Looking for no-tech French review games that don’t require students to be on a screen? I get that! Ever since Covid, we have all become so dependent on technology for everything, but too much of a good thing is still going to be too much, right?

If you’re looking to engage French students and find some new French review games that don’t require your students to log in, look at a screen, or get online, this is for you!

I asked teachers who subscribe to my email list to share their favorite activities for when students are having trouble focusing, and they gave me permission to share them with you all! Here are a few no-tech French review games you can use right now to practice vocabulary or help students focus at the end of the year.

Kerchief game

I call it this because we used to play with a small bean bag, and two students got a little too competitive and it exploded all over the place in my classroom! I switched to a kerchief instead. It’s one of my favorite French review games, because you just need a vocab list or a set of verbs to practice and there’s no other prep involved!

How it works:

• Put students into two teams. I usually name them les chatons and les chiots, but you can call them anything you want – or not name them at all!
• Bring a student from each team up to the front of the room.
• Have them stand on opposite sides of a desk and place a kerchief on a desk between them.
• Call out a vocabulary word. You can call it out in English and have them translate to French, or call it out in French and have them translate to English. For immersion, I would give a definition or show a picture.
• The students race to grab the kerchief, and the student who grabs it first gets to answer. If the answer is correct, that team scores a point.
• If the answer is incorrect, the other student gets a chance to answer. If that student cannot answer, a player from each team can run up, grab the kerchief and answer.

It is SO much fun, but it gets rowdy!

Want to add even more movement? Veronica S. shared a fun idea with me that sounds SO fun!

Here’s what you do:

• She buys cheap paper plates and will put one in the middle of the room. Students stand on opposite sides and face each other.
• She gives them a verb to act out like manger, danser, etc.
• She chooses a special word that is something that wouldn’t be used normally for this activity, like maybe a slang word or even “Zut !”
• When she says the special word, the two opponents try to step on the plate first. Whoever is first wins that round.

Whiteboard races

This one can be a game or just a super-easy formative check.

I love to use them to review French verb conjugation and vocabulary, but you can use them for listening practice, too!

To practice verbs, just call out a subject and verb and have them conjugate it and hold up their boards. For vocabulary, you can give the English or show an image and have them write the French word. It’s so easy!

To make it a French review game, I just divide the class into four groups and have someone from each group race to show the correct answer. I give a point for the team that shows me first (and when a tie results, I just give points to both).

To practice listening, you could describe a person or place and have them draw it on their boards.

Highlighter splat

This French review game was shared with me by a fellow French teacher who learned it from another teacher friend. To play this, you’ll need to prepare the sheets in advance, but once you’ve got the sheets, you can use them anytime you come back to this unit!

Here’s what you’ll do:

• Make a sheet with your vocabulary words. I’d use PowerPoint, because it’s easier to move text boxes around on the page. Just make sure they are big enough and spaced out enough so students can ready quickly. It might look like this.

• Once you have the sheets made, you’ll put students in pairs and call out the words In English. If you want, you can also hold up an image of the words if you have that available.
• Students will race to find the correct word. Then, you can have them either mark the word with their highlighter or you can give them tokens to place on the word.
• The student with the most words marked will win.
• You can put these in page protectors and use the same pages over and over or just make enough copies to use with all of your classes.  

Tête à tête

Gina A. shared this fun French review game. It’s a super-fun way to review vocabulary and requires very little prep!

Here’s what you’ll do:

• Grab your vocabulary flashcards. If you don’t have any, you can just write the words on index cards.
• Split the class into two teams.
• Call up one person from each team and show them the flashcard.
• The first student to say the correct word gets to keep the card and the team who has the most cards at the end of the game wins.

Numbers brain break

Gabrielle S. shared a fun idea she uses when her students need a break. It would be a fun way to review numbers and basic addition with young French learners. Here’s what she does:

• Everyone puts a hand behind their back and puts out 1-5 fingers.
• On the count of 3, everyone shows their hand.
• If their number and the teachers number equal six, they sit down.

You could use this to help young students work quickly on addition or as a brain break between activities.

La chaise chaude

Valerie shared this fun game that she adapted it for her French immersion classes at a level that was appropriate for them. Here’s how it works:

• One student sits in the hot seat in front of the class with his/her back to the whiteboard.
• She’ll choose a vocabulary word from a theme that they have been working on in class, so maybe something from her science unit or something that applies to the season they are in.
• She’ll write the word on the board and make a quick drawing for students who need support.
• The class will give clues to the word, speaking only in French, and the student tries to guess the word.
• She doesn’t let them make super-obvious clues like “ça rime avec…” but instead has them describe the word with clues like “c’est vivant, c’est plus petit que/plus grand que, etc.”

French vocabulary review game

Another fellow French teacher shared this idea, and I thought it sounded so fun!

Before playing, you’ll need to type out a set of questions and on another sheet, type the corresponding answers to the questions. Print the answers out on 2 different colored papers, and then cut out the answer strips so you have one to distribute to each student. You’ll distribute strips of the same color to each team.

Divide the class into two teams and give each team a special word. Choose something short that they can say quickly. I’d recommend a French onomatopeia like “plouf,” “aïe,” “plic,” or “ding,” because they are funny and can help you teach a little something fun with no extra effort.

Here’s how it works:

• The two teams line up facing each other.
• Each student will have one answer sheet, making sure that all students have the same color answer strip as their teammates.
• Ask the questions from your question sheet in any random order.
• If a student thinks that he/she has the correct answer strip, that student will step forward and say the special word for the team.
• That student then gets to read the answer on his/her sheet. If correct, that team earns a point.

A few tips:

• Make a mark next to the questions on your sheet so you know that you’ve already asked that question.
• You can ask the same question more than once, so make sure the students know that they are not done playing just because they have already answered their question once!

I hope these no-tech French games helped you find something fun to do with your students!

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