5 fun language learning activities for children

I have very fond memories of teaching English as a foreign language to kids. Although I no longer do it as a job, the topic of teaching children is still close to my heart as I’m now a mum myself.

I recently blogged about the 6 reasons why you should teach your child a foreign language. And in this post, I want to share with you my top 5 activities that you can use to teach your little one their first words in a foreign language.

1. Use picture books to introduce vocabulary

Picture books and vocabulary books are great from a very early age. Children love bright colours, and the images helps them memorise the words that describe the pictures.

I spent the past few months developing a series of illustrated vocabulary books that you can use to introduce your child to their first words in a foreign language. The books are called My First Words, and they’re available in French, Spanish, German and English. You can find out more about them here.

One of my favourite ways to use picture books with my own daughter is to point at the drawings, say the words and then describe the drawings in the target language. This will give your child some exposure to the language even if they’re a little baby who can’t speak yet, and it will create some context for each word for older children. Here’s an example of what I’d normally say:

That’s a bear. He’s brown and very big. He’s got small ears, black eyes, a black nose and big claws. He’s sitting in the grass next to a tree. There’s a bird sitting on one of the branches as well, and looking down at the bear.

As your child becomes more advanced in the language, you can start making up more complex stories that feature the images from the picture book.

If you’d like to introduce your child to their first words in French, Spanish, German or English, you can find out more about My First Words here.

2. Get your child drawing

This activity involves getting your child to draw something based on the description you give them. First, you need to agree what it is they’re going to draw exactly – for example, a little boy, a house or a car. Then, you will describe to them in detail, in the target language, the different elements of the drawing and what they should look like. For example:

Draw a tall and thin house, with three big windows and a yellow door. The roof should be pink and there should be a small, black bird sitting on it.

If your child comes across a word they don’t know, you can try miming it and getting them to guess what it means that way. Try to limit the use of your native language to maximise the value of this activity.

Through this activity, your child can have a bit of fun with drawing, and also practise their listening skills and learn some vocabulary as well.

3. Sing and learn

Singing songs in a foreign language together can be super-fun and very beneficial for your child’s language acquisition.

I remember being able to sing the lyrics of English language songs and knowing them off by heart before I could even speak English. That actually has some benefits – you familiarise yourself with the sounds of the language and you practise the pronunciation. You then learn the individual words that make up the lyrics of the song bit by bit, and they begin to make sense.

You can start really small when listening to music and singing with your child. Find a song that’s very popular with kids in the language you’re hoping to introduce your little one to. I know Baby Shark is pretty big at moment. It’s pretty basic but if I were to introduce my child to English, I’d know they would benefit from it because they’d learn a few words to describe family members (baby shark, daddy shark, mummy shark, etc. – and the doo, doo, be, doo, of course).

Little kids will find this activity fun and it won’t really seem like ‘learning’ at all.

4. Use rhymes to help your child memorise new words

Using rhymes is a great way to help your child learn a foreign language. Rhymes exist in all languages – from nursery rhymes to rhymes for older children. You can try poetry as well!

The end of each line in a rhyme ends in a similar sound creating a pattern that’s easy to remember. One line may contain a word your child already knows which rhymes with a new word – and that word will be easier to memorise because it rhymes with the more familiar one.

Also, rhymes – just like songs and stories – engage your child’s imagination. This is very important in the process of memorising new words. Your child is probably not even aware of it at this stage but the words from the rhymes they hear and say are getting engraved in their memory.

5. Go outside to make language learning real

Take your child outside and show them the world around them. Walk around, point at things and say the words that describe them in the language your child is learning.

You can also organise a scavenger hunt. Give your child a list of things you want them to find (in the target language) and send them off to find the objects. You can ask them for a list of general objects (such as a ‘pebble’) or you can make it more complex by specifying the shape or colour of each object (such as a ‘brown pebble’). At the end of the activity, get your child to present the objects to you and use their names to tell you what they found.

Remember to check out my new series of illustrated vocabulary books that I’ve created to help you teach your child their first words in a foreign language. They’re called My First Words, and they’re available in French, Spanish, German and English. Find out more about the books here.