At this age, children are playing with toys independently for a longer period of time and are eager to try new things.  It’s the perfect time to foster their interest in learning Mandarin Chinese.  By offering fun Mandarin Chinese activities and games in the same category as their favorite toys, cartoon characters and hobbies, your child will develop a positive connection with learning Mandarin Chinese.

• Create a print-rich environment at home with your child.  Get your child involved in the making or placing of the labels, signs, and charts in Mandarin Chinese.  Rotate the visual cues to keep things exciting and “new” for your child.  A Chinese character chart is highly recommended.

• Help build a positive attitude towards learning Mandarin Chinese by providing an inviting and pressure-free environment where your child can make mistakes and play freely.

• Observe how your child learns and his/her learning preferences so you can create an engaging Chinese learning lesson plan.

• Empower your child by letting him/her make decisions like what books to read, what theme to learn, and so on.

• Develop a Chinese learning routine to nurture your child’s curiosity in Mandarin Chinese.  Make a routine chart together with your child and check off the routine as it’s completed. As a daily routine, consider setting aside time to read a Chinese storybook and to discuss the book’s characters, plot, illustrations, words, and so on.  And on a weekly basis, consider teaching your child a new Chinese character from a storybook you’ve been reading or ask your child to pick a character he/she wants to know more about.  The key to creating a successful routine is to start small and keep it consistent.

• Follow your finger along the storybook’s texts to encourage your child to “read” along.

• Identify the Chinese words that commonly occur in the storybooks and write them on a word wall/poster that your child can see.  You can easily make it into a game by asking your child to point as quickly as possible the word you called out.  Over time, you can reverse the role and point to the word while your child reads it out loud.

• Encourage your child to draw to tell stories and show them examples of how Chinese characters are also derived from pictures of objects and symbols.  You can ask them to create their own Chinese characters for a word and then show them what the real ones look like.