20 Amazing Chinese Animal Shows and Documentaries for Kids
If your bilingual children are fascinated by pets, zoos, and wildlife, Chinese shows about animals are a fun way to encourage the minority language at home! Thanks to great videos with real animal footage, my kids have learned tons of amazing animal facts in Mandarin Chinese.
To save your family time, I’ve put together a list of the best Mandarin animal shows and videos that we’ve explored as a family.
You’ll kids will have more than enough Chinese videos and documentaries about animals to choose from!
Table of Contents
- National Geographic / Disney Nature animal documentaries for kids
- Netflix Chinese animal cartoons and live-action shows
- Chinese Wink to Learn Animal Encyclopedia DVDs for kids
- Free Chinese animal videos on YouTube
This article was originally published in April 2019 and has since been updated with new information.
Disney Plus animal shows in Mandarin Chinese for kids
For impressive footage and facts about animals, nothing beats National Geographic and Disney Nature!
In the Disney Plus app, several amazing animal documentaries are available in Mandarin Chinese.
To check if your favorite National Geographic animal shows have the option of Chinese audio, click on the menu icon at the top right corner of your screen.
Since the checking process is rather tedious, here is a list of animal documentaries that have been dubbed in Mandarin Chinese.
To find these animal documentaries on the Disney Plus app, copy the title into the search bar in a parent account. I’ve also included Disney’s age rating.
Recommended: Best Disney Songs in Mandarin Chinese
National Geographic animal documentaries in English and Chinese
Disney Nature animal documentaries in English and Chinese
Netflix Chinese animal shows for kids
If your family subscribes to Netflix, these Chinese cartoons and live-action shows are cute, educational, and all about animals! They have been dubbed in Mandarin and many other languages.
Wink to Learn Animal Encyclopedia videos in Chinese
The Wink to Learn Animal Encyclopedia videos teach 800+ Chinese words and phrases, including 500+ encyclopedic facts about animals. The set of 6 videos includes:
- African Safari 非洲原野 (Fēizhōu yuányě)
- Amazing Rainforest 奇特的雨林 (Qítè de yǔlín)
- Threatened Species 濒危动物 / 瀕危動物 (Bīnwēi dòngwù)
- Asian Reptiles & Australian Wildlife 澳洲野生动物和亚洲爬行动物 / 澳洲野生動物和亞洲爬行動物 (Àozhōu yěshēng dòngwù hé yàzhōu páxíng dòngwù)
- Jungle Feathers 丛林之羽 / 叢林之羽 (Cónglín zhī yǔ)
- Wetland Wings 湿地之翼 / 濕地之翼 (Shī dì zhī yì)
These animal videos were filmed in the famous Singapore Zoo and Jurong Birdpark! To get children to speak Chinese, the narrator says: “跟我说一起吧 (Gēn wǒ yīqǐ shuō / Say it together with me.)” This helped my children learn so many animal names in Chinese.
Each DVD is 30-40 minutes long, making this an educational screen-time option for toddlers and preschoolers. Subtitles are available in simplified AND traditional Chinese. Here is a sample from one of the videos.
Wink to Learn Animal DVDs are available at Wink to Learn and China Sprout.
Related: Teach Your Child a Second Language with 5 Key Steps
Animal shows in Mandarin Chinese for kids and toddlers on YouTube
If you have toddlers or young kids, these Chinese animal shows on YouTube are great for learning interesting facts in Mandarin.
Le Le Adventure TV 小行星樂樂TV
This adorable Taiwanese channel has a whole playlist dedicated to cute animal adventures! Because the pace of the speech and screen changes are relatively slow, it’s a wonderful channel for young children and parents learning Mandarin. Watch the Le Le Adventure Chinese animal shows on YouTube.
Mama Laoshi 媽媽老師 | Animals in Chinese 動物中文
Mama Laoshi 媽媽老師 is an educational YouTube channel created by a Taiwanese American mom and her cute daughter! She has so many wonderful videos including a playlist all about animals! Check out the Mama Laoshi 媽媽老師 playlist for all of the Chinese animal videos.
Learn 100 Animals in Chinese | 一百種動物的中文名稱
Want to learn 100 animal names in Mandarin? This Chinese YouTube video will teach your child! To help beginners learn and understand the Chinese words, each animal’s name is stated slowly and clearly. The close-up footage of real animals is the best part of these videos.
What other Chinese animal videos do your kids like?
Which of these Chinese animal shows or documentaries are your child’s favorite? Please share with our community in the comments below.
This entire site is simply amazing! Such a daunting task is seemingly more doable thanks to your efforts and suggestions. Thanks!
I’m so happy to hear that the website has been helpful! Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback.