Indoor Play & Activities: Recap of September 2018

September has brought about a stretch of dry weather in Hong Kong, so the Dumpling and I have been spending most of our afternoons outdoor. For the days that we stayed in, our activities have centered around reviewing the Chinese words that she’s been learning at school, celebrating the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, and discussing the aftermath of the typhoon that hit our city midway through the month.

Learning Chinese 

Ever since the Dumpling started kindergarten, I wanted to increase her exposure to Mandarin at home to reinforce what she’s learning at school. I tried reading Chinese children’s stories with her, but the words sounded so foreign that she exasperatingly asked, “Mommy, what are you saying?!” When I switched the language of her Netflix shows from English to Chinese, it solicited such a visceral reaction that I quickly reverted everything to its original state.

Eventually I backed off…until one day, out of nowhere, she muttered her first Mandarin words at home. At first it was counting to five, then to ten, and now a few words and broken phrases. She was so proud of herself at times that she wouldn’t shut up! I quickly capitalized on her newfound interest by creating several puzzles to further engage her through play.

Chinese and Arabic Number Puzzle Match

Click here to download.

I created this puzzle to help the Dumpling recognize Chinese numbers and associate them with their Arabic counterparts.

Directions: Glue each printout to a piece of cardboard. Carefully cut out the puzzle pieces with an X-Acto knife. Finally (and optionally) cut a semi-circle at the bottom of each piece so that it’s easier to pull off from the puzzle board.

Self-Correcting Chinese Vocabulary Puzzle

(Sorry, folks—because I used stock illustrations* to make this puzzle, I do not have the license to re-distribute this as a printable.)

The Chinese characters used in the puzzle correlate with the vocabulary words the Dumpling is learning at school. I don’t expect her to read yet, so I just sound out each character as we match the pieces.

* Some illustrations used in this puzzle were stock illustrations downloaded from Feepik.

Chinese Color Match Memory Game

Click here to download.

To play, lay the pieces with their backsides facing up. Flip over two pieces on each turn with the goal of finding two matching colors in as few moves as possible. Again, I don’t expect the Dumpling to read just yet; I just say the colors aloud as we play. We initially started playing with only two colors and have currently built up to six.

Directions: Make two copies of the printable, glue the sheets onto pieces of cardboard, and cut out each color circle.

Celebrating Mid-Autumn Moon Festival

The Dumpling and I experimented with different methods of making lanterns throughout September. Details can be found here.

Dealing with the Aftermath of Typhoon Mangkhut

Typhoon Mangkut was supposedly the fiercest storm to hit Hong Kong in the last 30 years. For a few hours, our windows and door shook violently and rainwater leaked in non-stop.

The next morning, the Dumpling and I ventured outside to assess the damages. There were lots of downed trees and foliage as expected, but to our surprise there were also shattered seashells outside our flat! We live less than a quarter of a mile away from the beach, but we are also situated on a hill approximately 80 feet above sea level so these seashells were a long way from home. The Dumpling and I managed to find several intact ones which we brought home and painted.

Our souvenirs from the typhoon.

Mid-Autumn Moon Festival Lanterns

One of the biggest holidays in Hong Kong (and many Asian countries) is the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival—the night where the moon supposedly is at its fullest and brightest. Although I didn’t bring the Dumpling to the beach for the local lantern lighting event, we did make our own lanterns throughout the month leading up to the festival. The best part was lighting them up at night with my phone’s flashlight!

“Stained Glass” Lantern

Out of all the lanterns, this was our favorite because of the colorful light shadows it casted.

To create the translucent paint, we mixed one drop of gel food coloring with four tablespoons of Elmer’s glue for each desired color. The Dumpling painted the mixture onto four square transparency sheets.

Once the sheets dried, I taped them together to form the sides of a cube. I also added a cardboard base to the bottom so it could hold my phone. We experimented with shining the light from different angles and were rewarded with so many colors!

City Skyline Lantern

Using a stock image of the Hong Kong skyline, I laid the printout on top of a cardboard box and traced the outline by puncturing it with a pin. The Dumpling and I then applied a nice coat of watercolor onto the boxl. The lantern actually looked like a miniature version of the city’s skyline once lit!

Paper Mache Rabbit Lantern

The Dumpling had been practicing cutting with scissors, so we had a huge pile of paper strips that was perfect for making paper mache. We used a plastic bowl as the mold and glued on cut-outs of a rabbit’s eyes, nose, ears, and whiskers once the paper mache dried.

Why a rabbit? Because according to Chinese folklore, the shadows on the moon actually belongs to that of a bunny pharmacist living up there!

Mooncake Lanterns

The Dumpling and I colored in these mooncake templates I found online—we ended up with so many that I glued together a few cutouts to make lanterns.

Happy Mid-Autumn Moon!

This was the only picture I snapped of the full moon. I was in such a rush that I didn’t realize half the moon was covered by clouds until I got home!