Games to play in the car with no screen (and learn French too)

All on board!

If you’re packing kids, boots, poles, snowboard and thermals in your car soon, ready to drive to the Alps for a family ski holiday, there’s a sticky point you’ll know about (or will discover soon enough). It’s a long way from the UK to get there. Even without any “embouteillages” on the way. Even with patient children used to that special “commute”. I should know. I have 2 (kids that is) who have been stuck in the back of a 7-seater year in, year out, going from Sussex to Megeve, La Clusaz, Les Saisies and more since the eldest was 3 (they are now both teenagers). Lucky them, I know. Not a bad way to spend half term. All the same, getting yourself armed with games you can play in the car might help make the journey a little shorter, and a lot more fun, especially if you have a selection of easy options where you can learn a little Francais too. Here are 4 we use a lot.

Qu’est ce que c’est?

Or rather, what does it mean? Here’s a list of 20 very French expressions. One of the passengers reads the first one aloud (preferably the one with the highest knowledge of French pronunciation, but everyone can have a go for a giggle). The others try to guess what they mean in English. Once someone has guessed you move on to the next one and so on.

BONUS: All these expressions also include everyday words (animals, food…) which might come handy during your stay or to improve your everyday French. We have highlighted these in bold.

1. Il pleut comme vache qui pisse (Literally: It’s raining like a weeing cow. In English: It’s raining cats and dogs)
2. Ca va vachement bien (Literally: I’m doing cowly well. In English: I’m on top of the world)
3. Faut pas pousser mamie dans les orties (Literally: Don’t push grand-ma into the nettles. In English: don’t push your luck)
4. Avoir la chair de poule (Literally: To have chicken skin. In English: To have goose bumps)
5. Il a un poil dans la main (Literally: He’s got a hair in his hand. In English: He’s lazy)
6. Les carottes sont cuites (Literally: The carrots are cooked. In English: It’s all over)
7. Se faire creper le chignon (Literally: to get your hair bun back combed. In English: to get told off)
8. Chercher la petite bête (Literally: To look for the little bug. In English: To tease someone/to be looking for trouble)
9. Va te faire cuire un oeuf (Literally: Go fry an egg. In English: Go away)
10. Avoir la frite (Literally: To have the French fry. In English: to feel super energetic)
11. Ca n’a rien a voir avec la choucroute (Literally: it’s got nothing to do with sauerkraut. In English: it’s got nothing to do with this/ you’re talking nonsense)
12. J’ai la moutarde qui me monte au nez (Literally: I have mustard coming up my nose. In English: I’m starting to feel really upset about this)
13. Il fait un froid de canard (Literally: it’s cold like duck. In English: It’s freezing)
14. Casser du sucre sur le dos de quelqu’un (Literally: To break sugar (cubes) on someone’s back. In English: to bad mouth someone)
15. Raconter des salades (Literally: to tell salad stories. In English: Telling lies)
16. Mettre son grain de sel (Literally: to add salt. In English: to be nosey, to get involved into something that has got nothing to do with you)
17. Manger sur le pouce (Literally: Eat on the thumb. In English: to have a quite bite to eat)
18. Avoir un chat dans la gorge (Literally: to have a cat in the back of your mouth. In English: to have an annoying cough)
19. Avoir du pain sur la planche (Literally: To have bread on a chopping board. In English: to have a lot of work)
20. Donner sa langue au chat (Literally: To give your tongue to the cat. In English: to give up – when you can’t find the answer to a question in a game)

SPIN OFF: For a beginner game, use the bold words to in French or English to simply learn their meaning.

 

Add it up

Pick two numbers to add up (small ones to start). The first one to shout out the correct answer in French wins. Build up the sums as you learn higher numbers.

Remember:

70 is “sixty 10” (soixante dix), 71 “sixty eleven” (soixante et onze) and so on.

90 works in a similar way with 80 (so 90 is “eightly ten”, 91 is “eighty eleven”…)

And 80 is the quirkiest one, because it’s “four twenties” (quatre vingt). So what does that make 94? “four twenty fourteen”! (Quatre vingt quatorze). Why keep it simple hey?

Here are a few to get you started:

4+5= NEUF

3+4= SEPT

2+2=QUATRE

11+4=QUINZE

23+19=QUARANTE ET UN

 

Car Bingo

The same principle as the normal car bingo game (find out all the details of how to play this and  14 car games to play in the car without a screen – it even comes with a downloadable print out and score sheet), but you have to call out your numbers in French bien sur.

 

The Letter Game

Spot road signs that point out to local facilities (supermarket….) and road instructions, and write them down in French. You can either play a version where the winner is the person who finds the most words starting with the same letter (Peage, Patinoire, Poste,….) or try to complete an A to Z (but that’s much harder of course).

The winner must read all his or her words in French too – and get extra points if they can translate each word back in English.

 

Faire les courses

This is a game you play in 2 parts, that’s great to get your kids practicing coming to the shops and ask for items once you’re at your ski resort. You’ll need to pack little note pads and pencils with you.

PART 1– when you next stop to get fuel on the motorway, the kids go to the food shop and try to write the names of as many different food items as possible from seeing them on the shelves.

PART 2– When everyone is back in the car, the first person start by saying “je voudrais acheter (would like to buy…)” and say one of the food items on their list.

The next person needs to repeat this and add their own item (using the word ET to add to the list). And so on. So it’s also a memory game.

For example:

Player 1 goes “Je voudrais acheter un camembert” – I would like to buy a camembert cheese

Player 2 “Je voudrais acheter un camembert ET une pomme” – I would like to buy a camembert cheese and an apple

Player 3 – “Je voudrais acheter un camembert et une pomme et une quiche”….

…..

BONUS: You can remove the word “acheter” and use animal names if your kids know some in French, to make up a list of animals you’d like in your farm or your own zoo too! (Je voudrais une poule ET un elephant ET un Zebre…)

 

So there you go. Of course you can rely on screens to entertain your kids on the way to the Alps too, but hopefully these games will provide you with a fun alternative. At least part of the way.  Bon voyage!

 

 

 

SHORT BIO: Laure Moyle is a digital marketing specialist who grew up near Lyon, spending nearly as much time skiing as reading Economics at University (Because….You only live once). A total foodie, she’s especially obsessed with chocolate and share her “struggles with the delicious dark stuff” in The Patisserie Diary. Laure also helps start-ups and small business with big ambitions with their marketing and SEO. She lives in West Sussex with her kids and a lovely-if-a-little- noisy miniature Schnauzer called Darcy.