Make a Model of The Eiffel Tower

French Activity for Children
Make a Model of the Eiffel Tower out of a box of French cheese.
French/English Youtube, Vocabulary + Worksheet.
Buy a box of camembert cheese.
Don’t just buy it, smell it, taste it – with some baguette!  Camembert comes from Normandy.  Where is that in France?  Look it up!

Only the empty box is needed for the model + a piece of cardboard, lollipop sticks, toothpicks, glue, elastic band.

Instructions

Study the images and follow the French/English questions and instructions on the video clip.

Questions

Qu’est-ce que c’est?
What is it?

Qu’est-ce que tu as?
What have you got?

Que fais-tu?
What are you doing?

Vocabulary

un, une   (= a, an):
un modèle(m)                  =  a model
une bande élastique(f)  =  an elastic band

du, de la, des (= some/any):
du camembert(m) some camembert
du carton(m)         some cardboard
de la colle(f)          some glue
des bâtons(mpl)    some sticks
des piques en bois(fpl)  some toothpicks

la boîte de camembert:  the box of camembert

Note: The hardest part is pushing the sticks through the empty box.  Have sticky tape to hand if things start to go wrong – Very helpful if you are short of time!

Downloadable Gap Fill Worksheet

Video Transcript in French:

(For reading and translation practice, + display next to your own model?)
Qu’est-ce que c’est?
C’est la tour Eiffel!
Qu’est-ce que tu as?
J’ai une tour Eiffel dans ma chambre!
Qu’est-ce que c’est?
C’est du camembert.
Que fais-tu?
Je cherche du carton,
de la colle,
des bâtons,
et des piques en bois.
Que fais-tu?
Je fais un modèle …
Je colle des bâtons.
Je perce la boîte de camembert!
Je mets une bande élastique.
Je mets de la colle,
et je colle le modèle!
J’ajoute des bâtons,
au sommet,
et pour terminer le modèle.
Qu’est-ce que c’est?
C’est la tour Eiffel!

Easter Activity – Egg Blowing

A wonderful Easter activity is to blow eggs and paint them.
Try to get hold of white eggs if possible.
Drill small holes carefully through both ends of the raw egg, either with a fine drill or by gently pushing and twisting a pin or a thin skewer slowly through the shell:

Blow the raw egg out (the smaller the hole, the harder it will be to blow the egg out!) and then dye  with food colouring.
Ideas:
–  Drip blobs of hot candle wax onto the egg before dyeing or before adding another colour.  Then pick them off after the egg is dry.
–  Draw on the egg with a wax crayon before or after dyeing.
–  Painting over the dye is fun too, like this little pig (petit cochon) chosen because of all the chocolate eaten over Easter!

Pâte à sel is another fantastic activity for the Easter holidays.  Why not make a figure like the angry bird in this picture but make the eyebrows friendly and paint it yellow to make an Easter chick instead?!

The instructions, including a video clip, are available here:  the recipe