LesPetitsLearners

Resources

Everything behind the activities and the worksheets

Watch how an activity is meant to look, read the Journal, and see the frameworks each printable is planned against.

Video guides

Short films from early-childhood organisations and French children's media that demonstrate the activities and worksheet routines. None are sponsored and all open in a new tab.

Ages 0–25 min

Serve and return: the back-and-forth behind every activity

A five-step video that shows the conversational turn-taking our 0–2 activities rely on. Watch it once before you start narrating your day in French.

Pairs with: Narrate the ordinary · Stage One pack

Watch · Harvard Center on the Developing Child
Ages 2–46 min

Dialogic reading: asking instead of reading aloud

Video demonstrations of the prompt–evaluate–expand–repeat cycle used in our shared-reading activity and in the Stage Two conversation sheets.

Pairs with: Dialogic reading · Stage Two pack

Watch · Reading Rockets
Ages 2–53–8 min

Naming feelings out loud

Short clips that model emotional vocabulary. Watch one, then use the matching bilingual emotion card — "I am proud" / "Je suis fier·fière".

Pairs with: Emotion cards · Stage Two pack

Watch · Sesame Street
Ages 4–51.5 min

One-minute French explanations to spark questions

Slow, clearly enunciated French. Play one episode, pause, and ask the three follow-up questions from the school-readiness conversation guide.

Pairs with: School-readiness guide · Stage Three pack

Watch · 1 jour, 1 question (France TV)
Ages 2–54–10 min

Practical-life demonstrations: pouring, sorting, tracing

Hand-only demonstrations of the fine-motor set-ups behind our tracing and sorting sheets. Show the movement first, name it in French second.

Pairs with: Tracing & sorting sheets · all stages

Watch · Montessori
Ages 2–43–5 min

Everyday French for walks and seasons

Simple episodes built on everyday outdoor vocabulary — perfect warm-up before the Seasons & Nature walk sheets.

Pairs with: Seasons & Nature mini pack

Watch · Trotro (French children's TV)
Ages 0–32–6 min

What responsive talk looks like with a baby

Real footage of caregivers responding to babbling, gestures and eye contact — the foundation for every first-words worksheet.

Pairs with: First words · Stage One pack

Watch · Zero to Three
See the activity ideas

Curriculum & safeguarding frameworks

The developmental and academic foundations the packs are written against, in Australia and in France.

Australia

EYLF — Belonging, Being & Becoming (V2.0)

Australia's national framework for children from birth to five. Every printable is mapped to at least one of its five learning outcomes, so educators can drop our sheets straight into planning and programming documentation.

What this looks like in the packs

  • Outcome 1 — Strong sense of identity: bilingual self-portrait and "my family" sheets.
  • Outcome 2 — Connected with and contributing to their world: Seasons & Nature walk sheets.
  • Outcome 3 — Strong sense of wellbeing: the twenty-four emotion cards and feelings routines.
  • Outcome 4 — Confident and involved learners: sorting, matching and open-ended provocations.
  • Outcome 5 — Effective communicators: first words, tracing and school-readiness conversation guides.

Australia

National Principles for Child Safe Organisations

The ten national principles guide how photographs, family communication and children's work are handled here. They are the standard behind our consent and privacy practices.

What this looks like in the packs

  • Child safety is embedded in leadership, governance and culture.
  • Children participate in decisions and are taken seriously.
  • Families and communities are informed and involved.
  • Children are empowered about their rights, including in both languages.
  • Physical and online environments — including video sessions — promote safety.

France

École maternelle — Cycle 1 programme

France's cycle 1 programme (ages 3–6, with the petite section reaching down toward two) sets out five explicit learning domains. Our French vocabulary, phonological-awareness and early-number sheets follow its sequence so children can move between systems without a gap.

What this looks like in the packs

  • Mobiliser le langage — oral first, then written: syllable clapping, rhyme and letter tracing.
  • Agir, s’€™exprimer, comprendre à travers l’€™activité physique: movement and gesture cards.
  • Agir, s’€™exprimer, comprendre à travers les activités artistiques: colour, shape and drawing sheets.
  • Construire les premiers outils pour structurer sa pensée: counting to ten, quantity and pattern work.
  • Explorer le monde: living things, seasons, and the passing of time.

Educators

Starter templates you can print, adapt and make your own. Use them for weekly planning or for noticing the small wins that matter most.

Ages 0–5

Weekly lesson plan template

A one-page rhythm you can reuse every week. Each day has a short bilingual prompt so French and English flow naturally through routines, play and provocations.

Theme of the week

  • Example: Les couleurs de l’automne / The colours of autumn

Vocabulary focus

  • rouge / red, jaune / yellow, orange / orange, une feuille / a leaf

Daily structure

  • These daily prompts are suggestions — feel free to rearrange them into any order that suits your group.
  • Monday — Arrival & circle time: Greet each child with Bonjour / Hello and invite them to share one thing they see outside.
  • Tuesday — Sensory provocation: Set out red, yellow and orange leaves with magnifiers. Prompt: Que vois-tu? / What do you see?
  • Wednesday — Story & rhyme: Read a French picture book about autumn; pause and let children finish a repeated line.
  • Thursday — Movement & song: Marcher comme un écureuil / Walk like a squirrel while singing a counting rhyme.
  • Friday — Reflection: Draw or point to a favourite colour. Ask: Quelle couleur aimes-tu? / Which colour do you like?

Materials to prepare

  • Real leaves, magnifiers, crayons, A4 paper, one French picture book, a small basket for collecting treasures

Tips for using this template

  • Keep each activity under 15 minutes for under-threes.
  • Repeat the same prompt in both languages during the week — children learn from repetition.
  • Follow the child’s interest: if they collect stones instead of leaves, name the stones in French and English.
$9A4 · PDF
Ages 0–5

Observation checklist

A quick developmental lens tied to the three stages. Use it to notice what a child can do now, what they can do with help, and what to plan next.

Stage One — 0–2 years

  • □ Turns toward a familiar voice in both languages
  • □ Reaches, grasps and explores objects with mouth and hands
  • □ Responds to facial expressions and simple routines (milk, bath, sleep)
  • □ Babbles with varied sounds and enjoys turn-taking games
  • □ Uses first words or gestures to communicate needs

Stage Two — 2–4 years

  • □ Follows two-step instructions in the language used at home
  • □ Names colours, shapes and common objects in French and English
  • □ Engages in pretend play and uses short sentences
  • □ Shows early emotional vocabulary: happy, sad, tired, proud
  • □ Sorts, matches and completes simple puzzles independently

Stage Three — 4–5 years

  • □ Retells a familiar story and asks questions about new ones
  • □ Counts to ten, recognises some letters and writes their name
  • □ Uses French greetings and simple phrases during routines
  • □ Works alongside peers, shares and negotiates with adult support
  • □ Shows independence in dressing, tidying and small responsibilities

Tips for using this template

  • Date each observation and note the language the child used most.
  • Tick only what you have seen yourself — avoid guessing.
  • Use the blank space at the bottom to write one next step for the week.
$9A4 · PDF

Journal

Short articles written from the classroom floor.

0–3 years6 min read

How to raise a bilingual toddler (without adding another job to your day)

Bilingualism grows out of ordinary moments — nappy changes, snack time, the walk to the park. Here is how to fold a second language into the day you already have.

Read article
2–4 years5 min read

Reggio-inspired activities for 2-year-olds you can set up in five minutes

Open-ended invitations, natural materials and a lot of listening. Seven small provocations that respect a two-year-old's real attention span.

Read article
2–5 years5 min read

Naming feelings in two languages: emotional vocabulary before big emotions arrive

A child who can say "je suis frustré" does not need to throw the cup. How to build emotional vocabulary in French and English in calm moments.

Read article
4–5 years6 min read

Getting ready for school when your child speaks two languages

School readiness is far more about asking for help, taking turns and holding a pencil than it is about reading. A gentle checklist for the year before school.

Read article

Books, toys & developmental tools

Our own shelf: the picture books, open-ended materials and free tracking tools we recommend to families. Nothing is sponsored, and links go to the publisher, maker or organisation rather than a single shop.

Picture books in French

Board books and picture books that carry real French — rhythmic, repetitive text a child can join in with long before they can read.

0–3~$15

La chenille qui fait des trous

Eric Carle · Mijade

The French edition of The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Counting, days of the week and food vocabulary in one repeated structure — our first-words sheets reuse the same nouns.

Find out more
2–5~$12 each

Le Loup qui… (série)

Orianne Lallemand & Éléonore Thuillier · Auzou

A French classroom staple. Each title takes one theme — colours, seasons, feelings — with a refrain children chant back. Pairs directly with the emotion cards.

Find out more
1–4~$8 each

Petit Ours Brun (série)

Bayard Jeunesse

Tiny everyday stories — the bath, the potty, the tantrum — in short present-tense French. Ideal for the routine-narration habit in the Stage One pack.

Find out more
3–5~$14

Le Gribouille / Gruffalo

Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler · Gallimard Jeunesse

Rhyming French that rewards dialogic reading: stop before the rhyme and let the child finish the line.

Find out more
0–3~$10

Mon grand imagier (first-words picture dictionary)

Various French publishers

One sturdy imagier does more than a dozen apps: point, name, wait. Choose one organised by room or theme so it matches the first-words sheets.

Find out more
0–5Free

Your library's French collection

Free

Most city library networks hold French picture books and let you request them between branches. Borrow six, keep the two your child asks for again.

Find out more

Toys & open-ended materials

Reggio-minded materials: few pieces, many uses, and nothing that talks for the child. Each one gives you something concrete to name in French.

1–5$30–90

Unit or wooden blocks

Any untreated hardwood set

The single highest-value purchase on this shelf: maths, balance, and prepositions — sur, sous, à côté — the vocabulary hardest to teach from a worksheet.

Find out more
2–5Free

A loose-parts basket

Gathered, not bought

Pinecones, corks, shells, rings, fabric scraps. Simon Nicholson's loose-parts theory in a bowl — and the exact material the Seasons & Nature walk sheets collect.

Find out more
2–5$25–60

Peg dolls & small figures

Grimm's, Grapat or handmade

Faceless figures leave the emotion to the child — which is precisely what makes them useful with the emotion cards and the feelings routines.

Find out more
18m–4$15

A child-sized practical-life tray

Small jug, tongs, sponge, bowl

Pouring and transferring build the pincer grip behind the tracing sheets. Assemble it from the kitchen — no branded set required.

Find out more
1–5$20–50

Real art materials on a low shelf

Beeswax crayons, liquid watercolour, clay

The Reggio "hundred languages" in practice — materials good enough that the child's work is taken seriously, kept where they can reach them.

Find out more
18m–5$80–150

A learning tower or steady step

Any stable wooden tower

Cooking together is the richest French conversation of the week: verbs, sequence, quantity, and a reason to talk for twenty minutes straight.

Find out more

Developmental tools & trackers

Free, credible tools for watching development over time — and for knowing when a quiet period is typical and when it is worth asking someone.

0–5Free app

CDC Milestone Tracker

US Centers for Disease Control

Photo-and-video checklists from 2 months to 5 years, with a printable summary to bring to appointments.

Find out more
1m–5yFree parent info

ASQ-3 / Learning Trajectories

Ages & Stages Questionnaires

The screening questionnaire most early-childhood services use; the public site explains what each domain measures.

Find out more
0–5Free

Raising Children Network

Australian Government funded

Australia's parenting reference: age-by-age guides, short videos and a bilingual-families section, all clinically reviewed.

Find out more
0–5Free PDF

Speech Pathology Australia — communication milestones

Speech Pathology Australia

One-page checklists per age band, including guidance specific to children learning two languages.

Find out more
0–5Free

EYLF learning-outcome planner

ACECQA

For educators: the outcome descriptors to attach to observations — the same five we map every printable to.

Find out more
0–5Free

Our own stage quiz

Les Petits Learners

Two minutes of questions that place your child in Stage One, Two or Three and point to the matching pack.

Open

Curated shelf

Outside resources we actually use with families — most of them free.

Bilingual family research & guidance

Evidence-based reading on how children acquire two languages, from universities and public health bodies.

Free French listening & reading

Places to find authentic French audio and books without a subscription.

  • Une histoire et… Oli (France Inter)

    Free original French story podcast written for young children — perfect for car journeys.

  • TV5MONDEplus

    Free streaming with a children's section in French, available in most countries.

  • StoryWeaver

    Thousands of free, openly licensed picture books — filter by French and by reading level.

  • World Stories

    Traditional tales read aloud in many languages, with side-by-side text.

Reggio Emilia & early years practice

Where to read more about the approach behind our printables.

Free & low-cost printable sources

Good companions to our packs when you need more practice pages.