With so many choices for children these days, it is satisfying to find educational gifts that you know they will love! With three children myself, I know that parents will also thank you if you show up with a well thought out, original present which won’t be cast aside or break within a few weeks.

With that in mind, I have put together an quick gift guide with ideas for presents that will boost kids’ language skills all whilst having fun. No affiliates other than my Mini Languages® courses (which I HAD to mention!) – these are just products I love! Prices are at time of writing – December 2020.

Having a variety of resources for children to learn a new language like French is great! The more you can expose them to a language the more they will become confident linguists in the future.

French Kids Books

Reading kids’ books in French can be extremely helpful in increasing a child’s vocabulary. It brings the words to life and parents can learn too  as the sentences are simple!

I’d recommend most books from the Loulou et Cie collection (link to Amazon UK). They tend to be suitable for age 3-5 and are well written. A particular favourite of mine is “Le live qui dort”. These emotions books by Ramadier and Bourgeau have simple sentences and encourage little ones to interact with the page.

c. £4 for the paper-back and c. £9 for the hard-back.

If you have a bigger budget consider subscribing to the École Des Loisirs book club. All you info you need is in this article.

My Fabulous Storyteller

This multilingual device by Lunii will tell you children bedtime stories. My children love to listen in French and English. what is extra special is the children choose the character, location and other aspects of the story by turning the dial.

You can download new stories in many languages from the Lunii store. It can be used when travelling or to lull them off to sleep. Great for bilingual families and for kids to hear another language.

Good from about age 3 and even my 8 year old still uses his which as a gift from his Auntie and Uncle in Paris (Lunii is a Paris start-up).

Currently costs about €70.

Haba & Djeco Mini Games

We have several of these compact little games at home. They are easy to store, well designed and how I use it as a French tool is read the rules in French and name the pieces as we play.

 One of our favourites is Le Verger by Haba – harvest the little wooden fruit pieces before the crow acts them all! Learn the words for all the fruit and try to play in French.

I also like  Bisou, Dodo by Djeco (which means kisses and bedtime in French). There is lots of choice and just encourages a focused activity which you can use as French time.

Prices around £15-20

Digital Gifts to send by email

With all the restrictions this year, why not opt for a digital gift? Original, thoughtful and educational. Parents can log-on in the New Year and start their child off on a wonderful language learning adventure!

Children can start to learn French through the structured Mini Languages® online courses from age 3. They are accessed through an online account and come with loads of downloadable mp3s and printables. Or consider access to a membership subscription where kids can learn French through an interactive platform.

Courses are £15.49 and subscriptions are £9.95 a month

Or you could consider asking a grandparent to pay for a set of online French classes.

So there we go a quick guide to some of my go-to educational gifts; with books, games, tech and digital products you cannot go wrong – guaranteed to please both kids and parents!