Last year, we visited our first pumpkin patch, and even if our daughter was quite young, she had a great time frolicking around the bright orange pumpkins scattered all over the ground. We also loved the opportunity to spend time as a family outdoors, making new memories together. This year, since Surya’s older and better able to appreciate it, we decided to visit a pumpkin patch with a farm on its grounds. We had a fabulous time discovering plants and animals in French!
Animals in French
We met our first emu. Fun fact to share with your little explorers: after the ostrich, emus are the second-largest bird by height.
Emu – un émeu
Notice how the sound changes when you put “un” in front of “émeu“. This is because of what’s called a “liaison“. It’s common to link the sound of the last letter of a word, “n” in this case, to the first letter of the word that follows if it’s a vowel, “é” in this example.
We also saw a number of friendly goats, big and small, on the property.
Goat – une chèvre (female), un bouc (male)
There were many varieties of sheep.
Sheep – un mouton (male), une brebis (female)
We saw many domestic ducks, which looked quite different from the wild ducks we’re used to seeing at the neighbourhood pond.
Duck – un canard (male), une cane (female)
We even saw peacocks. We learned that peacocks lose their eye-spotted tail feathers in the late summer, which would explain why this guy below was missing some of its extravagant plumage.
Peacock – un paon (male), une paonne (female)
Surya also saw hens and roosters, along with little chicks running around.
Hen – une poule
Rooster – un coq
Chick – un poussin
We were lucky because the farmer happened to be collecting the freshly laid eggs from the coop.
Egg – un oeuf
Eggs – des oeufs
The sow and her nine piglets, all breastfeeding at the same time, was quite the sight!
Pig – une truie (female), un cochon (male)
Piglet – un porcelet
We saw cows and calves.
Cow – une vache
Calf – un veau
There were also rabbits on the farm.
Rabbit – un lapin (male), une lapine (female)
We were so glad to see a donkey!
Donkey – un âne (male), une ânesse (female)
And the most impressive of all? This magestic horse!
Horse – un cheval (male), une jument (female)
What about pumpkins?
We were having so much fun exploring the farm that we almost forgot about the pumpkin patch! We spend the last part of our trip in the pumpkin fields and ended our visit with a delicious pumpkin pie and hot chocolate by an outdoor fire. Just a perfect autumn day with the family!
Pumpkin – une citrouille
Pumpkin pie – une tarte à la citrouille
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