Chinese New Year is coming a bit earlier this year, so we are planning on spending January learning about and praying for China. I actually had the opportunity to visit China a few years ago, and it was absolutely incredible! Needless to say, I am pretty excited to be learning more about this beautiful country with my littles. And I have been having so much fun rounding up the following resources for this month of learning.
Pictures
I’ll be digging up some of the pictures and videos I have from my trip to China. However, we’re also going to be using the cards found in the “Our Big Neighborhood” pack by Color and Kindness. The beautiful watercolor illustrations really capture the imagination. And I love that she has a card teaching littles how to say ‘Hello’ in Chinese. I also snagged some culture and country cards from the Target Dollar Spot during back-to-school time, and we’ll be using the China cards from there as well.
Language Learning
Whenever we do our World Love Wednesdays, I want to give my littles the opportunity to at least hear and see other languages. Even better if they learn a few words! Obviously, I’m not a great resource for Chinese language-learning resources, but I know of a few people who are and their blogs are AMAZING! Full of time, activities, and cultural information I have felt so inspired by the following blogs on our bilingualism journey:
Chalk Academy
Betty is a Chinese-American mom teaching her children Chinese, English, and Korean! She truly is an inspiration when it comes to bilingual parenting. Some of my favorite posts from her are:
–Bible Verse on Faith and Parenting in English and Chinese
–Raising Trilingual Children As A Non-Native Speaking Parent
–20 Best Chinese New Year Activities for Home and School
Fortune Cookie Mom
Po Tim King is a Chinese native from Hong Kong, home schooling her little ones, and teaching them Chinese! She has so many amazing resources on her blog. Some of my favorites are:
– 100+ Best Chinese New Year Activities for Kids
-Chinese New Year Learning Bundle
Spot of Sunshine Chinese
Sunny is a Taiwanese-American mama teaching her little one Chinese. She has so many, many amazing Chinese Christian resources. I really have learned so much from her and love the resources on her blog. Some favorites:
-5 Simple Chinese Christian Songs –with Lyrics
–Top Chinese Children’s Worship Albums
-Top Chinese Worship Bands to Add to Your Playlist
-Christian Chinese New Year Banners
Books
Dim Sum for Everyone by Grace Lin
This simple board book does a great job of explaining the Chinese tradition of dim sum to young learners by following a little girl and her family sharing this meal. An information page in the back of the book shares more of the tradition to help give context to parents.
Goldy Luck and the Three Pandas by Natasha Nim
This sweet retelling of Goldy Locks and the Three Bears follows little Goldy Luck as she visits her Panda neighbors. She eats their congee, breaks baby panda’s chair, and ruins his bed. However, unlike Goldy Locks, Goldy Luck learns an important lesson about owning up to the way we hurt others and making things right.
The Story of Chopsticks by Ying Chang Compenstine
This book is awesome. It tells the story of the invention of Chopsticks. The author was inspired to write this tale while watching her young son eat with chopsticks. It also naturally introduces little ones to Chinese culture, manners, and faux pas. The back of the book also includes an author’s note sharing how to use chopsticks and rules to follow when using them. My little ones LOVE eating with chopsticks, and absolutely love this book as well.
Chinese New Year Books
Will also be using a selection of books recommend by Sunny atSpot of Sunshine Chinese in the Chinese New Year post she wrote for us last year.
Food
Chinese culture has some of the BEST food in world. For real, if you have never had Chinese pastries, you are really missing out. So imagine how giddy I was when I learned we have a Chinese bakery in Minneapolis. Keefer Court prides itself in being the only Chinese bakery in the cities. After browsing their website, I have a whole list of things I want to try.
During the month, I also have hopes of venturing to Szechuan Spice (my favorite Chinese restaurant in the cities) to snag some dumpling. And thanks to a congee recipe in the Our Big Neighborhood pack we will probably be having some bookish play with “Goldy Luck and the Three Pandas.”
Chinese New Year
Since Chinese New Year is just around the corner (January 25th this year), we will be doing a little bit of learning about this holiday. We will be using Chinese New Year Resources from Spot of Sunshine Chinese, doing a few crafts to celebrate the Year of the Rat, and heading to the Mall of America on February 1st for the MOA’s Chinese New Year Celebration. I’m also keeping my eyes open for a Toddler Tuesday Chinese New Year Celebration at the MOA. We have been the past couple years and it was a blast!
China Prayer Needs
Finally, as we learn about China we will be praying for the Chinese people. Pray for:
-Protection for Chinese Christians others of faith as many face arrest for practicing their faith.
-Protection for those prostesting in Hong Kong.
-Pray that the people of China would know God’s love.
Baby Devotions 
Thanks so much for the shout out!!!
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