We’re big fans of sensory bins in our home, and hidden flashcards are my secret to making them extra educational! In my pantry, I keep a bag of dried beans dedicated to tactile fun! Since sensory bins offer a great opportunity for practicing life skills, 老大 (lǎodà / oldest child) has excellent scooping and pouring accuracy – she could do this for hours! Sensory bins are also calming as kids enjoy the feel of different textures, and loose parts encourage open-ended play and exploration.
Normally, we don’t use flashcards in our Chinese learning, because my 老大 finds them boring and irrelevant. She learned to read quickly by memorizing book titles and reading story books every day. However, flashcards are helpful for reinforcing new words, so I have to get creative in order for 老大 to look at them. Below, I’ll share my favorite flashcards and fun ways to use them in a sensory bin.
What you need:
Amazon affiliate links provided for convenience
- Dried beans (eg, pinto) or pasta
- Large mixing bowl
- Measuring cups
- Plates, bowls, cups, eating utensils
- Different sized spoons, scoopers, or shovels
- Optional: Large plastic bin like this underbed box to keep stray beans contained.
- Flashcards:
- Kingka flashcards are my favorite flashcards because they are the only ones I have seen with real photographs, and the characters are large, distraction-free, and easy to read. Technically, Kingka is a matching game, but we so far only use it for our sensory bin. We have not played the memory game yet. Kingka cards come in simplified or traditional Chinese with English, French, Spanish, and pinyin on the back.
- You can also write or print out any words on index cards, post-it notes, colorful paper, or plain white paper. Arch Chinese is a helpful website to make your own flashcards.
Play & learn ideas:
- Flashcard Hunt: Hide flashcards in the beans!
- For early learners, if you’re learning the words 大 and 小 for example, put several of each in the bin. Then put your child to the challenge to see how many he or she can find!
- For children who are learning several characters, put more characters in the bin to increase difficulty level.
- Have the child search with their hands, or for more fine motor skills, scoop up the cards or try to pick it up with chopsticks!
- Pretend cooking:
- 老大 most commonly pretends that she’s making elaborate meals with her sensory bin! The photos in this post actually show an invitation-to-play that she set up herself! Mix food flashcards in the beans and pretend to serve and eat the foods on the cards. This is a great way to teach new vocabulary in a relaxed, memorable, and play-based way!
- 老大 most commonly pretends that she’s making elaborate meals with her sensory bin! The photos in this post actually show an invitation-to-play that she set up herself! Mix food flashcards in the beans and pretend to serve and eat the foods on the cards. This is a great way to teach new vocabulary in a relaxed, memorable, and play-based way!
If you try this Chinese Flashcards Sensory Bin activity, please let us know! Leave a comment and don’t forget to tag @CHALKAcademy on Instagram and Facebook!
Leave a Reply