Learn Cantonese at a Zoo
The sun is shining and the weather is getting warmer. Why not take a trip to your local zoo? Being outside at a zoo, kids are energized to explore and discover new things at the zoo already. There is ample opportunity to engage kids in the use of Cantonese.
Kids love watching animals and there are real animals at a zoo. You can obviously introduce Cantonese vocabulary for zoo animals. Feel free to use the Zoo Animals poster and flashcards for teaching your kids some new vocabulary before the trip. There are obviously more than 9 animals at any local zoos. So don't you worry, I will have another zoo poster(s) coming soon. Watch this space!
On top of that, you can cover many more vocabulary. The real animals can be a connection to the real world and inspire kids to want to learn more. Say, an actual elephant gives you the opportunity to introduce the word ivory (象牙; Jyutping: zoeng6 ngaa4) and the concept of big (大; Jyutping: daai6). You can also go through Cantonese numbers by getting kids to count how many animals there are in one exhibit.
The many different animals and the huge area to cover can be overwhelming for our little visitors. Kids may enjoy the zoo visit even more with some kind of guided activity. How about a game of "Spot the Animals"? You can use this worksheet for the game (after having gone through the above vocabulary poster and flashcards). They can put a sticker on each animal that they have spotted and then another sticker if they can name it in Cantonese. Those who have the most stickers win. If you are visiting the zoo with only one kid, you can prepare a small gift for a full worksheet (i.e. 18 stickers).
As said earlier, I am producing more materials of zoo animals soon. What animals would you like to see in the materials? Let me know in a comment.
