Have you ever wondered how we come up with our printable ideas at Lingo Buddies? While Pinterest offers endless inspiration, the real magic happens when I observe children at play and witness their learning in action.

As a former teacher, I’ve had firsthand experience guiding students through the process of learning a new language. Now, as a mom, I see things from a fresh perspective. This dual lens shapes the way I design our worksheets for learning Mandarin Chinese.

Let’s face it—many traditional worksheets rely on rote repetition, the classic “practice makes perfect” approach. But for children aged 3 to 8, this stage of exploration is about making sense of the world. The last thing I want is for their introduction to Mandarin to feel dull or disconnected. My goal is to bridge the gap between language learning and their everyday lives. It’s this connection—linking words to their world—that makes learning stick and fosters a lifelong love for Mandarin.

Your kids will love journaling with this personalized goldfish journal set!  This goldfish journal is created to help your kids identify their 5 senses and describing events of their day with 5 senses.  As they complete each journal page, they will effortlessly pick up an array of Chinese words like the weekdays, weather, and each sense. 

It’s all about making things relevant for your kids when it comes to learning Chinese or any subject. If your kids already love the movie Frozen, give them Frozen [冰雪奇緣] activities in Chinese. They will be eager to participate because they already love anything Frozen. It will be as easy as pie to introduce your kids vocabularies and Chinese characters from the movie. And next time you watch the movie together, ask them to find those words they learned for a little repetition practice. The same technique can be applied to other areas of interests. If your kids like dinosaurs, look for Chinese learning activities and games on dinosaurs.