Over the Raindough 彩虹
We keep coming back to Le Le Chinese but a lot of my daughter’s favourite books are from the set so it’s inevitable, I guess. This time we’re looking at an art activity inspired by 变颜色 (‘Changing Colour’). It’s really quite simple actually. I started off with all the primary colours (you can see them above!) so that she knows the names of the basic colours like red, blue and yellow.
I have carpet flooring so I really wanted to keep mess to a minimum… hence the use of play dough (click here for the recipe we used!) as substitute for paint. With enough kneading, squishing and rolling, the dough eventually mixes evenly for a nice colour which you can use continuously afterwards for different activities! So I’d say that this activity helps them learn to make their own colours and experiment with colour while prepping you for any other activites or giving your kids the opportunity to do some independent play with the new colours.
To really highlight the link between an activity and a book, I always try to bring the book out in front of her and show her the pictures and words. By doing so, I think it helps her consolidate her knowledge of the words in the book (the names of colours and the word 变 ‘change’) because it gives her a physical experience with them.
Besides, she really enjoys the activities and my daughter sometimes has a non-stop mouth so it’s really easy to encourage her to learn from the books. The best way to encourage them to learn is to sit with them and go through the book with them. Of course, there are plenty of times where my daughter said the wrong colour or remembered a word incorrectly! Don’t feel discouraged, though. Children aren’t computers with a function to install memory, they’re sponges - they take time to absorb and apply information!
If you can, speaking to them in the second language will help significantly to link the words in that language. When they do slip into another language, continue talking to them in the second language and you might find that they’ll slip back!
That’s what I always try to do with her!
UPDATE (14/07/2021 14:32): As of today, we have joined the Le Le Chinese Affiliate Program but please note that this post was written before the affiliate program ever existed! You can use our affiliate link to get 5% off your order with Le Le when you use ‘LELEDEZIREMI’. Every purchase made with this link helps support this blog and the day-to-day running of the bookshop - so thank you in advance! And thank you to Le Le Chinese!
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What do you do with your kids? Do you like doing little art activities? How do you minimise mess? We’d love to hear your tips and activities! Let us know in the comments or contact us directly!
Till soon!
Outline by Michal Ong, written by Delicia Ong