Mini Lesson Plan: The Chinese Farm
Who’s excited for the upcoming Chinese New Year weekend? We know we are! In preparation for the festive season, we’re lining up some Chinese language activities for you to enjoy with your little ones…
Mandarin is spoken by an astounding 1.2 billion people worldwide. That’s over 3 times the number of people who speak English! If you are wondering how to start introducing the language to your children, here are some simple yet fun activities for you!
Activity 1: Twinkle Trails Episode 21
Miss Twinkle and her class are in China today. They are visiting an animal farm. Ethan and friends are thrilled to see the animals roaming around. But wait, the kids are having a little trouble grabbing the animals’ attention. They seem to only respond to Chinese!
Let’s join Ethan and friends to learn some Chinese words to get the animals’ attention. Ready? Click on the video below to start!
Here is a simple activity for you to do with the little ones after watching the video above. Simply print out the sheets below, and grab a pencil along with a ruler! Let the kids apply their newly acquired knowledge by matching the animals to the correct Chinese words!
Activity 2: Paste It!
Chinese is a highly visual and literal language. For example, a giraffe in Mandarin is called 长颈鹿, or literally, a long (长) necked (颈) deer (鹿)! The language does not allow for phonetic connections like the English language does.
Read all about it here:
Additionally, Mandarin characters often have the same sounds but have totally different meanings. A simple example will be the word 早 (zao), which means “morning”. In comparison, 找 (zhao) which sounds almost identical, means “find”.
Here is a simple and fun activity you can try with your children: You can write out simple household item words in Chinese on post-it notes. Thereafter, you can have a race (by timing) for the child to stick them onto the appropriate item in your house.
Here are some examples to get your started:
- Chair: 椅子 — (Yizi)
- Table: 桌子 — (Zhuōzi)
- Television: 电视 — (Diànshì)
- Umbrella: 雨伞 — (Yusan)
- Shoes: 鞋子— (Xiézi)
- Refrigerator: 冰箱 — (Bīngxiāng)
- Use Google Translate to add more to the list. :)
Mix it around subsequently with different words to keep things interesting for the child!
Activity 3: Sing-a-long
The Chinese language is also rhythmic in nature. Often times, the Chinese language has been described to be song-like. In fact, ancient Chinese poetry was mostly of a musical nature!
What better way to help the kids learn and appreciate the Chinese language than with sing-a-long nursery rhymes and songs!
Activity 4: Make Your Own Classroom Farm
Using easy-to-find materials, let your creative juices flow and create your very own farm in the classroom. Don’t throw away the extra paper plates and plastic cups from your Chinese New Year gatherings. Bring it to class and see how you can transform them into farm animals!
With a couple of paper plates, a pair of scissors, paint and a whole lot of imagination, try out these cool creations with your little ones!
Activity 5: Visit a Farm
Children remember best when they fully immerse themselves in the learning experience. And we think that the best way to end this Mini Lesson Plan is to make a trip down to an actual farm. Satisfy the young ones’ curiosity by letting them explore and identify animals using the Chinese vocabulary they have just mastered.
Here in sunny Singapore, a city filled with tall buildings and concrete roads, you may be surprised to know they are several hidden gems across the island. Click on the link below to find out where these farms are located and make a weekend trip there along with your family! It will be a great learning experience for both children and adults alike.
If you had fun with this lesson, check out our previous Mini Lesson Plan on Mandarin for Kids and learn to count in Chinese!
Have a fun-tastic Chinese New Year weekend ahead!
SOURCES
TutorMing
PHOTOS
LittleLives Inc.
Vicky Barone
