Vet Visit Imaginary Play: Prescription Printable

Our Vet Visit imaginary play was such a hit that we added a new component this week: 
A prescription form--in Mandarin, of course!

Click here to download the character version  Click here to download the pinyin version
How can you use this form? 
1.  Have your child, the "doctor," fill it out:

• Fill in the name of the medicine (药的名字，yào de míngzì), 
• Circle when the medicine should be taken: morning (早上, zǎoshang) or evening (晚上, wǎnshàng)
• Note the number of times the medicine should be taken (几次, jǐ cì)
• Sign their "doctor" name (医生名字，yīshēng míngzì) 
• Write in the date (日期，rìqí）

2.  Learn to write some of the characters on the form:

• We talked about the character 医 (yī, medicine), how it is an "arrow" (失，shǐ) inside a "container" (匸,xǐ) because a regular task of early doctors in China was pulling arrows out of wounded soldiers' chests (read about it here).

3.  Act the part of the "doctor's assistant" It's your job to fill out the form, but to do so, you need to ask the "doctor" for the information on the form. This is a great chance for your child to practice their Mandarin listening and speaking skills. Ask: 
What is the name of the medicine?       Yào de míngzì shì shénme?       药的名字是什么?
Doctor, what is your name?        Yīshēng nǐ jiào shénme míngzì？    医生，你叫什么名字？
When will she take her medicine?     Tā shénme shíhòu chī yào?           他什么时候吃药?
What is today's date?                       Jīntiān shì jǐ yuè jǐ hào?                 今天是几月几号？
These are just ideas to get you started. It's imaginary play, so let your imagination go play!

How do you use imaginary play to practice Mandarin in your home? 

Vet Visit Imaginary Play & Printable

Research has shown that imaginary play helps young children's language development, cognitive processes, and creativity, amongst many other things. (Here's a 2012 article from Psychology Today about all of its important benefits.)  
But how about about foreign language learning? Can imaginary play help kids (of all ages) learn Mandarin? I think so.
Over and over, I've seen how kids who are initially reluctant to practice their new Mandarin phrases suddenly begin talking when a puppet or stuffed animal is placed in their hands. Something magical happens!They become so focused on the play acting, that they lose their fear of trying to say something new.
I decided to build on this phenomena--as well as my 9yo and her BFF's love of imaginary play to help them practice our recent vocab and phrases about visiting a doctor: 

But instead of acting out a doctor's appointment (like we had in our previous lesson), we thought it would be more fun for them to act out taking their stuffed animals to the vet. 

Inspired by some of the imaginary play printables I saw on Pinterest, I made a Mandarin version of a health form from a veterinary hospital (shòuyīyuàn, 兽医院). The girls took turns playing the part of the vet and pet owner. The vet asked the pet owner questions in Mandarin, filling in the form as she went, and the pet owner responded in Mandarin about her pet bear, wolf, turtle, etc... 
Here's the health form I designed (on Picmonkey) for their Mandarin vet visit (Click here to download for free). It's black and white printer-friendly (except for the green lion--sorry! Picmonkey was acting up), and there's a small box in the middle for the "doctor" to make notes or drawings based on his or her diagnosis.

And here's an English/Mandarin version if you prefer: 

Their poor animals, of course, needed treatment, so I labeled a small veterinary medicine kit we picked up at IKEA years ago with pinyin translation (see above image).
....And the play-acting was a hit! I think we will do this again next week--the more they practice, the more confident they become in their Mandarin speaking ability. This is one of my goals as a home-teacher!
How do you incorporate imaginary play in your Mandarin lessons? 

Memory Match with Chinese Characters

I am always on the lookout for fun and simple ways to review the Chinese characters we learn each week. After a few months, the number of characters start to add up and without the review, they quickly become forgotten.
Here is one easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy (as my kids would say) way to review Chinese characters. 

How to play: 

1. Type up and print out the Chinese characters you have been learning. Use font that is large (I used 60 pt) and easy to ready (I used Hannotate SC because it looks like the characters are handwritten). 
2. Draw their picture match, or if you are artistically-challenged (like me=) print out clip art.
3. Gluestick characters and pictures on to cardstock squares or love the earth and re-use cards from an old memory match game.

OR 

1. Forget steps 1-3 and print out this set:

• 
  
• 
  
• 
  

Helpful hints: 

• If you want to review Chinese characters that are not simple pictographs, match Chinese characters with their English translations. 
• Start small. (My K-2 kids match 10 characters-20 cards total, at the end of each 6-week class.) Once they master a few, add to it. It will be a great way to reinforce their character recognition. 

Why this works: 

• My kids (and probably yours too) have been playing this game since they were little tykes. They know the rules and are able to easily adapt to playing with Chinese characters.
• It's flexible: Play as a group or individually. Play with 10 cards or 100. Change the characters on the cards as your kids' character memory bank grows.

How do you review Chinese characters in your home? 

HedBanz! Learn Mandarin by Playing Board Games

A few weeks ago, we discovered that the game HedBanz (by Spin Master Games) is a great way to practice asking questions in Mandarin. 
We had been studying question patterns like these:
你是不是 green olive?            Nǐ shìbùshì green olive?                                                 Are you or are you not a green olive?
你喜不喜欢吃 green olives?   Nǐ xǐbùxǐhuān chī green olives?                                                 Do you like or not like to eat green olives?
你有没有 green olives?          Nǐ yǒuméiyǒu green olives?                                                  Do you have or not have green olives?

Click here to read more about how to ask affirmative-negative questions in Mandarin.
So what does this have to do with playing Hedbanz? 

This is how we played:

The kids asked questions about the card on their headband, as if they were playing the game by the original rules. But instead of asking questions in English, they practiced their new, fancy affirmative-negative questions patterns, and asked questions like this: 

• 我是不是 mammal?    Wǒ shìbùshì mammal?     Am I or am I not a mammal?
• 我喜不喜欢跑步？      Wǒ xǐbùxǐhuān pǎobù？   Do I like or not like running?
• 我有没有尾巴？          Wǒ yǒuméiyǒu wěibā？    Do I have or not have a tail?

They swapped in English words for any they did not know how to say in Mandarin, which was absolutely fine with me because the point of the game was to get them comfortable with asking these types of questions. 

Our one round lasted a good 15 minutes, which was slower than if we had played the game in English. It took time for them to think about how to say what they wanted to say in Mandarin, but they did not lose interest in the game. In fact, when I suggested stopping, they pleaded, "Just one more question!" 

We will definitely revisit this game when we need to review this question pattern or whenever we need a fun warm-up/change of pace. 

What games to you play to practice your mad Mandarin skills? 

7 Great Resources for Learning Chinese Visually

This past year, I've stumbled upon all sorts of resources--videos, apps, websites, and books--that teach Chinese characters through colorful graphic art and design. 
It's a beautiful thing--this coming together of educators and graphic artists to create these new resources.
I have found their ideas to be so effective in my home. My kids love having a visual image to link to the characters they are learning.
Here's a quick review of 7 Great Resources that teach Chinese characters visually:   

1. Chineasy

What it is: 

• This website is dedicated to teaching people about the Chineasy method, which was developed by Shao Lan as a way to teach people to read Chinese easily by recognising characters through simple illustrations.

What they offer: 

• The Chineasy approach introduces building blocks (simple pictographs), and then compounds (made up of 2 or more building blocks), and finally phrases (consisting of 2 or more independent characters)
• She's fully connected to social media--You can follow Chineasy on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, GooglePlus, or subscribe to the website.

• Print versions of the graphic illustrations (Chineasy book, flashcards, or postcards) can also be purchased. 

What I love:

• The beautiful, boldly-colored graphic illustrations created by graphic designer Noma Bar. These are works of art!

A Wish:

• I wish there were more characters offered!! Maybe a Volume 2?

2. chi.guru

What it is: 

• This is a subscription-based website from Switzerland that uses videos for teaching Chinese language and "picture stories" for teaching Chinese characters.  
• The picture stories are illustrations/graphic depictions of characters and the different radicals that make up the characters. For example, the character 四 (four) is made up of the character for child (儿) and mouth (口). 

What they offer: 

• I have not subscribed to their site, and have not viewed their teaching videos, but they offer access to a number of "picture stories" for free. 

What I love:

• The simple illustrations effectively convey the meaning of the characters. 

A Wish:

• I wish they offered downloadable or print materials of their picture stories for purchase--they are the real gems of the website. 

3. The Learning Lotus Project 

What it is: 

• This is described as a "visual-based learning system for reading and writing Chinese characters" 
• Created by an educator, graphic designer, and developer, they describe the purpose of their project as "sharing the richness of the characters' form through visual illustrations and the fascinating logic and cultural insight behind each character."

What they offer: 

• They post illustrations of radicals, pictographs, and compound characters.
• You can follow them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. Images can be Pinned.

What I love: 

• Their graphic illustrations of the characters are beautiful--multi-colored, and cleverly designed. They convey the meaning of the characters easily within one illustration. 

A Wish:

• Again, I wish that some of these images were offered in print or downloadable form. It would be wonderful to use them in the classroom. 

 

4. choumeizai Youtube Channel 

What it is: 

• They describe themselves as "A fun and easy way to learn Hanzi."

What they offer: 

• Short videos that show the evolution of Chinese characters from oracle bone inscriptions to modern characters.

What I love: 

• I've found some of these videos really helpful in showing students how the meaning of the characters is linked to the ancient oracle bone characters.
• The background music for each video is very catchy--It will get stuck in your head! 

5. Monki Chinese Class by Monkimun

What it is: 

• An app that teaches kids how to write beginning Chinese characters through tracing  characters on the screen with their finger. When the character is properly traced 2 times, a graphic illustration of the character (pictograph) appears behind the character. 

What they offer: 

• 2 levels of tracing speed/difficulty 

• Level 1: They show you how to write the character and you trace over the still-visible character. 
• Level 2: They show you how to write the character, and then it disappears. With the help of directional arrows, your write the character with your finger.

What I love: 

• When the character is twice correctly traced, the illustrations become animated: The "mouth" tries to bite your hand. The "door" swings open to show a growling monster--very cute!

A Wish

• Only 10 characters are offered with the free version. For $4.99 you can buy the full version, but this only gives you 10 more characters. Fantastic idea...just wish more characters were offered!

6. The Pet Dragon by Christoph Niemann

What it is: 

• A picture book about a little girl named Lin Lin and the dragon she receives as a gift.

• Illustrator, author, and graphic designer Christoph Niemann depicts the meaning of Chinese characters by drawing them into his illustrations: the character 父 (fu, father) becomes Lin’s angry father’s eyebrows and mustache.

What I love: 

• The illustrations are super creative, reinforcing the meaning of Chinese characters in a cute story about a girl and her dragon.

7. Chineasy by Shao Lan Hsueh and Noma Bar

What it is: 

• The book behind Shao Lan's Chineasy method. 

What it offers: 

• She includes building blocks, compounds, phrases, and advanced sentences in the book, as well as the classic story of Peter and the Wolf told by using the graphic-illustrated Chinese characters--This is brilliant!

• See my review for more a more detailed review of the book.

What I love:

• Noma Bar's beautiful graphic illustrations, and did I mention that the story Peter and the Wolf is included? ; )

What resources do you use for learning and teaching Chinese visually? 

Volcano Craft DIY

We have been getting creative learning about Chinese characters that are pictographs. This week we learned how to write the characters for fire (火, huǒ) and mountain (山, shān). I loved watching their little eyes light up as they realized that when you combine these characters, you get the word for volcano (火山, huǒshān ).
I was inspired by ShaoLan's fire and mountain graphic illustrations (on her Chineasy website) to create this simple craft to help the kids remember these characters.

What we used for this project:

• cardstock or construction paper
• scissors
• gluestick
• markers

What we did: 

I prepped the project by cutting out the three pieces:     1. the background: an 8 X 11 cut in half (width-wise)      2.  the mountain: We used cool rock-looking 8 X 11 paper cut into quarters              (snip off edges to shape into a volcano).

       3. the flame: I just free-hand drew a template and then traced/cut out copies.

The kids wrote the character for fire on the flame and mountain on the volcano, and then pasted the two pieces on the card stock background.
  

One more thing... don't forget the smoke and lava! 

Don't you love their creativity??



What art projects with Chinese characters are you creating?