We have a couple of great shape stencils that my daughter has used for the past year. One day she misplaced the stencils and we could not find them despite searching all over the house. In a pinch, I grabbed a piece of cardboard and cut out some shapes for her. Then I realized that the blank cardboard pieces had a precious spot for labeling the names of the shapes! I made 2 sets of each shape: one set of Chinese names, another set in English. These bilingual shape stencils are easy to make and a great way to expose children to environmental print.
If your kids are reluctant readers, don’t worry because they will read when they are ready! In the meantime, you can provide a print-rich environment in many ways. For example, these DIY shape stencils can teach kids English and Chinese words, because kids will see the text over and over again!
While drawing and tracing, your child is naturally engaging with the text since the holding the stencil in place requires eye-hand coordination! They might not remember them right away, but over time, the shape words will become familiar with frequent exposure.
Important vocabulary:
- 形状 (xíngzhuàng / shapes)
- 圆形 (yuán xíng circle)
- 三角形 (sānjiǎoxíng / triangle)
- 正方形 (zhèngfāngxíng / square)
- 长方形 (chángfāngxíng / rectangle)
- 心形 (xīn xíng / heart)
- 星形 (xīng xíng / star)
- 菱形 (língxíng / diamond)
What you need to make bilingual shape stencils:
Amazon affiliate links provided for convenience
- Cardboard
- Sharpie marker
- Shape template (feels kind of silly to use a template to DIY your own, but it’ll be easier that drawing them freehand like what I had to do!)
- Scissors
How to make bilingual shape stencils:
- Draw shapes on cardboard
- Cut shapes
- Label shapes with their names. Tip: use the same color for each label for uniformity. Labels that are too colorful are distracting from the goal of recognizing the shape and their name.
- Use the stencils to trace/draw
- Suggest creating 2 sets so that you can also turn it into a matching game!
If you make bilingual shape stencils, let us know! Please leave a comment and don’t forget to tag a photo #ChalkAcademy on Instagram and Facebook.
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