Chinese Workbooks for Kids

By Mei Lin

These workbooks are for children of about five to nine who are starting Mandarin, at home or in class. Bao the panda leads each book, and the activities are the kind young children enjoy: tracing, colouring, counting, pointing and saying words out loud.

The topics are the ones children talk about anyway: animals and fruit, snacks, colours and numbers, family, school, clothes, and festivals like Chinese New Year and the Mid-Autumn Festival. Sit with them, sound out the pinyin together, say the words, and let the pictures do the rest.

11 workbooks, most downloaded first. Free with a SayMei account: each workbook's page shows its first two pages.