main colours cover most of the key sounds in French which do not exist in English (for more info on accent check out the Starter Kit). A pronunciation guide is included on all Mini Languages® Memo Cards.

Placing the colour correctly with a noun is also a great way to explore French grammar in a natural way… more on that later.

FREE Language Resources from Mini Languages

Print out these language resources to use with your kids at home or in the classroom

French Colours Memo Card

Print this handy ‘Memo Card’ from the Mini Languages® online French platform. Memo Cards provide an “at-a-glance guide” to French vocabulary on a specific topic. They incorporate images, words and pronunciation.
PRINT YOUR MEMO CARD HERE

 *Note: The method used in the Mini Languages® resources for approximating French sounds using English graphemes (letter combinations) is underpinned by the International Phonetic Alphabet.

‘L’arc-en-ciel’ (The rainbow) Video

Watch one of our ‘Mini Life’ videos from the Mini Languages® online French platform. These fun videos are carefully designed to introduce key expressions and words in French with real people!

The topics are instantly relatable, are fully subtitled and have a supporting bilingual video guide. In this video, Sophie paints a rainbow and we learn not only colours but how to ask questions and talk about what we like.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH

French Colours Activities

These activities will help kids learn the colours in French

Memo Cards

This is a versatile resource which you can use in several ways depending on your child’s personality type and age. One option is to display it in the house – perhaps, on the fridge where you will all see the words regularly. To make the Memo Cards hard-wearing you can laminate them or back them with cardstock to use them as mini flashcards. By printing several copies, you can play a game of memory; spread them face down on the table and take turns to try to find a pair.

• À toi – your turn
• À moi – my turn

Finally, you can simply print or copy them into a journal and make a picture book to enjoy with your little one before bed. Add in your own favourite themes by cutting out or drawing pictures.

French Colour Code Activity Sheet

Now that you have used your Memo Cards and watched the ‘Mini Life’ Rainbow video you should have a good handle of colours in French. Let’s put that into practice with this cute butterfly activity sheet. PRINT HERE

French Colours Treasure Hunt

Time to get active and move around! Place a basket or box in the middle of the room and give instructions to your child:

• Go and find an object (red/ green/ blue): Vas chercher un objet (rouge/ vert/ bleu) Pronounce: Va sherh-shey uhn ob-dshey…
• Well done! You have found a (red/ green/ blue) object: Bravo! Tu as trouvé un objet (rouge/ vert/ bleu) Pronounce: Tew ah trh-ouh-vey uhn ob-dshey…

Extension Task:

Can you find out the names for the objects you have found? Look them up online or in a dictionary. Then leave the basket on the table and revisit the basket the next day at breakfast to see if you can remember the words. Learning words in context can help with vocabulary retention.

Just for fun! Some other lesser known colours in French!

• Argent – Silver
• Bleu Marine – Navy Blue
• Bronze – Bronze
• Châtain – Chesnut Brown (used for hair description)
• Écarlate – Scarle
• Jaune Fluo – Florescent Yellow
• Turquoise – Turquoise

Grammar: French adjectives

So, as I mentioned at the beginning of this lesson, working on the simplest of subjects can enhance knowledge of the grammar of a language. By carrying out the activities above, children are not only learning the words but also absorbing the grammar of the sentences they are hearing and repeating.

With French colours, children are subliminally learning about the positioning of adjectives in a sentence (1) and perhaps even the fact that adjectives should match in gender and number (2). You can point this out to older children who may find this interesting to explore.

1. Positioning of French colours as an adjective

In English, the colour of a noun goes before it i.e. the red car. Whereas in French, as with most other adjectives, the colour goes after the noun i.e. la voiture rouge.

• On ne dit pas ‘une rouge voiture’. On dit ‘une voiture rouge’.
• We don’t say ‘une rouge voiture’. We say ‘une voiture rouge’.

2. Adjectives matching in gender and number

In French, adjectives should agree in gender and number (i.e. singular or plural). In general, making an adjective agree with a feminine noun means adding an ‘e’ unless there is already one i.e. ‘rouge’. With regards to colours, one exception to be aware of is ‘blanc’ which becomes ‘blanche’.

Using ‘noir’ as an example:

• le chat noir
• les chats noirs
• la voiture noire
• les voitures noires

So that is Colours in French in a nutshell!

By now your kids should know how to identify the colours in French. If you enjoyed this lesson on French colours and want to show me how you got on, feel free to get in touch! See all of our previous French lessons for kids here: Learn French for Kids
À bientôt! See you soon!
Felicity @ Mini Languages®