Chinese Learning HACK: Games and Fun Activities for Children [PART 1]
- Fun Kids Chinese
- Jan 15, 2020
- 7 min read
Learning through play was what was propagated for our local preschool system. As teachers, we have young children asking us why they hardly learn through play anymore once they are in Primary Schools?
Lower Primary children are often told they are no longer "babies" because they have left preschools and are now enrolled into Primary Schools where the "big sisters and brothers" are. Does that also bring about the inevitable change about how young children learn?
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”– Benjamin Franklin
When children are interested and motivated, they participate actively. When there is participation, learning takes place faster in a natural manner. This is especially so for the lower Primary students who are transiting from their play-based preschool learning environment.
Learning through play can take place at home too. Learning and bonding takes place at the same time - that's killing two birds with one stone. Or what we refer to as "一箭双雕 " ( yí jiàn shuāng diāo) - shooting two birds with one arrow.
Here are some of our learners' favourite games and activities at Fun Kids Chinese. You can try them too! Let your hair down and play!
PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES
Shooting Game
Young learners are always happy to build in some adrenaline rush to their learning activities. One of our favourites is shooting flashcards with a toy gun/bow (or whatever toy shooting equipment you have) . Reading out the correct pronunciation earns the learner a point and some competition factor always amp up the game.
(Safety Note: Please ensure wear of goggles if you choose to use high impact Nerf guns in your games and make sure younger 弟弟妹妹 and your pets keep clear of the shooting arena .)
Fishing Game
Set out a mission on a mission board displaying one set of word cards and place a paper clip to each corresponding picture cards (or vice versa).
Place cards with paper clips into a "pool". (we recommend spreading it out on the floor with the words faced up or in a shallow container)
Learners "fish" the cards with a toy fishing rod with a magnetic tip. (Roll up a brochure to form a rod and tie a string to it and affix a magnet to the string if you do not have one), Learners place the cards they have fished from the "pool" next to the corresponding card on the mission board and read out the Chinese word to earn points.
Hide and Seek
Word cards are hidden in a defined area (we recommend to keep the game within one room to keep the focus and interest for learners who do not have much patience). You can vary the space boundaries according to your learners' needs.
Let the learner know the total number of cards he/she will have to find (we suggest 5 to 10) for the session. Some suggested places can be in between pages of a favourite book; under a pillow or a favourite soft toy; inside a wardrobe; under the curtain etc, making it relatively easy to find without having to empty the entire contents of your cabinets, (unless you don't mind doing spring cleaning right after the game).
Upon finding the card, learner must read out the correct pronunciation to earn points.
Word Dance
Blast learner's favourite music and display one word card at a time. Dance away while writing the words in the air using their fingers, head, butt or more! Let learners express their own creativity by designing their own moves.
It will be great for the child to learn the correct stroke sequence for the words and read out the stroke name as he/she dances. (E.g. 横、竖、撇、捺 ). Refer to a compiled list of strokes covered in the Primary 1 to 3 school textbook at our site here.
Parents can refer to the stroke sequence guides for each word (there are many sites which offer this function), then with your child, "write" the word in the air using body parts with the accompanying music. Alternatively, you can also refer to the Words colouring practice worksheets here at Fun Kids Chinese for the stroke sequence.
Minefield
Tape Chinese word(s) printed on A4 sized cards/papers on the floor which represent "bombs". Game master maps out a specific path of words to be called out one by one, which will lead the learner out of the minefield to safety if he/she is able to step on the right words. We suggest using 10 to 25 cards at one go depending on the readiness of the learner.
When the learner steps on a wrong word card that was not the word called out by the game master, the mine "explodes" and learner has to start all over again.
Active kids find this game exciting and it is good for building up motor skills too! (Safety Note: Taping down the cards is important as slipping on unsecured cards can be a safety hazard!)
Charade
Take turns to act/draw the meaning of words and let another party guess the Chinese word. Through this game, learners gain a better understanding of the meaning of these words and will hence aid in application.
An example of fun family variation could be pre-determining the antics of the family members before acting them out and saying out loud in Chinese who the family member is. Have fun joking over Grandpa's (爷爷）burps or little sis's (妹妹）favourite sentence "Are we there yet?", with due respect though...which is one value Chinese people hold dearly to our hearts.
If you choose to draw out the meaning of the words, you can also incorporate playing rules of the Pictionary game too.
Reality Based Activities
Role Playing Games (a.k.a. play pretend)
* I am a Teacher
“In learning you will teach, and in teaching you will learn.” ― Phil Collins
Some of us may recall the days where we gathered our siblings, friends or even soft toys where we pretended to impart our knowledge to these "students" as "teachers". We learn when we teach. Hand over the reins to the child and request that he/she teaches the set of word cards or read a story to his "students" - put those readers you have paid for to good use :P The child gains confidence as he/she is in control.
Parents, playing the role of students are encouraged to ask questions, or ask for examples. This sets a good example of being a curious learner and cultivates a good habit of asking questions as learners.
*I am a baker
Lay a plastic sheet (or see through tracing paper) on a Chinese word flashcard.
Prepare play dough and let learner knead and shape the dough to match the strokes of the Chinese characters in the proper sequence. Press the joints and shape the final word. (Suitable for kids with good fine motor skills, or kids who wish to train their finger dexterity)
If using edible dough, the shaped dough can be steamed or baked and eaten as a snack. For a fuss-free version, use clay and pretend to place the shaped dough into a pizza stove. Or just use reusable play dough and reuse if there are no intention to keep these creations after the game.
Display these characters (with the paper or plastic base for easy handling) in the "store " and play "Words Bakery Store" where learner has to pick out the correct Chinese word requested by the "customer".
Variation: Parent, as the "customer" can request the way the dough is to be cooked: Steam 蒸, Deep fry 炸, Pan fry 煎, Boil 煮, Grill 烤 for learners to place the dough with the right equipment (or picture cards). This helps children expands children's understanding of more Chinese words through one theme play.
* Other Theme Roles
The local textbooks feature a good range of short stories that learners can relate to in their everyday lives. You'll find scenes and settings featuring interactions with schoolmates/teachers at school; with family members at home and also with neighbours in the community. There are stories about aspirations/occupations; feelings; nature and animals; sports; festivals; food; neighbourhood and many more. Many a times, we do see these stories linked to moral values as well. Classic stories are good scripts too. (Again, put the readers you have paid for to good use)
Such rich settings offer abundant opportunities for children to act out the scenes to reinforce understanding and at the same time, practice saying out loud the related vocabulary and sentence structures in Mandarin.
Bring together a few family members; prepare some simple props and practice conversational lines. You may end up discovering some hidden talents in your family! Small families? Use puppets or learners' favourite toys where learners can also play multiple roles. Puppets are definitely one of our children's favourites!
Real Objects Hunt
Relating words to real objects that we can see, hear, touch, smell or taste in our actual environment is a great way to reinforce learning through engaging our 5 senses. Some of the vocabulary words are items that can be found at home, supermarket or in the parks. Give your young learner a list of scavenger hunt items to hunt at home or the park, or give them a shopping list for them help put into your shopping carts. Or even point the correct relative to you given a guest list at your next family gathering.
Variation: After gathering the food set out in the list, ask learners to identify and categorise food with different tastes (酸sour, 甜sweet, 苦bitter, 辣spicy).
Depending on the objects collected, young learners can also categorise them according to sizes (大big, 小small); hardness (硬hard , 软soft) or even colours!
I hope this list of simple yet meaningful activities helps spark your child’s curiosity and joy in learning Chinese. And guess what—this is just the beginning! We’ve got even more creative, parent‑approved activities that our students absolutely love.
Stay tuned for Part II, where we’ll share more fun, practical ideas you can easily try at home to boost your child’s interest and confidence in Chinese.
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