Overseas Chinese children often face the problem of not having a Chinese environment and feeling tired when practicing Chinese, which makes it difficult for their Chinese level to improve. If parents can play some small games related to Chinese with their children, they can help their children review knowledge, enhance parent-child understanding, and learn while having fun. Sino bus has prepared seven small games to help parents teach their children Chinese in terms of pronunciation, vocabulary, and sentences. Let's take a look!
Game one: Whisper game
Game process: The whole family can play together, with at least three people. Write a short Chinese sentence for the game, and the first person secretly tells this sentence to the second person. They then pass it on, and the last person checks whether they heard the same sentence as the original. The child can be placed last, and then the child can write out the complete Chinese sentence they heard.
Suitable for: Chinese children aged 8-12 who already have a certain foundation in dictation.
Exercise benefits: It can exercise Chinese listening skills and handwriting, and enable listening and dictation of Chinese to correspond with each other.
Game two: Stepping on squares
Game process: On a large square puzzle mat, write Chinese nouns that the child has learned with a marker (these mats can be purchased online and can be used for the child to touch and learn Chinese vocabulary at any time). The game is started by the father suddenly calling out a noun, and the mother and child simultaneously prepare to step on the grid to "occupy" it. Whoever gets to the square first gets to own the word grid. The one who occupies the most grids wins.
Suitable for: Children aged 4-8 who have just started learning Chinese.
Exercise benefits: It reviews the Chinese vocabulary that the child has learned and deepens their memory. It can mobilize the whole family and exercise the child's reaction to Chinese.
Game three: Antonym exercise
Game process: The parent gives a command, and the child performs the opposite movement, such as the parent saying "turn left," and the child needs to turn to the right; or say "stand up," and the child reacts by squatting down.
Suitable for: This game is challenging and requires a higher level of reaction ability for children aged 6-12 who have a good foundation in Chinese.
Exercise benefits: It helps children remember the antonyms of the vocabulary they have learned and strengthens their understanding of the word meanings.
Game four: Flexible word combination
Game process: The parent can break apart three three-character words or phrases, reading them one by one, and the child adjusts the order on the grid notebook to see if they can restore these three words. This game is suitable for familiarizing children with the Chinese vocabulary they have learned.
Suitable for: This game is suitable for children who have already started learning Chinese.
Exercise benefits: It reviews the Chinese vocabulary that the child has learned and exercises their ability to combine words.
Game five: I act, you guess
Game process: The father secretly shows the child a Chinese word that the child has learned, and the child then demonstrates the word through acting for the mother to guess. If the parents correctly guess the word, they give the child feedback in English, and then the child tells the parents the answer in Chinese.
Suitable for: This game is suitable for Chinese children who are flexible in mastering a large number of Chinese words and know the specific meanings of the words.
Exercise benefits: Through this game, children can deepen their understanding of the Chinese vocabulary they have learned, and bilingual communication can advance together.
Game six: Pinyin card combination
Game process: The parent holds initial sound cards, and the child holds the final sound cards. The parent says an initial sound, and the child tries to use the final sounds in their hand to combine the syllable, a set of three syllables, and then reads it out loud. If the child completes it well, the parent can give appropriate rewards. This game can be practiced one-on-one with the child for sound combination. The game can be played with one-on-one, and parents can take turns accompanying the child.
Suitable for: This game is suitable for Chinese children who have just started learning pinyin for beginners.
Child's benefits: Exercises the child's ability to combine the Chinese Pinyin they learn, particularly allowing children to understand which initial and final consonants can be combined and which cannot.
Game seven: Drawing chinese characters
Game process: Because of the different writing methods, some Chinese children have a phobia of writing Chinese characters. We can teach them some pictographic drawing methods first; pictographic Chinese characters can be found on the internet. This game can to some extent bring children closer to Chinese characters and help them draw their own pictographic characters. Children do not have to write Chinese characters like they have in ancient texts, they only need to understand the shape of the characters according to the pictures they draw.
Suitable for: This game is suitable for children who are interested in Chinese and like drawing, and can be used to break through their usual boring learning, expand their knowledge, exercise their graphical thinking and motor skills, and improve their concentration.
Exercise benefits: Children can strengthen their understanding of pictographic Chinese characters and understand the origins of some Chinese characters.
Teaching through entertainment is the best way to teach. Parents playing games with their children can also learn about their children's learning process and the level of their grasp of Chinese. Come and practice together!
