123 Petits Pas

As part of our honeymoon Matt and I went to Paris. As Canadians we felt terrible we weren’t able to communicate well enough when we were there. We felt that we needed to make more of an effort to learning our Country’s second language. 
Fairly soon after I got pregnant then gave birth to Mia, Life got insane and we were behind on our plans. 
Fast forward to our big move from Vancouver to Ottawa with little 5 month old Mia; We were determined more than ever to learn french and me being a SAHM thought I’d see if Ottawa had anything I can bring a little human to. 
My husband, who is master of finding cool local stuff, found this program called 123 Petits Pas. It was a Parent & Me french education class for kids and had various classes in a few locations around the city which was perfect!  

We registered ourselves for the intro to french workshop as well as Mia & Myself for the spring session of the class for infants which just happened to be down the street. 
Mia LOVED this class. 
Mme Amy, the Owner & Instructor, led a class perfectly fit for our age group. 
My favourite part was all of the props that went along with the songs and activities we did. 
Mme Amy emails you the song sheets and other resources so you can have an easier time practicing at home. She also has a facebook group you can join. 

This Spring, Mia is an energetic little toddler who doesn’t quite fit into the infant class anymore. We were lucky enough to be gifted with a toddler session from Mme Amy and chose to do it at Bubble Sea Adventures location, a local play gym. 
As expected, Mia Loves it and can participate much better now. 
The program is similar to the infant one but much more geared to toddlers and their energy level. As a parent who does not know french I appreciate that the toddler class has a few of the same songs as the infant one we did previously so I didn’t feel so lost. 

Two of our favourites are super easy and are relevant to use in daily life. 
Vert et Jaune (green and yellow) is a song about the french words for red, yellow, green and the actions stop, slow, and fast. We use this as a fun game with Mia at home teaching her the french words with actions and also teach her to stop and go on demand, which is a key skill for unpredictable toddlers. 
On Va Marche, this song we usually do moving in class as well as at home. On Va (to go) Marche (walk) is extremely helpful to get a toddler to keep moving along. You repeat this and eventually add Arret (stop) to freeze which Mia finds so great. She plays this on her own now which is cute. The action word could be replaced with petits pas (small steps), gros pas (big steps) danse (dance) etc.  

If you’re looking for something to do with your little I highly recommend 123 petits pas. They have recently expanded their instructor roster to open up classes in more locations at even more time slots. 
They have classes for children ages 0-4 years with a few additional classes and workshops for primary students and parents of EFI students. 

The extra bonus is you can have any amount of french to participate, Zero like myself or even be fully bilingual. 

Below are some links to find out more! Just click on the text to open a new window.