Craft Stick Word Puzzles – A Fun Way to Learn Color Names in Chinese!
Craft sticks (aka popsicle sticks!) are great for making your own word puzzles for your children or students! It took me less than 10 minutes to set up these color name puzzles for my daughter to learn color names in traditional Chinese (yay for low prep!). Since she knows these words in simplified Chinese, this activity focused on traditional Chinese characters. However, this craft stick activity can be adapted easily to any word and language!
Important vocabulary:
- 颜色 (Yánsè / colors)
- 红, 橙, 黄, 绿, 蓝, 紫, 粉 (hóng, chéng, huáng, lǜ, lán, zǐ, fěn / red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink)
What you need to make craft stick word puzzles:
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- Natural Jumbo craft sticks, natural mini craft sticks (we used these), or colored craft sticks
- Black Sharpie marker
- Painter’s tape
- Paint (Optional): My favorite is this acrylic paint because it dries quickly and leaves a vibrant color, but please note that the smell is rather strong when the paint is wet.
How to make Chinese Craft Stick Word Puzzles:
- Paint craft sticks (Optional: can also leave the craft sticks natural and not paint)
- Allow paint to dry
- Tape craft sticks together with painter’s tape
- Write corresponding Chinese character name on craft sticks. Note: use only 2 or 3 craft sticks to make the puzzle easier; use more craft sticks to increase difficulty level.
- Mix up puzzle pieces. As the child solves each puzzle, ask him or her to read each word.
If you child has fun learning color names with these craft stick word puzzles, please let us know in the comment section below! We love to see how other families implement our Chinese activities!
Fun, educational activities
- This Rainbow Craft Stick Puzzle is also fun for puzzle lovers! Click here to see more Chinese color activities!
- For more tips on setting up educational activities for kids, please read our How-To Guide for Chinese activities!
