Lego Building Activity

We’re back this week with another Chinese character learning activity and it capitalizes on the love many children have for Legos. As it always is with our character “writing” activities, this will be much easier for older children. For your younger kids, you will either have to provide an example or simple characters for them to copy.

 ACTIVITY OF THE WEEK 

Your child will be forming Chinese characters using Lego blocks (or similar types of building blocks). You can use Duplos for younger children, but be aware that the final result will be very big!

    

 WHAT YOU NEED 

- Legos, Duplos, or similar types of building blocks
- Lego/Duplo building plates

    

 

 HOW TO MAKE 

Once again, the activity is the making so you don’t have to create anything in particular for your child other than providing the materials.

    

 HOW TO PLAY 

Creating Characters Activity (age 3+, single person)

1. Have your child form a character using Lego blocks. You can choose (or alternate) between having your child build the character flat on the building plate or creating a 3D model of the character.
2. Once the character is formed, you can move on to other characters.

Just like our other character creating activities, you can try the following ways to play with multiple kids. (Although, if your children tend to be ultra-competitive, you might not want to go down that route.)

a. See who can form a character first.
b. See who can create the most characters within a time limit.
c. See who can read the most characters someone else makes.

Note: You can either provide written or completed examples for your younger children to copy.

    

My 8.5 year old child was much better at this activity than my 5 year old (for obvious reasons). I figured my children would prefer to do the flat lays, but I was surprised at how reluctant my oldest was to do anything at all. But eventually, he joined in. None of them wanted to do the 3D models and mostly, they chose to do easier characters. However, I am confident that if I proffered an appropriate bribe, they would be more willing to do harder characters.

See if you can guess what characters my kids chose to make.

We would love to hear your comments and see pictures of your kids doing the activities. Make sure you join our Sagebooks HK Parent Support Facebook Group and share with us!

TIP OF THE WEEK

This week’s tip may seem to be common sense parenting – but it’s especially hard when you’re going through Sagebooks with your younger children. No matter how hard you try, you cannot help but mentally compare your kids with each other. Even if your memory is terrible, you still have a general sense of how things went with the older kids and time always makes things seem rosier than they were.

Few things will turn a child off of learning Chinese characters like the sense of being compared (and unfavorably, at that) with other kids. Plus, you’ll just make yourself angry and impatient. Resist the temptation to say anything out loud and try as hard as you can to silence your inner critic.

Remember: each child is different. Their learning styles, speed, and retention will vary because they are unique individuals. It seems trite, but nevertheless, still true.

Do you like our tips for Sagebooks? Ever wish there were other people going through Sagebooks with you? Join us in our Facebook Group and meet other parents who are teaching their kids Basic Chinese 500 at all different ages and levels.