Do you need a fun, interactive game to get your French students practicing counting in French? Let me introduce you to VINGT-ET-UN!

This is a whole class game with no materials needed. You can start playing as soon as you have introduced your French students to numbers 1 to 21, and in no time they will have mastered counting to 21 with correct pronunciation. 

In my first year teaching French, my students actually taught me this game. It was something they had played with their previous French teacher whom they adored and who sadly passed away very suddenly. In that first year, I tried to do what I could to make their unexpected transition to a new French teacher as easy as possible, and they were excited to keep her classroom tradition going by teaching it to me. I continued using it year after year for twenty years, teaching at multiple schools, and it never got old.

My middle school students told me that it is similar to a game called Sparkle, but I’ve never taught primary school so I can’t say for sure. 

How To Play

1. All students stand up at their desks.
2. Go around the room taking turns counting up to 21. Vingt-et-un is the number that gets you out! So it’s the number to avoid. 
3. Each student can count up to three numbers at a time. Example: the first student can choose to either say “un”, or “un, deux” or “un, deux, trois”. It’s entirely up to them.
4. The next student picks up where they left off, choosing to count either one, two, or three numbers. 
5. Students have to pay attention to what was said before them. If a student says the wrong number, they are out and have to sit down. The next person in line has to start over with 1. 
6. If a student counts more than three numbers, they are out and have to sit down. The next person in line has to start over with 1. 
7. If a student mispronounces the number, or has no idea which number comes next, they are out and have to sit down. The next person in line has to start over with 1.
8. If you are the student who has to say 21, you are out! That student sits down. They do have to say 21 out loud before sitting down. The next person in line starts counting with 1 again. 
9. The one person left standing is the winner!
10. Then you can have everyone stand up again and play another round! Start on the opposite side of the room to mix it up. 

Why It’s Great

1. I have used this with 6th grade through high school seniors. Everyone loves it!
2. I teach the game to my first year students when we learn numbers, and by the second or third day playing it they have figured out how to correctly pronounce all the numbers 1-21. 
3. It gets really fun and competitive, especially when you get down to a few or the final three players. It becomes a math game figuring out how many numbers to count so as to avoid landing on 21. 
4. Everyone ends up shouting vingt-et-un! Vingt-et-un will become a meme in your classroom. 
5. Do you have an extra 10 minutes at the end of a period and don’t want to start something new? Play 21! 
6. Over twenty years of teaching I have only had to ban one class from playing it because they got too competitive. (Yes, they were 6th graders.)

I hope you and your students love playing this game as much as me and my students have. Sometimes, even in high school, you just need to take a break, get up out of your seat, and have a little fun and friendly competition.