Before doing an activity, encourage your child to count in the second language: “Ok, before we run to the slide, let’s count to ten. Ready set, go, one, two, three…” Even if your child doesn’t count with you, count yourself so that they will hear you and make the association between the language and having fun.

Try this activity all week. You can add to it by counting in different languages. The point is to get your child to enjoy language in general.

Add to the fun by counting backwards, "This time we'll count backwards until we get to zero and then we'll run around the sofa three times!" And then count while you run around the sofa.

Young kids usually enjoy things being repeated over and over so although you may think your child is fed up with counting, they probably aren't. Let them give you cues as to whether they are enjoying it or not.

If your child shows resistance, try just counting to yourself while you do things, "Ah, here are three apples, yummy! Now I'm going to walk to the front door. I'll bet it will take me 10 steps. Let's see, 1, 2.... ." This might get your child at least interested. Bit by bit you might bring him in. But don't worry if you don't. It takes time and each child is different.

Think about this activity this week and let me know how it works for you! I always enjoy hearing your variations on it. Also let me know if it didn't work and why you think it didn't. Send your emails to: info@biculturalfamily.org.
 

This week you can encourage your child to have fun learning numbers while measuring everything in sight! If you can find one, purchase a small measuring tape (you can often find them where sewing supplies are sold). If you can't find a measuring tape, then a ruler or other such measuring device will do. Encourage your child to measure things in the house, outside, while grocery shopping, in the car, while taking a walk and more. Talk about numbers and the relationship between longer/larger things and the higher the numbers. Show your child the numbers on the measuring tape and talk about the lines in between. Don't overwhelm your child but also make sure to keep this activity stimulating by pointing out different things to measure. If your child is older, then take this opportunity to discuss additional concepts such as how to calculate the area of an item, what an object's "footprint" is and what depth means. The topics you can discuss are endless and with a measuring tape in hand, the fun will last for hours, days or even weeks.
 

This week's activity is for a child who can read. 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.
 

Bring out maps and the atlas this week!  Have fun learning about where family members live and places you have visited with your child.

While talking about the different countries and family members, discuss languages, cultures and habits.  Discuss different kinds of land masses, such as hills, mountains, oceans, rivers, streams, plains and how people live in each kind of environment.  You can also add which kinds of animals live in each location and the kinds of food available to them.  Talk about different climate patterns such as monsoons, hurricanes, droughts, etc. 

As part of this activity, check out a good book on world geography from the library and discuss parts of it in the second language.  If you check out a book intended for a child a few years older than your child then the temptation to read it word for word in the majority language is less and you will have to paraphrase anyway.
To get family invovled, have family members send digital pictures of what their landscape looks like and places they have visited. 

Tack a map on the wall and together with your child, mark each place that you talk about or that your family member has sent pictures of.  And if you want even more fun, join the International Postcard Exchange and have a good excuse to learn about other cultures!
 

This week you can have fun combining language about different foods together with language about different birds.

Start by making bird feeding strings. 
- You will need heavy string, a cereal with a hole in the middle (like an oat cereal) or pretzels or other kinds of food that you can pull the string through.
- Pull the string through the chosen food
- Tie the string onto a tree or on your porch so that you can observe the birds coming to eat it

While making the bird feeder strings, discuss the different foods and how they were made.  What kinds of ingredients are common to each?  Then enjoy discussing the different kinds of birds in your area and watching them enjoy your bird feeder strings!
 

This week your children are going to become explorers!

For this activity, you will need 10-20 cards.  You can purchase some index cards or just make some cards by cutting out paper pieces 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 diaper”.  Place the cards (in the proper order of clues) around the house or outside and have your child go from one location after another based on the hints.  So, for example, give your child the first card that says something like, "This is where you brush your teeth."  Then when your child gets 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 outloud.  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 ourdoors.  This can be a lot of fun since there is more room to run. 

It is especially fun when there are a few kids involved and don't forget to think about a scavenger hunt for birthday parties or other parties when there are children who all speak the second language.
 

This week, while you are sorting the laundry or through DVDs or even through the junk mail on your table, get your children interested in sorting all kinds of objects and learning all about the differences in shapes and the associated words.

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.  An egg carton with different small items can also 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.
 

This week is time to focus on orientation words with your child!  Not only will you be sharing vocabulary with them, you will be helping them learn a sense of direction.

Whenever you can, incorporate movement and orientation vocabulary.  When turning right, ask your child, “Which way are we headed now, left [point your arm to the left], or right [point your arm to the right], or straight ahead [point your arm straight in front of you]?”  This gets your child hearing and interacting with the vocabulary. 

You can do the same in the following situations: while riding in the car, climbing UP and DOWN stairs or jumping UP and DOWN or putting arms UP in the air and DOWN on the floor, pushing something ACROSS the table or pushing the stroller ACROSS the street. 

Feel free to ask a lot of silly questions in these situations throughout the day: "Is the dog sitting on his pillow or under his pillow?"  Often your child will laugh and say, "You're silly, dad, he is sitting on his pillow!" 

Think up more and remind yourself of them before going for a walk or doing activities with your child.
 

This week, have fun finding shapes everywhere... make sure you know your shapes before doing this activity with your kids!

Shapes are everywhere around us.  Help your children identify shapes when you are going places.  The circle of a bicycle wheel, the diamond shape of a sign, how the roof of a house makes a triangle and the door makes a rectangle. 

After covering most of the most common shapes, practice the less common ones like ovals, octagons, etc.  Don't worry if your child doesn't really understand what those shapes are, just let him or her have fun hearing and using the words.

It is fun to combine movement and learning activities for kids so don’t be surprised when they ask to go for another walk to have fun identifying shapes around town!
 

Those yummy veggies and fruits are on their way (at least for those of us in the Western Hemisphere!) so let's get out the measuring cups and get our kids cooking and baking with us in the kitchen... or in the backyard with their sand and dirt.

While cooking with your children, make sure to point out the different measurements you are using.  This is a bit tricky, but also a lot of fun, if the measurements are completely different between your family’s cultures.  Try to incorporate both measurement systems as much as possible... maybe one time in the community's system and the next time in your other culture's system.

In our household, since we are living in the US, we use the American measurement system but I try to incorporate German measurement terminology wherever I can.  Show them how much a cup is and then explain to them that a half-cup is half of a full cup, etc.  Let them hold the tablespoon and teaspoon set and to help measure sugar and flour while explaining the same terms. 

You might even give your child an old set of measuring cups and spoons so that they can play with them.  They might even start using the terminology without you encouraging them: “Look Mama, a quarter-cup of dirt!”  Mmmmm, look at those great mud-pies - exactly half a cup of sand, three teaspons of dirt and one quart of water, right?