On top of the zhuyin class, we’ve also been doing zhuyin activities at home. I won’t document all of them because it always varies depending on where they’re at in the process. Are they learning to:
- recognize zhuyin characters
- learning to blend and read
- reading sentences
- writing zhuyin
Here is one fun activity we did the other day. It is specifically for learning to recognize zhuyin characters. The zhuyin I used are specific to the first 4-5 chapters of the Kang Xuan 康軒 book we’re studying from. I think the game is more fun when you already know most of the characters so it is best to play this after you’re past chapter 3.
Materials Needed
- zhuyin bingo game card
- set of bingo chips of various colors
- set of zhuyin flash cards
How We Played
With 4 kids and 1 adult, we took turns drawing from a pile of zhuyin flashcards. The card is shown to everyone and the person has to say what it is. When they encounter flashcards they have not learned, I tell them the sound so that they’re indirectly learning other characters. We put those aside and draw another card if this happens. They’re again put back into the pile for the new game.
As the games progressed, I started doing tones with them for each cards drawn. This is the one area we’re definitely working on right now. For example, b, b2, b3, b4, b5! Another option was to name a word that starts with that zhuyin. “Aha! I know a word that starts with /b/, buding! ㄅ 布丁!”
The kids all got into the spirit and really enjoyed the game. It was a good way also for me to gauge where they were in terms of character recognition. For the younger child, they may need the flashcard in front of them to match. For the older kids, they can practice looking for zhuyin based just on sound.
Edited to add: We repeated this game today and I added a new variation: Speedy Bingo. I divided the cards into consonants and vowels. Then we drew a card from each deck. The kids then had to read the newly formed “word” and then find their zhuyin on the board.
Other posts in the series
Hi,
I love your blog so much. I find myself rereading old posts and get more out of it. May I make a suggestion for your etsy shop? I have a 4 year old gal. I see a lot of the materials you make would be so helpful for my gal. Like these zhu yin bingo cards. I hope when you make new materials for your kiddos, you would just make like 5 extra sets and then sell the extras. Eventually, you may even want to consider selling an entire curriculum bundle. I would be interested in purchasing, and i believe others would too. You could also just sell PDFs that the individual would be responsible for printing and cutting.
Hi Melissa
Feel free to chat my on my Guavarama FB page! I’m happy to sell you the nomenclature cards. I never put it up for reasons too long to go into.