Exercise and learn Chinese at the same time? I’m always a fan of multitasking! Since we’ve been stuck indoors sooooo many days this winter, I went online and looked up some exercises we can do at home to get our blood pumping in Chinese!
Not only is this a great way to get healthy, but it’s also a great way to learn some terminology associated with exercise. But most importantly, it’s a great way to HAVE FUN learning Chinese.
These are great for kids who love to move around or have a little tooooo much energy to spare (like my three year old).
Many of the ones I posted below are playlists, so you can browse through them and choose which ones you and your kids enjoy.
Some exercises are made specifically for both parent and child to do together, but feel free to dance and jump around with your kiddos with any of them. Kids always have more fun doing things with someone, especially their parents.
I try to find activities that not only help my daughter learn Chinese but also strengthen our relationship. Remember, the whole point of learning a language is to build relationship with others. What better relationship to build, than the one with our kids?
Yoga for Kids from MOMO 就是愛瑜珈
These playful 20 minute workout videos are from MOMO, a popular channel for kids in Taiwan. In these exercises, kids do Yoga movements that go along with a story told by the instructors. The instructors speak fairly slowly and so it’s a great opportunity to learn some new Chinese vocabulary.
Age group: toddler to elementary
Just Love Exercise from MOMO 就是愛運動
Another great show from MOMO, one of the top cartoon networks in Taiwan. These high quality videos are around 10 minutes long. They go through exercise movements more slowly so it’s easy to learn and also easy to pick up the Chinese words used to describe the workout.
Age group: toddler to elementary
Happy Valley from MOMO歡樂谷
This is another great series from MOMO. Although most videos from this series are mainly dance videos, there are a few that are more focused on exercising. The one below is my daughter’s favorite currently. She’s basically memorized the whole song hahah.
For the full series click on this link.
Age group: toddler to elementary
Child & Parent Yoga 親子瑜珈
This yoga exercise video series invites you to do yoga with your child. This instructor’s videos are about 5 minutes long. I like how engaging it is and also how she is teaching with her daughter. In some videos, she also includes movements that go along with popular Chinese nursery rhymes.
I like videos like these that include young native speakers for kids to hear how kids their age speak Chinese. Also, my daughter loves seeing little kids in videos as well so it’s engaging for her.
Age group: toddler to early elementary
Dance Videos from Love Sounds so Good/愛好好聽-兒童音樂
Series of dance videos for kids to exercise and learn some dance steps at the same time.
These videos are from Rainbow Kids/彩虹愛家生命教育協會, a Christian organization that uses various art forms to teach kids to value their lives and cultivate good character.
Age group: toddler and up
Animal Story Exercise 跟著動物們一起做運動
This wonderful 4 minute exercise video is led by an instructor from Cloud Gate Dance Theatre 雲門舞集 (yúnmén wǔ jí), a famous modern dance company in Taiwan (they also offer classes for kids so a great way for dance loving kiddos to get some language exposure through dance when traveling to Taiwan or China).
I love how kids are told a story about various animals and shown movements to go along with the story. This is my student and daughter’s favorite one so far!
This video also has young native speakers for little ones to be exposed to.
Age group: toddler to early elementary
Dance Exercise 烤箱讀書會律動好好玩
This is a great video playlist of dances set to Christian songs. The songs tend to be slower so your kids probably won’t get an intense workout from them. But for kids who love to dance, this would be a great video for them.
Age group: toddler to elementary
Stream of Praise Music Videos
My daughter LOVES Stream of Praise 讚美之泉 (zànměi zhī quán), a Chinese Christian music ministry based in California. They produce high quality engaging music videos with dance movements that are more western. We listen to their songs almost every single day so my daughter’s familiar with their songs and loves to dance along with the kids in their videos.
Age group: toddler to junior high
Pink Fong Exercise Videos 碰碰狐體操
Of course I can’t leave out Pink Fong’s high quality exercise videos for kids. Their exercise videos includes their infamous (every toddler’s favorite) “Baby Shark” video.
Age group: toddlers to elementary
![[25分] 開學開心體操兒歌合集｜連續播放｜碰碰狐pinkfong | 寶寶兒歌](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/8nDLxcwS14Y/hqdefault.jpg)
CiaoHu Dance Videos
Here’s a playlist of fun dance videos from the ever popular CiaoHu/巧虎. I haven’t come across a child who doesn’t like CiaoHu. Their dance videos tend to be shorter since in their series they teach kids not to watch too much tv.
Age group: toddler and up
Traditional Chinese Children’s Song Dance Videos
I know these look really old and outdated, but these were my daughter’s favorite when she was two years old. She could not get enough of them. My mom found them online and used it to teach her many popular Chinese children’s songs.
Age group: toddlers to early elementary
Baby Yoga 嬰兒瑜珈
Below are three videos of mommy and me yoga. They’re all pretty similar and the instructors give some moves you can do with or for your baby.
Adult Exercise Video
If you’re looking for more adult oriented workout videos, here’s a good one I’ve done. Sometimes kids just enjoy trying to follow along with adult exercise videos with you.
This one has clear graphics to help you know where you’re at in the workout and how much longer you’ll be doing the specific exercise.
Just a heads up, for those with older boys in the family, she does wear pretty tight yoga pants and some camera angles are suggestive.
I hope you and your kiddos enjoy learning Chinese through these fun exercise videos. What are some fun ways you like to incorporate Chinese learning into your child’s day? Please share below!
More Resources to Help You Have Fun Teaching Your Kids Chinese!
- 25+ Netflix Chinese Shows for Kids
- Plan Your Best Year of Teaching Your Kids Chinese 計畫成功的一年
- Board Game: Fun Chinese Character Review
- 7 Secrets to Chinese Retention: How I’m Still Fluent Despite Immigrating at 8
- Free Chinese Hobby & Craft Videos for Kids
Don’t Do It Alone!
For more support and to commiserate with likeminded parents, please join us at Christian Parents Raising Bilingual Children in English & Chinese.
Other great FaceBook groups for parents raising bilingual kids:
Follow me on my FaceBook Page & my Instagram accounts where I share fun Chinese activities (@spotofsunshineChinese) we’re doing and encouragement for your heart rooted in Christ (@spotofsunshine).