reading writing practice learning activity elementary early childhood winter theme Chinese character review learn Chinese learn mandarin kids toddlers preschool children bilingual multilingual 識字 snow

Paint Snow: Chinese Character Activity

Painting snow is a wonderful low prep and easy activity for the winter seasons.

Since there has been an uncommonly large amount of snow here in Minnesota this winter, it’s hard not to ignore this free “material” that’s piled high outside.

Here’s another easy activity using snow to review Chinese characters indoors.

reading writing practice learning activity elementary early childhood winter theme Chinese character review learn Chinese learn mandarin kids toddlers preschool children bilingual multilingual 識字 snow

Materials & Instructions for Paint Snow Activity

  1. snow
  2. food coloring
  3. paint brushes (I prefer ones that are thicker like these, it picks up the food coloring “paint” a lot easier)
  4. cup for holding the food coloring “paint”

reading writing practice learning activity elementary early childhood winter theme Chinese character review learn Chinese learn mandarin kids toddlers preschool children bilingual multilingual 識字 snow

I fill a plastic cup 1/3 of the way with water then give a good squeeze of food coloring into the cup.

I discovered after the first batch of food coloring paint I made that I need to not skimp on the food coloring so it will show up well on the snow.

Different Ways to Practice Writing & Reading Chinese with This Activity

  1. Write the characters yourself for your child to read
  2. Let them trace over what you’ve written
  3. If they know some characters, invite them to write the ones they know. Kids love showing off what they know
  4. Invite them to jump on the characters you call out. Hear them squeal with delight!
  5. Introduce the冫(冰 / bing1 / ice) radical by writing simple characters with the radical like 冰 (Bīng/ice),冷 (cold/lěng),凍 (dòng/frozen),冬 (winter/dōng) that have meanings related to the cold/ice.
  6. Let them guess what you’re writing as you’re writing it out

My student (6YO) started writing simple words she learned like 一,二,三.

It’s always so fun for me to see kids begin to apply what they’ve learned and to implement it in games we play.

When kids are given opportunities and time to learn and play at the same time, you’ll be surprised what they choose to do and the creative ways they improve an activity.

I get a lot of fun learning ideas from them!

reading writing practice learning activity elementary early childhood winter theme Chinese character review learn Chinese learn mandarin kids toddlers preschool children bilingual multilingual 識字 snow

 

my student writing on her own without prompting

My student wasn’t very confident in Chinese when she first started and didn’t understand much either since it’s not the dominant language at home. Her mother is Indonesian Chinese and fluent in Hokkien with parents who are fluent in Mandarin Chinese. So it’s been a fun journey to see how she is enjoying learning Chinese and how she’s speaking a lot more now than when she first started lessons with me.

reading writing practice learning activity elementary early childhood winter theme Chinese character review learn Chinese learn mandarin kids toddlers preschool children bilingual multilingual 識字 snow

 

My daughter enjoying jumping on characters I called out

I love learning activities like these to help us get out of our house, get some fresh air and get some fun reading and writing practice in.

reading writing practice learning activity elementary early childhood winter theme Chinese character review learn Chinese learn mandarin kids toddlers preschool children bilingual multilingual 識字 snow

Did You Enjoy This Activity with Your Kids?

Please tag me @spotofsunshinechinese if you do decide to do any of the above activities. I love seeing families enjoying our activities and your own adaptations of them!

More Resources to Help You Have Fun Teaching Your Kids Chinese!

 

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Hi, I’m Sunny, bilingual mama, teaching my kids Mandarin Chinese in a monolingual context. Thanks for stopping by! I use my teaching background and experience teaching my kids to simplify your family’s Chinese learning journey so it’s sustainable and one that the whole family enjoys. I’m so glad you’re here!

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