Howick Kindergarten thoroughly enjoyed celebrating Chinese Language Week this week! We have a few Chinese families who take pride in sharing videos of their children singing Chinese nursery rhymes at home. Moreover, all of our tamariki had the opportunity to learn some basic Chinese words like “you,” “me,” “she,” “Mum,” and “dad” through both videos and teaching from our kaiako. During mat time, we introduced the concept that Chinese characters resemble pictures and encouraged the children to compare English and Chinese numbers from one to three. The teacher wrote “one” and “two” in Chinese on the board and challenged the children to guess what “three” might look like, and most of them successfully did so! We also engaged in a watercolour art activity to explore Chinese culture. Teachers began by writing various Chinese characters on the white paper using white crayons. As the children began to paint, the Chinese characters magically emerged!

These engaging activities not only fostered a sense of cultural appreciation but also enhanced our tamariki’s cognitive and linguistic development as they embraced new languages and characters. Additionally, the watercolour activity encouraged creativity and imagination, making learning about Chinese culture an enjoyable and interactive experience for our tamariki.