Salt Stamping

This a great project parents can do at home with their kids. Color one cup of table salt with one tablespoon of liquid watercolor. Let it dry on a tray overnight and then transfer it to a bowl. We used tropical colors for our project at school. Spread a thin layer of white glue mixed with a little water onto the tray. Let the kids stamp on construction paper and then sprinkle the colored salt over the glue. We used ocean animal stamps to go with our tropical colors. The kids loved this project, and it's great for reinforcing the Chinese vocabulary they're learning.

Life Size Board Games

On Tuesday the kids played a life sized version of Candyland! Our gym was made into a giant gameboard with construction paper spaces. Stuffed animals were used for markers. Each space had an animal or color printed on it corresponding to the Chinese vocabulary the children are learning. The children used a huge foam die for moving along the gameboard. After rolling the die and moving the required number of spaces the children were then asked to name the animal or color they had landed on in Chinese. A correct answer was rewarded with a second turn. While the normal sized version of the game is fun, the life sized version has some additional benefits. The children were involved in physical activity and able to move around freely while playing the game. There was also more cooperative work happening. The children liked the huge die and all wanted to help count the dots on it and make sure everyone moved their stuffed animal the correct number of spaces.