Does your child love to help out with laundry? Mine loves getting involved with different tasks: sorting clothes, carrying the laundry basket, transferring clothes to the washing mashing, opening and closing the door, starting the cycle, and even folding! This tedious chore is a fun game for her, so I use this opportunity to practice French laundry-related vocabulary and expressions with her. Here are a few ways you can teach toddlers French while doing laundry together.
Related: Teach kids French: Daily routines in French
What is laundry in French? Laundry is la lessive and to do laundry is faire la lessive.
French laundry vocabulary and tasks for kids
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Clothes – le linge, les vêtements
Laundry basket – la corbeille à linge, le panier à linge
Sorting clothes
Sorting clothes, what seems like a tedious chore for us, is a surprisingly fun activity for kids. You can ask your toddler to pile clothes by colour, by owner, or by type of fabric or clothes; the learning possibilities are numerous.
To sort clothes – trier le linge, séparer les vêtements
Washing machine – le lave-linge, la machine à laver
Loading the washing machine
If you have a front-loading machine, you can supervise your child as they load the washer. For top-loading machines, your little helper can hand you clothes as you load the washing machine. Teamwork!
To load the washing machine – charger le lave-linge, remplir la machine à laver
Pouring detergent
Depending on their age, you may ask them to help pour detergent or you can talk to them about the task as you complete it.
Detergent – le détergent, la lessive
Pour detergent – verser du détergent
Pressing buttons
Is there anything more fun than pressing buttons? Laundry does offer a multitude of button pressing perks that kids enjoy: choosing the cycle to the temperature, and finally pressing “start”!
To press the button – appuyer sur le bouton
Wash cycle – le cycle de lavage, le programme de lavage
Wash temperature – la température de lavage
Start/Stop – marche/arrêt
I hope you enjoy teaching your toddler French while doing the laundry!
