Learning French through play and toys

Teach French to kids while playing dominoes

A simple game of dominoes can be a fun way to teach French to kids. It also allows families to spend quality time together, especially during these rainy fall days. Depending on the age of your child, you can adapt the rules so that they get the most out of the game.

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Teach French verbs

There are many verbs that you can introduce and practice with your child while playing dominoes.

To place the dominoes – poser les pièces or poser les dominos

To shuffle the dominoes – mélanger les dominos

To start the game – commencer la partie

Concepts to teach kids

Since little hands can easily handle dominoes, you can have your child be in charge of the very important task of putting each one face-down at the beginning of each game.

To place dominoes face-downposer les pièces à l’envers

To place face-upposer les pièces à l’endroit

Dominoes can also provide the perfect opportunity to introduce or practice the concepts of clockwise and anticlockwise as you discuss the direction in which players will have their turns.

Clockwise – le sens horaire, le sens des aiguilles d’une montre

le sens horaire
le sens des aiguilles d’une montre

Counterclockwise, anticlockwise – le sens antihoraire, le sens inverse des aiguilles d’une montre

le sens antihoraire
le sens inverse des aiguilles d’une montre

Different types of dominoes for kids

There are many different types of dominoes for kids, and depending on which one(s) you choose, you can focus on a variety of learning outcomes.

Numbers

A classic domino set like the one below is a great tool to teach counting with 1 to 1 correspondence to kids.

Related: Counting in French: One to ten (1 to 10)

Colours

If your child is too young for 1:1 correspondence, you can focus on practicing colours in French with a set like the Melissa & Doug Dominoes.

Learn colours in French: matching activity for kids

Animals

I bought a simple set of animal dominoes from the dollar store, but there are many great options on Amazon, like this farm animal domino set.

What other types of dominoes have you found to teach French to kids?

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