Learn Chinese 日 Radical Words with Sun Matching Activity {Free Printable}

The Chinese character 日 (rì) can be defined as day, sun, date, or day of the month.  日 is a pictograph depicting the sun.  Originally a circle with a dot in the center, the central dot has evolved into a 横 (héng / horizontal stroke).  日 is both an independent character and a radical of other characters related to brightness and daytime.  In Chinese, radical is referred to as 部首 (bù shǒu) or 偏旁 (piān páng).  For review of Chinese 日 radical words, my daughter and I made a simple paper plate sun word matching activity!  For parents who can’t write Chinese or just don’t have time to make the craft, you can use the free printable provided in this post!

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Important vocabulary

• Chinese 日 radical words

  • 早 (zǎo / early; morning)
  • 明 (míng / bright; clear)
  • 晶 (jīng / crystal)
  • 春 (chūn / spring season)
  • 时 / 時 (shí / time)
  • 星 (xīng / star)
  • 晚 (wǎn / evening; late; night)
  • 旴 (xū / dawn)
  • 旱 (hàn / drought)
  • 晒 / 曬 (shài / bask or dry in sunlight)
  • 暗 (àn / dark; with no sunlight)
  • 晓 / 曉 (xiǎo / dawn)

• Common words/phrases with the word sun

  • 節日 (jié rì / holiday)
  • 生日 (shēng rì / birthday)
  • 出生日期 (chū shēng rì qī / date of birth)
  • 星期日 (xīng qī rì / Sunday)
  • 日出 (rì chū / sunrise)
  • 日記 (rì jì / diary)
  • 日本 (Rì běn / Japan)

Learn Chinese Weekly has more examples of 日 radical words in various contexts on their website here.

Please note that in a prior version of this post, I made the following errors:

• 阳/陽/ (yáng / sun)’s radical is阝(阜), not 门
• 间/間 (jiān / between)’s radical is 門, not 日
  

Many thanks to my Taiwanese friend, Peggy, who is an amazing teacher, for helping us learn the different radicals!  You can learn more Chinese resources from Peggy’s blog here.

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What you need for the Paper Plate Sun 日 Radical Words Matching Activity:

Two options:

1. Printable 日 Radical Words Template
   1. Simplified Chinese version (click link to open download window)
   2. Traditional Chinese version (click link to open download window)
2. DIY Paper Plate Sun Craft:
   1. Paper plates
   2. Yellow paint (if you don’t have yellow paper plates) – We love Apple Barrel acrylic paint!
   3. Marker / pen
   4. Yellow cardstock – We love Astrobrights!
   5. Scissors
   6. +/- Glitter glue

How to set up the Sun日 Radical Words Matching Activity:

1. Printable 日 Radical Words Template:
   1. Cut template along solid lines
   2. Match sun rays with the sun; repeat for review!
2. DIY Paper Plate Sun Craft:
   1. Paint paper plate yellow.  Let dry.
   2. Cut yellow cardstock into long isosceles triangles.  These are the sun rays.
      
   3. Write 日 in the center of the paper plate.  We used glitter glue for a fun texture and also to represent the brightness of the sun.
   4. Write words with 日 radical along the edge of the paper plate.  As for how many words to include, use 2-4 focus words for younger learners.  Include more words for those who are familiar with more Chinese characters.
   5. Write Chinese words on triangle sun rays.
   6. Match sun rays with the sun; repeat for review!

Game ideas:

• Print 2 paper plate sun templates; have a race to see who completes the matching game fastest!
• Print 2 copies of the sun rays page; make a memory game out of the sun rays by turning the characters face-down and see who comes up with a matching pair, first!

Presentation in a Montessori Inspired tray

In this photo, you can see how I set up the 日 radical words activity on our Montessori-inspired shelf!

Note: In the free printables, I have included common 日 radical words.  However, the printable is editable if you have Adobe Pro, and you can substitute with more challenging characters as needed for your child.  For our paper plate version, I included a couple of traditional Chinese characters that my daughter has not yet learned such as 曆.  However, I did not include 曆 for the printable because it’s simplified Chinese version, 历, has no 日 radical.  This is the problem with the oversimplification of many Chinese characters: 日 is an essential part of the definition of calendar.

If you review Chinese 日 radical words with this sun radical word matching activity, please let us know!  Leave a comment and don’t forget to tag @CHALKAcademy on Instagram and Facebook!  Or feel free to share it with my Facebook group!  We love to see how other families do educational activities!

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To see all hands-on Chinese learning activities, please browse our activities by topic with your child(ren)!

If you want to explore our favorite Chinese children’s books, click here!

Bilingual English and Chinese Facebook Parent Group

As always, please leave a comment with any questions, and I’ll try my best to answer them!  Or better yet, ask other parents in our Facebook group!  Montessori-inspired Kids Learning Chinese and English is a community of parents worldwide who are excited to share bilingual book recommendations, Montessori tips, and learning materials!

Happy learning, friends!