Keep Language Alive!

9 Activities to keep language learning fun

It is exploration time!

For this activity, you will need 10-20 cards. You can purchase some index cards or just make some cards by cutting out pieces of paper about the size of index cards.

Write out location hints on the cards in your language, such as “This is where you brush your teeth” or “This is where we change the baby’s diapers”.

Place the cards (in the proper order of clues) around the house or outside and have your children go from one location after another based on the hints. So, for example, give your children the first card that says something, for example, “This is where you brush your teeth.” Then when your children get to the bathroom sink, there should be a card waiting there that sends them to the next spot and then at the next spot is a card that sends them to the next spot until they go through all of the cards. Make sure the last card goes somewhere special where there is a little surprise: it can be a piece of candy or a book that you’ll read or maybe the car where you’ll take a drive somewhere.

If your children can read, have them read the cards themselves. If your children can’t yet read, you can have them give you the card each time and you read the clue out loud. Make sure the clue isn’t read until all of the children are present.

Our children like to do a scavenger hunt in the evening right before bed. They have to put their pajamas on, brush their teeth and be all ready for bed. Then they hide in one room while my husband or I place the cards around the house. The final card directs them to a location in their bedroom where we have a note that says “good-night” to each of them. They snuggle into bed and after the light is off, my husband or I tell them a story.

Another idea is to have your scavenger hunt outdoors. This can be a lot of fun since there is more room to run.

Don’t forget to think about a scavenger hunt for playdates or playgroups! It is also fun for birthday parties or other parties when there are children who all speak the second language or to have fun with translation for the children who don’t speak your language.

word finder...

This activity is fun for kids who are just learning to read or who are good readers already.

Create a grid with at least 4 squares across and 4 squares down (16 squares total) and then fill the squares with letters. You can repeat some letters if you want (especially vowels). Together with your child, find words in your language that are created by letters adjacent to one another (next to one another as well as corner to corner). You can also write down the words that you find and read over them again after you are done playing. You can create many grids with letters and try out other fun with letters and word creation.

Another variation on this is to cut out square pieces of paper that are the size of each of the squares in the grid. Then let your child place different letters over each square on the grid until it is full. Then have fun sounding out words! If your child can write, then have them write down the words that he/she or you find. Then have fun counting how many words were found in total!

sorting, sorting, sorting...

While you are sorting the laundry or going through DVDs or even looking through the junk mail on your table, get your children interested! Have them help in sorting through all kinds of objects and learning all about the differences in shapes, colors, sizes, weights and the words associated with each.

Give your child some toys or objects with different characteristics: round vs square, thin vs thick, etc. and have them work with you to organize them by different criteria: “All the things that don’t have straight sides go here and everything with a curved side goes here.”

When you are done with one sorting activity, change the criteria: “Ok, now everything that has yellow anywhere on it goes here, anything with blue goes here and the rest here”. Discuss the different characteristics: “Is this cube a square? What about this piece of paper?” “Look at this lemon, is it round? Hmmm, not really, huh, it is more oval, like this egg”.

You can also set out different containers for the different objects. If your child is old enough, an egg carton with different small items can be fun: rice in one compartment, kidney beans in another, peas, small stones, macaroni, etc. Give your child a spoon and they can move the items from one compartment to another. This is a great opportunity to spend time together discussing shapes, colors, sizes, etc. in the second language.

tea time!

Tea parties aren’t just for girls! They are for boys, girls, mom, dad, grandma and grandpa as well as friends, both human and pretend.

Don’t have the whole family around for a second language tea party in the afternoon? Then get out those stuffed animals, puppets, dolls and toys that only speak the second language and invite them to the party! There is nothing more believable than when you remind your child that Fido, the stuffed dog, “only speaks Chinese so we’ll all have to speak Chinese with him.”

As for the tea at the tea party, well, make-believe tea can be just as much fun as the real thing. Just make sure to set everything out nicely and to take time to sit and have fun with your children. Or, if they are speaking their second language just fine without you present, then leave them alone and let them have fun just themselves.

stories and writing...

This activity is all about stories and writing. Time for everyone to get their creative juices flowing.

For children who are not yet able to write, have them narrate stories to you. You can write out the stories and then they can illustrate them. Your children will enjoy seeing their stories in print and probably will ask for you to read them over and over again. Don’t be surprised if they actually start to memorize the words of the stories! These are the first steps toward learning to actually read. So, when you read the stories to them, make sure to point to the words and speak slowly and with emotion appropriate for each part of the story.

Use a big piece of paper, section off a part for a picture and another part for the story so that your child can draw a picture for each page to illustrate the story below. Don’t tell them what they should draw. Let them illustrate what stands out most in their mind. Even if their picture doesn’t seem to match the story below (or the story at all) that is fine! The most important is that they are engaged and having fun with color, words, reading and writing!

Write out the words exactly as your child narrates them to you. If your child only wants to narrate in the majority language, you can try translating for them out loud, asking them if that was an accurate translation and then writing down the translation. Then each time you read the story it will be in the second language.

If your child can write, then create the pages for her so that she can write in the bottom part and add an illustration in the top part. She can either work with you to create a story or let her write it and illustrate it herself without your help. Try to not focus on words that are misspelled at this point. The fact that she is writing on her own is wonderful. Praise her for her effort and after having read it a few times you can point out some spelling pointers on the side. For example, you can say, “Oh, I wonder if this word is spelled this way. Hmmm, I wonder if there is another “r” here. What do you think? Should we sound it out?” If she is open to making spelling changes then you can continue with the discussion. However, if she seems resistant, then stop discussing it and come back to the topic later after giving it some time.

You can put together a few pages so that your child can create or narrate and illustrate a whole book! Make sure to hold onto these creations so that your child can see them when she gets older. These are the foundations of your bilingual family. Your child will be delighted to see how it all developed and will probably want to share it with her own children - your grandchildren!

making letters fun...

Why not cook some spaghetti and have fun creating letters? Or if you’d rather not cook the spaghetti, you can use dried spaghetti and break it into pieces to create different letters. Make sure you don’t just leave your children with all of it or you’ll probably end up with a crazy mess instead of using the time to have fun with letters.
If your language has especially complex characters, then consider other items that you can use so that your children can have fun with writing. Maybe strings? Or rubber bands? Use little pebbles for the dots?

What about going for a walk in the park and collecting items that would make good letters? Then come home, or even while still in the park, write out words with the different items. This will be a great opportunity to use words in your language for the items as well as learning about letters and sounds.

little notes

Can your children already read?

Then leave notes for them in your language wherever you can. Best is to leave notes that aren’t essential but ones that your children are eager to know. For example, if they need to complete something before they can go outside and play with their friends, write the note of what they have to complete in their second language. Or if they can have a dessert after dinner, write down some words describing the dessert so that they have to guess what it is. It is always a fine balance between frustrating your children and providing them and yourself the opportunity to have fun with language.

If you know your child is in a particularly bad mood when she has to clean her room or do her homework, then it is probably not the best time to have fun with little notes in your language since this could cause additional friction. Instead, find a time when your child is in a good mood, maybe when he wakes up in the morning or on the weekend when he might feel a little more open to such activities.

language spying

Do you know about the game, “I Spy”? It is a great game to encourage your children to use their second language (or at least to listen to it)!

You basically describe something that you can see from where you are standing. For example, “I spy with my little eye something blue. It has a handle and I usually drink coffee from it.” Your children then try to guess what you are speaking about. When they figure it out, either it is the next person’s turn or you can keep being the one to “spy” things. Of course, if your children choose to take turns being the one who “spys” things, encourage them to do so in their second language.

For younger children, you can look right at the thing you are talking about to help them figure it out more quickly and so they won’t get completely discouraged. And it could be that they won’t want to be the one to “spy” anything. That is ok. If they are having fun listening to you describe things and enjoy trying to figure it out, then they are hearing you speak in your language and they are picking up the words that you are using.

postcards!

Want a fun way to help your child keep in touch with family overseas while keeping his language skills alive? Get him motivated and involved by writing postcards to grandma and grandpa, cousins, aunts and uncles.

Since the postcards are being sent to family who only speak the minority language, it is a great reason to HAVE to write the postcards in the second language! Let your child pick out the postcards for each family member or friend, or you can make your own postcards and have your child draw a picture or draw on one side.

If your child can’t yet write, have your child dictate the postcard contents to you in the community language and you can translate and then write out the translated words. You should try and encourage her to use her second language but don’t force it. Have fun with this project! Once the postcard is written out in translation, read him the postcard back and ask him if that is correct or if there should be any changes or additions.

One way to have a little fun with a child who insists on only speaking the community language: pretend to get the sentence completely wrong when you translate it so that he will have to correct you:
Child (speaking in community language): “Dear Grandma, when are you going to visit?”

Parent (speaking in minority language): “Ok, so you want me to write, ‘Happy Birthday Lena, we are coming to visit next month?”

Child (speaking in minority language): “No, it should be “Dear Grandma, when are you going to visit!”

Parent (speaking in minority language): “Ahhh, ok, yes, your are right. I translated it incorrectly. Good that you fixed that for me!”

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