Halloween Vocabulary & Halloween Bingo

I know that Halloween is not a traditional Chinese holiday, but it's a plethora of vocabulary that kids will enjoy learning.  And, because stores start advertising Halloween in September, they'll have lots of opportunities to practice the vocabulary!  So, if your planning on introducing this topic, here's some flashcards and a Bingo game to get you started.

*Note- Consider cutting out the flashcards and posting them around your house, pocketing them when going for a walk, and even keeping a set in your car.  This way if you see a Halloween decoration or costume, you'll be able to talk about it using your new vocabulary!  Also, I've created 6 Bingo boards below.  If you need more, have Learners cut out their own flashcards and tape them to a blank sheet to create an infinite number of boards.

Flashcards- traditional characters with 注音符號
Flashcards- simplified characters with 漢語拼音 (Hànyǔ Pīnyīn)
Bingo- traditional characters with 注音符號
Bingo- simplified characters with 漢語拼音 (Hànyǔ Pīnyīn)
Bingo- no characters

Stuck for ideas about how to keep your kids' attentions on your lesson?  Here is a website with a list of wonderful games to play with children learning a foreign language.  Have a look and see what might work in your classroom or family!

Games in the Foreign Language Classroom

Guess Who- Faces

Here's a fun little game that can be used in several different ways.  I've listed them in order based on Chinese skill level with the easiest being first and the hardest one listed last.

You could adapt this game to practice just about any adjectives/description-words in combination with any appropriate objects/nouns.  In the pre-made board below, I focused on the following vocabulary:

• Body Parts
• 眼睛 (yăn jīng, eyes)
• 鼻子 (bí zi, nose)
• 嘴吧 (zuĭ ba, mouth)
• 耳朵 (ěr duo, ears)
• 頭髮 (tóu fa, hair)
• Descriptive Words (Adjectives)
• Colors
• 紅色 (hóng sè, red)
• 黃色 (huáng sè, yellow)
• 綠色 (lǜ sè, green)
• 藍色 (lán sè, blue)
• 黑色 (hēi sè, black)
• Short/Long  
• 短 (duǎn, short (for hair))
• 長 (cháng, long(for hair))  
• Big/Little
• 
  大 (dà, big)
• 小 (xiǎo, little)
• Shapes
• 彎彎的 (wān wān de, bent/curvy)
• 圓圓的 (yuán yuán de, circle/round)
• 方方的 (fāng fāng de, square)
• 尖尖的 (jiān jiān de, pointed)
• Grammar
• I also created some faces with missing body parts in order to provide an opportunity for my kids to practice the 有沒有 (yŏu méi yŏu, have/don't have) grammar structure that they have already practiced.

After you have learned several adjectives and body parts you are ready to play this game of Guess Who.  The board I created practices body parts, shapes, short/long, small/big, and have/doesn't have.

1.  The teacher describes a body part and the student points to a face that matches the description.  Use the pre-made board from below.  This level allows the student to hear the Chinese vocabulary and associate it with the correct picture.  Use this level if your student is too young to draw accurately.
2.  The teacher describes a body part and the student draws that body part.  Use the blank board from below.  This level allows the student to hear the Chinese vocabulary and associate it with the correct picture.
3.  The student describes a body part (blue eyes) and the teacher draws that body part.  Use the blank board from below.  This level allows the student to practice basic vocabulary without any focus on grammar.
4.  Like "Guess Who," the student secretly chooses a face from the pre-made board.  The teacher asks questions to try to determine which face the student picked.  This level allows the student to hear how to formulate questions in Chinese and models the vocabulary.
5.  Like "Guess Who," the the teacher secretly chooses a face from the pre-made board.  The student asks questions to try to determine which face the teacher picked.  This is the hardest level because the student must ask the question using Chinese.  (The teacher might choose to focus just on the target vocabulary and not worry about the student getting the Chinese grammar correct.  Instead, the teacher can model the correct model back to the student before answering the question.)

Guess Who- Faces, Blank Board
Guess Who- Faces, Pre-made Board

Hot and Cold Game

In the familiar version of this game, an object is hidden from one child and his friends watch him/her bumble around the room trying to find it.  The friends give the person who is "It" clues such as "You're getting warmer" when the person is getting closer to finding the object, and clues like "You're freezing" when the person who is "It" is very far away.

In this Chinese classroom version, one child is still "It" but instead of his/her friends giving clues such as hot/cold, the friends chant the name of the object hidden (or of the target vocabulary word on a hidden flashcard).  As the person who is "It" gets closer to the hidden object/flashcard, the children chant louder and louder.  And as the person who is "It" gets farther away, the children chant softer and softer.

What a great game to get the kids to practice saying the target vocabulary!  Kids remember better when they are having fun!  Also, this is a nice game for helping quiet kids find their voice in the classroom.

I must acknowledge that Nicholas O'Brien, from Kalona Elementary, Iowa showed me this game (here's his blog).

Clapping Game

Clapping Game- Here is a wonderful game to use with young kids who are learning new vocabulary.  What's really nice about this game is that every kid can participate at the same time and they are all actively engaged in the activity.  In addition, this is a great way to encourage children to say new vocabulary several times (which can help them memorize the target).  Not to mention, this is a great way to get quiet kids to practice saying the vocabulary as well.  I picked this up from Mr. Nicholas O'Brien who is the Chinese language instructor at Kalona Elementary, Iowa (here's a link to his blog).

Here's how to play the game- Create a set of flashcards.  You can use a picture of the target vocabulary or the Chinese character.  Make sure the cards are large enough that the whole class can see the picture/character.  Show the class one of the flashcards and say the name of the picture/character.  Have the kids repeat it back to you several times.  Then ask them to chant the name as you mix the target card back into the deck.  Next, hold up one card after another.  Tell them to clap/applaud when they see the target card.

What Does the Wind Blow?- Game

My understanding (and please, correct me if I'm wrong) is that 吹什麼吹? (Chuī shénme chuī?, What does the wind blow?) is a traditional Chinese children's game.  It is similar to musical chairs in that there is a ring of chairs and one child sits in each chair.  There is another child that stands in the middle with no chair.  The child in the middle says, "大風吹," (Dà fēng chuī, A big wind blows) and the children sitting in the chairs respond, "吹什麼吹?" (Chuī shénme chuī?, What does the wind blow?).  The child in the middle then calls out something that some of the children have in common like a color.  For instance, if the child in the middle called out "藍色," (Lán sè, blue) then every child wearing blue would stand up and try to get to a different chair.  The child in the middle will also find an empty chair so that (hopefully) a new child is left in the middle standing and the game begins again.

This game helps to develop listening skills and practices target vocabulary.  Colors and clothing are natural vocabulary to use with this game, but you could also get creative and call out things like, "有第第得人." (Yǒu dì'dì dé rén, (People that) have a younger brother.)  You could also pass out papers with the target vocabulary (for example, 在, 是, 很 (zài, shì, hěn, to be at, to be, very).  Just be sure each vocabulary word is passed out at least twice.

Auto-immersion

This list is from the Bringing up Baby Bilingual blogsite, a record of a mom's efforts to teach French to her children as a non-native speaker.  I'm reposting her list here just in case her blog gets lost.  This is a direct copy and paste.


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Friday, January 27, 2012 

Auto-immersion

Those of us who are doing our best to raise our kids with something other than the community language know that we have to seize every possible moment to barrage them with lots and lots of input in the target language.  (This is especially challenging for those parents who work full-time and have a very limited number of hours most days to share their language with their children.)

When we're at home, we can take advantage of games, books, toys, videos, and the simple fact that we're engaging in face-to-face interactions with their accompanying gestures, expressions, and props--we have a lot of tools to provide contextualized prompts for conversation and activities in the target language.

But what about those endless hours in the car, chauffeuring from one playgroup to another lesson, running errand upon errand?  The parent is driving, facing forward, no eye contact, hands occupied--not ideal conditions for practicing another language with small (or bigger) children.

So here's my challenge to us: let's take advantage of the fact that the kids are a trapped audience to immerse them in our language of choice! Let's brainstorm as many as possible ways to engage our kids in the target language when we're driving them here and there and everywhere!  Here, I'll start:

Music (duh): Listen to songs in the target language--children's music, yes, but also pop music, rap music, folk songs, music from all the countries where the language is spoken.  Sing songs to (or with) your children.  (Griffin, approaching age four, has learned to sing in a round, which sounds so lovely to my ears.)  And don't forget the nursery rhymes!

I still remember the trip Griffin and I took to visit with a friend in another city, a 45-minute drive, when he was about six months old.  I turned off the tape player (yeah, my twelve-year-old Toyota, Earl Grey, is so basic that he doesn't have a CD player!) to see if I could sing French children's songs the whole way there.  To my surprise, we made it to my friend's house without my repeating a single one!

Rhyme time: You say a word in the target language; your kids reply with words that rhyme.  Then let them pick the words to start with.

Counting: Count to 100 together, then count solo and pause for the kids to fill in the next number, then alternating (you count the odd numbers, your kids the evens), then by tens, fives, twos, then backwards (whatever the children are capable of); count objects that you pass (stop signs, cows, blue cars).

Twenty Questions: Play this vocabulary-rich game that involves guessing what object someone is thinking of, where the guessers can only ask yes/no questions.  A child who can't form complete sentences (much less questions) can still show his understanding of your questions by answering them while you guess!  (Unless your interlocutor is like three-year-old Griffin, whose answers tend to lead to things like "something green that's made of metal and bigger than the universe").

I Spy: Another fun and easy game that involves sighting an object (inside or outside the car) and giving clues so that the others can guess the object.

Un truc dans un machin: "A thingy in a whats-it" is what I call this activity, where I pretend to misunderstand something Griffin said, repeating it back to him as inaccurately as possible (and making it as silly as I can).  For example,

Griffin: Regarde, Maman!  Il y a un chien dans la camionnette!  (Look, Mommy, there's a dog in that pickup truck!)
Maman: Quoi?  Il y a un dinosaure dans ta poche?  (What?  There's a dinosaur in your pocket?)
Griffin (giggling): Non, il y a un chien dans la camionnette!
Maman: Quoi?  Il y a un extra-terrestre dans l'arbre?  (What?  There's an alien in the tree?)
And so on; Griffin usually joins in and makes up other strange combinations.  We can do this for a good ten or fifteen minutes before one of us (okay, moi) tires of it.

And a related activity: sing a familiar song but insert other silly words here and there.  For instance, "Au feu, les pompiers/Voila la maison qui brule/Au feu, les pompiers/Voila la maison brulee/C'est pas moi qui l'ai brulee/C'est la coccinelle/C'est pas moi qui l'ai brulee/C'est l'arraignee" (instead of "la cuisiniere" and "le cuisinier").

Storytelling, of course!  I find that listening to audio books in French in the car is too challenging for Griffin at this point, unless it's a story he's already very familiar with because I've read it to him multiple times and he's seen pictures illustrating it.  (We have a small handful of stories-on-tape like Boucle d'or et les trois ours.)  Rather, I'll pick a story he knows much less well and tell it to him, simply at first, then   gradually adding details and length.  Changing my voice for each character helps him follow along (Occasionally I change it up to see how quickly he notices the differences, a la "Boucle d'or et les trois girafes.")

Travel Bingo

Here's a way to practice Chinese in the car- Travel Bingo!  Print of one of the sheets below and then have your child look for the various items on his/her sheet.  Reminder him/her to call out the items as he/she sees them so you can verify it's correct.  Then let your child cross it off her sheet.  Try to find three in a row (up and down, across, or diagonal) or try to find everything on the sheet.

Here's several options for checking off the items.

• Reusable:
• Place sheet on a small magnetic board and use large (kid-safe) magnets to check off various items.
• Place sheet inside a plastic coat and use a dry erase marker.
• Got an iPad?  Save your Bingo card as a pdf file and then open it on your iPad using the app "pdf-notes."  It's free!
• One-Time Use:
• Check it off with a marker directly onto the sheet.

Travel Bingo- Blank  Draw in your own items to be found around town.  Don't forget to include the Chinese characters at the bottom (This is good exposure even if your child isn't reading yet!) and the pronunciation guide if they have learned that.

Stuck for ideas?  Check out the examples below:
Travel Bingo-Sample with 注音符號
Travel Bingo- Sample with 漢語拼音 (Hànyǔ Pīnyīn)

Ni Hao Kai-lan

Ni Hao Kai-lan is a good resource for young children who are just being introduced the Chinese.  Not only is some Chinese introduced, there is also an attempt to familiarize viewers with the Chinese culture and traditions.  Check out the website for a complete list of the activities they have available.

Go Fish & Memory

Go Fish
What kid can say no to Go Fish?  Please, read the entire first paragraph before printing!

Download the file below and print off the pdf file four times (you need a set of four identical cards to make a match).  I suggest that you print on card stock or thick paper so that the players cannot see through each others' cards.  You could also print on regular paper and glue it onto cardboard (like empty cereal boxes).

You can play this game to practice sounds or characters.  If you are practicing your 漢語拼音 (Hànyǔ Pīnyīn) or 注音符號 sounds, keep in mind that you do not need to play the game with all the sounds in the language.  My preference is to use 5 sounds that my child knows very well with 2-3 sounds that s/he need to work on.  I'll use a total of about 8 sounds/sets, which makes about 32 cards.  Cut out the sounds that you are going to play with and set the others aside for another day.

Suggestions:

• Use the "Go Fish-Blank" file to create your own sets.  For example, for whatever vocabulary you are currently working on.  Remember to print the file enough times to make 4 copies of each word. 
• Consider whether you want to include the pronunciation on the cards.
• When considering how many sets to use (one set is 4 identical cards), keep in mind your child's age and skill level.  

• Young children may have a difficult time holding many cards.  Check out how to turn an egg carton into a card holder (see picture).
• Mix challenging vocabulary (new) with mastered/familiar vocabulary (old).  This way your child can succeed sometimes and enjoy the game while still being challenged to use the new vocabulary to play.

Go Fish-ㄅㄆㄇ
Go Fish-Blank

How to Play:  Shuffle the cards and give each player 5 cards (you can use less cards if you have only a few cards in the deck).  Spread the remaining cards face down on the table between the players.  The first player can ask one person (anyone who is playing) if they have a ____ card; however, the first player can only ask for a card that they already have in his/her hand.  If the person asked has the card, s/he must give all the cards of that type to the first player.  If the person asked does not have the card, s/he tells the first player "Go Fish."  The first player than selects one of the cards that is face down on the table and it is the next person's turn.  Continue playing clockwise around the table.  When a person has 4 identical cards, they have a match and set the match down next to them.  The game ends when someone matches all the cards in their hand and no longer has any cards.  The winner is the person with the most matches.

• Do you have ______?  
• 你有沒有 _______?
• Ni3 you3 mei2 you3 _____?
• I have it.  有.
•  有
• You3.
• I don't have it.  Go Fish.   
• 沒有.  Go Fish.
•  Mei2 you3.

Memory
Use the same files as for Go Fish, but you only need 2 sets of cards.
 How to Play: Shuffle the cards and then turn all the cards face down, so that you can't see the pictures.  Take turns trying to find the matches.  The first player turns over any two cards.  If he/she turns over two cards that go together, he/she can keep that pair and take another turn.  If he/she turns over two cards that don't go together, then he/she turns the two cards face down again after the players have seen them.  Then it's another player's turn.  The player who has the most pairs when all the cards are gone wins the game.  Note: ask the players to say the name of the card each time it is flipped over.  This helps with recall later and is great practice for pronunciation.

 Memory 2
You will need to make your own cards for this version.  Write a list of two-word phrases such as:

小狗(xiǎo gǒu, dog),  睡覺(shuì jiào, to sleep), and 電腦(diàn nǎo, computer).  Next, from this list write only one character on each Memory tile so that you split each two-word phrase in half.

How to Play: Be sure the learners are familiar with each two-word phrase.  If needed, keep the list handy to refer to throughout the game.  Shuffle the cards and then turn all the cards face down, so that you can't see the characters.  Take turns trying to find the right combination of tiles to make the two-word phrases.  Proceed just as you would for a normal memory game.  Bonus:  ask the players to make a sentence using the two-word phrase they turned over.  Extra Bonus:  Can the learner make a sentences using two or more of the two-word phrases they uncover?

Thank you 登蔭 for introducing me to this alternative Memory Game!

Balloon Extravaganza

Balloon Extravaganza- I just tried this one with with a group of kids ranging in age from 4-6 years and it went really well.  Blow up a bunch of balloons; we had 10 balloons for 7 kids.  Then, use a thick permanent marker to write a Chinese character along with the pronunciation. 

If you are teaching colors, think about whether you want the color of the balloon to match the character.  For kids who are learning color vocabulary, color-coding the balloons may be a great idea; however, if you are targeting reading skills, you should avoid matching the names of the colors with the same colored balloon.

Have your kid hit the balloons into the air until you say "stop."  Then ask them to pick up one balloon and read it.

Ridiculously simple, but a lot of fun!  Best of all, you can have many repetitions and get lots of practice in while playing this "game."

Dragon Board Game

Dragon Board Game- This comes directly from my days in grad school when I was practicing to become an Speech-Language Pathologist.  Kids love games and sometimes turning a rote task into a game is the best way to keep a child's attention.  I found this board online and have adapted it to suit the situation and I hope you find it useful for practicing ㄅㄆㄇㄈ, radicals, characters, or whatever you need to study.

Click below to open and download the board game I used with my kids.  Of course, you can use modify something you already have like Candy Land or Shoots and Ladders.  The key is to find something that gets your kid(s) excited and motivated about learning Chinese.

• Dragon Board Game- Blank Template
• Dragon Board Game- Example

Roll of the Dice

Consider using a die with Chinese characters to replace any you may be using at home when you play games.

• Dice with Chinese Characters with ㄅㄆㄇㄈ
• Dice with Chinese Characters with Pinyin
• Dice with Chinese Characters

Chutes and Ladders

Here's another great opportunity to review ㄅㄆㄇㄈ and Chinese numbers.  Print off the pdf below, and then follow these directions:

1.  After printing, cut and tape the four board pieces together.
2.  Next cut out the ㄅㄆㄇㄈ cards and the dice.  Cut along the solid lines and fold along the dotted lines.  Then tape the die together to form a cube.
3.  Use anything you have in the house for the playing pieces (Legos, erasers, marker lids, etc.).

This version of Chutes and Ladders is played similarly to the original version with a few extra twist:

1. Roll the die and move the indicated number of spaces.  
2. Next, blindly choose a ㄅㄆㄇㄈ card.  If the card is read correctly, you stay on that spot.  If not, then go back 2 spaces.  
3. If you roll the die and land at the bottom of a ladder, you cannot go up unless you get the sound correct.  
4. If you land at the top of a chute, you must go down before reading your card.  If you misread the card, go back an additional 2 spaces.

Notes:

• If your child is overwhelmed by the number of ㄅㄆㄇㄈ letters, limit the number you play with and just focus on a few letters at a time.  You can print of extra of the cards you need or just spread them upside down on the table and draw them randomly as in "Go Fish."
• You could also use this to review radicals or characters; just make your own cards.
• Need to move the game along a little faster to keep your child's attention?  Print off two dice and roll both to determine how far a piece will travel.

• Chutes and Ladders with ㄅㄆㄇㄈ
• Chutes and Ladders with Pinyin

GenkiChinese.com

GenkiChinese- written by Richard (sorry, no last name) this website posts songs and simple games that can be used to teach and reinforce simple vocabulary and sentence memorization.  Types of vocabulary include:  numbers, colors, body parts, names of fruits, the months of the year, directions, names of countries, and different types of drinks.  

There are two components to most every game on the site.  The first is the vocabulary introduction.  This is where the user can click around the screen and hear the vocabulary.  The simple characters and the pinyin pronunciation also flash up on the screen to help reinforce character recognition.  The second component is the game.  Typically the game asks the user to listen to a vocabulary word and then correctly identify it on the screen.  These games are easy and anyone with a mouse can play- even my five-year old!

I would suggest reviewing the fruits vocabulary with your child before having him/her play the game.  There are two reasons:

1. During the game, the picture for grape is a picture of one grape; however, during the review the picture is of a bunch of grapes.  This may be confusing to some students.
2. Some of the vocabulary is new/different.  Some children learn 菠蘿 (bōluó, ㄅㄛ ㄌㄨㄛˊ ) and some learn 鳳梨 (fènglí, ㄈㄥˋ ㄌㄧˊ ).  Depending on which word your student learned for pineapple, you may need to introduce the alternative.  Remind your student that English also has many words that mean the same thing.  For example: sofa & couch; road & street; child & kid; etc.

The site also has songs to help language learners remember sentences.  For example, he's produced a song called "你好吗?" (ㄋㄧˇ ㄏㄠˇ ㄇㄚ˙?, Nǐ hǎo ma?, How are you?).  It's a good representation of the types of songs he creates.  Be careful- the songs tend to stick in your head!

Please, preview the songs first before sharing with your children.  In the song called "请给我" (ㄑㄧㄥˇ ㄍㄟˇㄨㄛˇ, Qǐng gěi wǒ, Please give me) the word "beer" appears.