Printable Halloween Coloring Pages for Kids with Little Pim

With Halloween around the corner, print out these free Little Pim Halloween Coloring pages for your little ones to color and display them around the house or on the fridge for a festive decoration. Share your kids’ creation with us on social media using #littlepim - we’d love to see them!

Halloween 2020 will be like no other and we hope everyone stays safe and continues to practice social distancing while celebrating safely at home or outdoors. What are some fun ways you and your little ones are celebrating Halloween?

Many communities have planned safe events for kids to celebrate and parade around in their costumes. For trick or treating, we’ve seen a few ideas from creating a slide or shoot to drop candy down for kids to creating pre-packaged goody bags to place on an outdoor table for kids to grab without touching others’ treats. PopSugar has some great ideas for fun Halloween celebrations at home.

We have a local bakery here that is selling festive Halloween cookie and cupcake decorating kits - what a fun idea for little ones to get creative and enjoy a special treat!

incorporate language learning and World Culture in your Halloween celebrations

You can also incorporate language learning in your Halloween celebrations. While coloring, review the color vocabulary in your target language. You can also review harvest vocabulary for words like pumpkin, apple, farm, farm animals, barn, corn, etc.

It’s also a good opportunity to introduce your child to International Halloween traditions Perhaps the most famous outside of the American holiday, Mexicans celebrate Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, on November 1st and 2nd. It's a time for family and friends to remember departed loved ones. Day of the Dead bread, or "Pan de Muerto," is a quintessential dish made during Dia de los Muertos. Learn to make you own here.

We hope you have lots of fun this year with your kids and we look forward to seeing the creative ways families around the nation are celebrating safely. Happy Halloween!

6 Easy Multicultural Recipes to Make with Your Kids

One of the best ways to introduce culture and language into your home is through the kitchen. Everyone learns to love something that is the source of delicious meals and snacks. Whether your children are learning another language or just stretching their linguistic wings, cooking is the perfect time to explore the globe through language. 

Cook together and pick recipes from all over the world. Talk about the origin of recipes, why people cook the way they do in other cultures. Then name each ingredient in the language of the people who invented it. From toddlers to teenagers, cooking together is a great way to learn. Let's take a look at six multicultural recipes that are easy enough to cook with kids and will bring language to your kitchen.

Spanish: Soft and Crunchy Tacos

Everyone loves a delicious meal of tacos. Crunchy or soft, spicy or mild, tacos are the ultimate in hand food. Kids love tacos and most kids are crazy about taco night. Make it even more special by putting tacos together as a family and naming each ingredient in Spanish along the way.

Ingredients

• Ground Beef

  • Carne molida

• Seasoning

  • Condimento

• Lettuce

  • Lechuga

• Tomatoes

  • Tomates

• Shredded Cheese

  • Queso rallado

• Crunchy Taco Shells

  • Tacos crujientes

• Flour or Corn Tortillas

  • Tortillas de harina o maiz

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F

2. Pan-fry the ground beef (or other meats) until browned and fully cooked.

3. Chop lettuce and tomatoes

4. Lay foil on a cookie sheet. Place crunchy shells and soft tortillas, line each with cheese along the fold.

5. Place the sheet of shells and tortillas in the oven.

6. Add taco seasoning and 1-2 tablespoons of water. Let the water cook down and infuse the meat with flavor.

7. Remove the shells and tortillas, then distribute them onto plates. 

8. Load each taco with meat, lettuce, tomatoes, and a sprinkle of cheese.

French: Mini Breakfast Quiche

Quiche is one of the most simple and delicious French recipes in your cookbook. It's really very simple: Quiche is an omelet pie. If you can make a delicious omelet with your kids (or just delicious scrambled eggs) then you can make a delicious quiche. Explain the strange name and explore the French names for each ingredient as you put them together.

Ingredients

• Pastry Dough (optional)

  • Pate a patisserie

• Eggs

  • Des oeufs

• Milk

  • Lait

• Cheese

  • Fromage

• Diced Protein

  • Proteine en des 

  • Ham, Bacon, Feta, Tofu, Scallions, etc.

• Chopped Vegetables

  • legumes haches 

  • Mushrooms, Spinach, Tomatoes, Onion, etc.

Directions

1. Preheat the Oven to 350 F

2. Grease a muffin pan and line each cup with pastry dough. This can be pie crust, premade dough, or croissant roll dough.

3. Sprinkle in meat and vegetables into each cup

4. Fill each cup with egg

5. Top each cup with cheese

6. Bake 25-30 minutes

German: Deviled Eggs - Gefüllte Eier

Deviled eggs are hard-boiled eggs with a creamy kick. In fact, most families don't realize that this Easter classic has deep roots with the German people. They have a unique name for the recipe and introduced sprinkling paprika onto egg-yolks mixed with mustard. If your kids love to make deviled eggs, turn this treat into an all-year recipe by practicing the german names for each ingredient.

Ingredients

• Eggs

  • Eir

• Mustard

  • Senf

• Mayo

  • Mayonaise

• Salt and Pepper

  • Salz und Pfeffer

• Paprika

  • Paprika

• Optional

  • Dill or Sweet Relish

  • Tartar Sauce

  • Sour Cream

  • Onions

Directions

1. Hard-boil the eggs, give them an extra few minutes to boil quite-hard.

2. Peel each egg and slice it in half, longwise.

3. Scoop the hard yolk from each egg, carefully keeping the egg whites from breaking

4. Mix the egg yolks with mustard, salt, pepper, and mayo or a mayo substitute. Mix additional ingredients if preferred

5. Re-fill egg whites with deviled egg mixture

6. Top with sprinkled paprika

Irish: Shepherd's Pie

Shepherd's pie is filling and nutritious in a way that only very practical traditional foods can be. Stacked with all the good things a meal needs in one dish, kids love shepherd's pie. You can't go wrong with beef, mashed potatoes, and cheese. Enjoy the traditional recipe and Irish names for ingredients or mix it up and look up the Irish words for anything you add.

Ingredients

• Ground Beef

  • Mairteoil Talun

• Peas, Carrots, and Corn

  • Pisaenna, Caireid, agus Corn

• Onions

  • Oiniuin

• Worcestershire Sauce

  • Anlann Worcestershire 

• Seasoning

  • Seasue

• Mashed Potatoes

  • Bruitin

• Cheese

  • Cais

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 F

2. Brown and break up ground beef in a pan

3. Fry chopped vegetables with the beef. Add Worcestershire sauce and seasoning to taste.

4. Load a casserole dish or muffin cups with beef-vegetable mixture

5. Top casserole or cups with mashed potatoes

6. Sprinkle with cheese

7. Bake for 30 minutes

English: Hand Pies

Every culture has hand-held recipes and in the UK islands, the favorite is definitely hand-pies. For children practicing English, explore the names of pastry dough, and name the fruit in the filling. Talk about street vendors singing about their pies and how hand-pies are an important part of traditional life in both rural and city England.

Ingredients

• Pastry Dough

• Fruit Filling

• Meat Filling

  • Cooked and minced

• Butter

Directions

1. Preheat Oven to 

2. Shape dough into flat circles the size of a spread-out hand

3. Add 2-3 tablespoons of filling to the center of each dough circle

4. Fold each dough circle in half and press the edges together

5. Brush the tops with butter, line pinched crusts with foil

6. Bake for 20-30 minutes

Japanese: Sushi (Philadelphia) Rolls

Sushi is the single most recognizable meal from Japan and something every kid can enjoy. Both a refined entree and a healthy finger-food, practice Japanese with your children while rolling your own sushi rolls.

Ingredients

• Short Grain White Rice

  • Sushi to Gohan

• Seaweed Sheets

  • Nori

• Fresh Raw Salmon

  • Furesshusamon

• Avocado

  • Abokado

• Stick of Cream Cheese

  • Kruimuchizu

Directions

1. Cook 2-3 cups of sticky white rice

2. Slice thin strips of sushi-grade raw salmon

3. Slice equally thin strips of avocado

4. Lay out one sheet of nori seaweed on a bamboo rolling mat

5. Distribute an even layer of sticky rice over the nori

6. Lay salmon in a line down the center of your rice, same direction as your bamboo mat sticks are pointing

7. Lay avocado in a line next to the salmon

9 Fun Summer Activities for Kids That Incorporate Language Learning

For most kids (and some adults) summer means one thing: fun! Whether your family is going on a road trip or making sandcastles on the beach, summer offers some great opportunities for family time — and you may be able to sneak some language learning into your activities with the kiddos!

Here are 9 fun summer activities that you can do with your kids that incorporate language learning. Feel free to add your own spin to each one!

Road Trip Games

1. Name the Color/Object

Road trips can be a lot of fun, but even the most patient of children will get bored after several hours in the car. Keep your kids engaged by playing some simple games! One easy game is "Name the Color." Ask your kids what color a passing car is, or ask which colors are on a road sign. Give them a point for each color in the target language they get right! Then, mix it up by playing "Name the Object," and ask them to name things that they see along the road.

2. Made-up Lyrics

Are your kids musical? Do they like to sing? If so, help them to make up lyrics in the target language to one of their favorite children's songs. Pick simple songs, and make the translation as simple as possible. For instance, change the English words in "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" to French or Spanish words. Then, once you have the lyrics, sing out together!

3. Scavenger Hunt

Every kid loves a scavenger hunt! Keep your children engaged by giving them a list of objects in the target language to look for. Then, when they spot one they have to say the word out loud. It's super easy and will make your road trip that much more fun. Best of all, your kids will learn a bunch of new words!

Outdoor Activities

4. Playing Catch

When people think of summer, they may think of playing ball. If you want to enjoy the outdoors with your kids, play a game of catch with them. Here's how you can incorporate language learning into this pastime:

• Pick a logical sequence of words in the target language (such as numbers, the days of the week, and so forth).

• Say the first word in the sequence out loud, and then toss the ball to your child.

• Have him or her repeat the word, and toss the ball back to you.

• If he says the word correctly, go to the next word in the sequence. If not, repeat the first word until he nails down the pronunciation.

• If you are playing with more than one child, have the first child toss the ball to the second, and then have him toss the ball back to you. Or have each child toss the ball back to you, and alternate between them.

Scientists believe that incorporating language learning into physical activity can aid memory and increase the speed of comprehension. This is a great way to entertain your kids and get in some language learning at the same time.

5. Name that Animal!

If you are on a hike with your kids, point out any animal that you see and ask them to name it. This activity will make your walk more exciting for the kids. It will also teach them common animal names, like bird, butterfly, goose, or other animals that live in your area.

6. Charades

Kids love charades! If you're relaxing in your backyard, then spend some time playing charades with your children. Tell them that if they guess what you're pretending to be, they have to say the word in the target language. This is another great way to teach your children animal names. Depending on the age and knowledge of your child, you can also pretend to be historical figures, or even re-enact well-known events in your family's culture.

Fun at the Beach

7. Counting with Seashells

For many people, the beach is the ultimate summer destination. If your family is soaking up the sun and strolling on the sand, use this opportunity to teach your kids how to count in the target language. As you walk along the beach, ask your kids to count how many seashells they see on the shore. Count out loud, and keep counting until your child gets the next number wrong. Then you can correct him or her, and start over. It's simple, relaxing, and fun!

8. Comparisons with Sand Castles

Building sandcastles is a time-honored beach tradition for families. Work with your children to build a sandcastle. Then, once the sandcastle is done, use it to teach them some concepts in the target language. For example, you can teach your child the difference between "over" and "under," "on top" and "below," "through" and "around," and so on. This is a great way to give your child a jump on more abstract language concepts, like directions.

9. Speed Writing in the Sand

One other fun activity with your kids that you can do on the beach involves sand, the tide, and teaching them how to write. Show your child how to write certain words in the target language (you may need to do this beforehand). Then, have your child practice his writing skills in the sand. When you think he's ready, tell him that it's time to race against the water! Go out to the tideline, and when the wave recedes have him trace out a word in the sand before the next wave comes in. Give him a point for each word he completes before the water washes it away. It's a fun and pain-free way to develop your child's writing skills!

The above 9 activities are great ways to have fun with your children — and sneak in language learning at the same time. Of course, you don't have to go "low-tech" with all of your games and activities. Try out Little Pim's award-winning foreign language program with our free 3-day trial offer. It's specially designed for kids aged 0-6, and is perfect for traveling and road trips. You can download Little Pim on iOS, Android, Roku, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire TV. Check us out today!

(Featured image via Unsplash - Leo Rivas)

Fun Fourth of July 2020 Activities for Kids

It’s hard to believe that the 4th of July is this weekend! 2020 has been quite the year so far. We hope you are all doing well and staying safe during these challenging times. With summer in full swing and another holiday coming up, you may need more fun activities to do with your little ones. Here are some fun activities to keep your little ones busy at home while enjoying the festivities.

Fourth of July Coloring Page

Print out this free festive coloring page with Little Pim celebrating the 4th of July! Setup your kids with crayons or markers and hang the finished artwork as decoration for the weekend’s festivities. Share with all the kiddos to help keep them entertained (at least for a few minutes).

Kids Art

Feeling a bit more creative? Check out this fun project using salt and watercolor paint to create a fireworks painting from Busy Mommy Media. It’s actually fairly easy and only requires a few materials you probably already have in your home: table sale, paper (black works best), watercolors, brushes, white glue, and a cookie sheet. Visit their website for step-by-step instructions.

Festive Recipes

I don’t know about your little ones, but my toddler loves helping me in the kitchen and she absolutely loves all fruits. Last year, we created festive 4th of July fruit skewers with fresh strawberries, banana slices, and blueberries. We went strawberry picking in CT a few days ago and have a surplus of fresh berries to use. Make the flag design with the fruit, but be careful with the sharp ends of the skewers.

We also found some great recipes via the Food Network this year that the little ones can help with, especially when it comes to decorating cakes and desserts!

DIY 4th of July Slime

This can be a messy, yet fun activity to do with your little ones. We recommend doing this activity outside so clean up will be a breeze! This recipe is fun and safe for kids as it doesn’t use Borax and you can color them red and blue, perfect for the 4th of July!

What you’ll need:

• Plastic bowls

• Water

• Cornstarch

• Food coloring (Red and Blue)

In a bowl, combine 1 cup of cornstarch and 1 cup of water. Mix until you have a good and slimy mixture.

Add 1 to 3 drops of food coloring.

Repeat with other colors.

Then play away.

We hope you all have a great and safe holiday weekend. Be sure to incorporate Little Pim and language learning in your family summer fun! You can have your little language learners name each color in a different language when making crafts or recite the names of the fruits in their second language when prepping summer treats in the kitchen. If you’re traveling this holiday weekend, you can take Little Pim with you with our free video player app for iOS and Android. Happy Independence Day, America!

6 Tips for Teaching Korean to Toddlers

There are several benefits to being bilingual or multilingual. It's an opportunity to think and solve problems in different languages, improve social skills by speaking different languages, and grow cognitive muscles. While all these benefits are amazing, they may not be visible to a young child. Teaching your toddler Korean is daunting, especially if you're a beginner, but it's possible. As a parent, providing guidance can improve your child's ability to learn a new language. Here are a few tips for teaching Korean to toddlers which really can be applied to any target language.  

1.      Find Fun Ways To Teach

Children learn well in relaxed environments where they can express themselves through fun. Play and entertainment are the best ways to introduce a toddler to a new language. There are several creative ways to add fun to your lessons:

Use Songs and Rhymes: The repetition and chanting in rhymes and the joy in singing are delightful for toddlers. You can teach your child a rhyme to help them learn the Korean alphabet. The lyrics are more comfortable for toddlers to remember, and the rhythm makes learning exciting. Toddlers can also learn pronunciations through singing. 

Word games: Games such as scrabble and charades challenge your toddler to think of words and also remember their meaning. Print pictures and ask your child to describe the image using Korean words. Keep the game easy, according to their level of learning.

Body movement: Rhythmic body movements such as dance help toddlers learn. For example, teaching different body parts is an excellent opportunity to combine a rhyme and a dance that incorporates touching the necessary parts of the face and body.

Homonyms: You can test your toddler's comprehension by asking them to differentiate between words that sound the same.

Stories: Find Korean storybooks that match your child's comprehension and read the stories with them. Ask your child to read along and encourage them to speak up as you correct them. You can also try to tell everyday stories in Korean. Stories are also great for teaching because they tap into a kids' imagination. You can let their creativity grow and encourage them to tell their story in Korean.

Tongue Twisters are fun for both you and the child and are great for teaching pronunciations for words that almost sound similar.

Play: Playing telephone and doll games with your child can help them learn Korean better. Ask them words over the phone and wait for them to spell. You can also ask them to name their favorite toys in Korean.

2.      Have Lots of Visuals

There's a reason why getting your child off their favorite cartoons is hard- kids love visuals. If the pictures can talk, dance, and sing, they pay even more attention. Children are also drawn to bright colors, which are often present in their books and animations. Animations also break down complex concepts to a toddler's level of understanding and make children laugh. Little Pim is the perfect way to introduce your little ones to Korean featuring a mix of fun, colorful animations, and real kids doing everyday things to describe their world.

You can find visual elements for naming objects and describing actions such as eating, dancing, or walking in Korean.

• Buy books with drawings for learning, joining dots, painting, and coloring with pastels.

• Create new and bright flashcards that you can use during word games.

• Watch Little Pim Korean and use props around the house to help reinforce the vocabulary.

3.      Talk to Your Child

Children also learn through observing and listening to the surrounding activities. When you speak to your child, use complete sentences. Ask them to also respond in complete sentences. This will help your child understand how sentence structures work. It will also help your child articulate themselves better in the future.

As you talk, ask the child to explain details. For example, if you show them a flashcard with a picture of a child on it, ask them to explain what they see. Is it a boy or a girl? What is the child wearing? What color are their clothes and shoes? Teach them to observe and voice what they see around them.

4.      Structure The Classes Into Small Sections

The attention span of a child changes as they grow older. At two years, a toddler can focus for around 6 minutes before becoming bored and distracted. By five years, most kids can focus on a task for up to 15 minutes. With short attention spans, structuring the Korean lessons into short sessions with play is the best way to teach the toddler. Long lectures are a sure way of getting your kid bored and also disinterested in the new language.

However, you can improve their attention span by being actively engaged. Research indicates that children respond well to more attention, especially when they're young. Learning along with your child, rather than just being physically present or showing disinterest works well when introducing your toddler to new concepts.

5.      Follow Your Child's Lead

Instead of forcing your child to express interest in something you like, allow them to lead the way. Learn to observe your child and pay attention to their needs both outside and inside the Korean lessons. What parts of learning interest them most? Do they prefer pictures? Do they need colors and flashcards? Once they're interested, engage them and encourage them to continue learning.

6.      Invest In Structured Lessons

Having a structured manual with guided lessons and goals has several advantages:

• You can help your child understand the basics before tackling complex terms.

• You can track your progress and create a routine.

• Professionally scripted lessons also guide the parent, which makes them ideal for homeschooling.

• You can take advantage of pre-designed flashcards, printed stories, and animations within structured lessons and focus on teaching.

• Join an online community of other parents teaching their child Korean for tips and playgroups.

Conclusion

Little Pim has a professionally scripted program that you can use to introduce your toddler to Korean. The lessons include play and repetition, great visuals and printable content you can access offline. The lessons are also scripted to guide you, as the parent, even if you have no prior knowledge of Korean. You not only guide your child through a new language but also acquire the skills for yourself. Try watching Little Pim with your loved one today!

6 Fun Earth Day 2020 Activities for Kids

Staying home with kids can be fun.  We bet after a few weeks of unplanned confinement, you have doubts. 

You are stuck at home with your active and inquisitive two (three, four, five, six, take your pick)-year-old or  (oh, no!) a few of them. The ideas of fun things to do are running out at the speed of light.  Is it time to panic?

Not at all! With Earth Day coming up, we've created a list of fun activities to help you take the mandatory isolation in stride. Your kids will love every minute, helping you relax along the way.

1. Fighting Plastic Waste: Sewing a Tote Bag

• Good for kids: 4 -6 years old

• Time: 2 – 3 hours

Bright and colorful tote bags are always in demand. Your kids will love making something on their own and using it to save the planet. Thankfully, the process is fairly easy. All you need is fabric, canvas straps, and some patience.

While it's nice to have a sewing machine to complete this project, you can do it by hand. Uneven stitches made by little hands will make your new tote bag sweet and unique.

Does your 5-year-old have younger brothers and sisters? They can pitch in by taking a couple of markers and drawing exclusive patterns on the bag.

We loved this bag-sewing tutorial.

An interesting fact to share: Every second 160,000 plastic bags are used around the planet.

2. Saving the Birds: Building a Bird Feeder

• Good for kids: 2 -12 years old

• Time: 1 – 2 hours

Building a bird feeder is always fun. While the activity can give your children new and exciting skills, it also has hidden potential. Your children will love putting food into the feeder and watching birds take full advantage of their creation.

Depending on how old your kid is, you can choose the type of bird feeder to build. While wooden birdhouses are the best, not all parents possess the skills (maybe it's time to learn?) or tools to build them. So we suggest taking an easy way out.

Since it's Earth Day, consider creating feeders out of recycled materials. Plastic bottles or empty milk cartons work just fine.

An interesting fact to share: When it comes to bird feeders, squirrels are birds' worst enemies. So you should squirrel-proof the feeder by placing it at least five feet away from the tree.

3. Exploring Ocean Contamination: Oil Spill Cleanup

• Good for kids: 3 - 12 years old

• Time: 1 – 2 hours

Earth Day is an excellent opportunity to teach your kids about oil spills. While you are explaining the dangers of oil spills, you can create a little cleanup experiment. You'll need:

• Vegetable oil

• Detergent

• Water

• Spoon

• Cloth pads

• Pan

• Rock

• Bird feathers (if you don't have any, you can just use a piece of cloth shaped like a feather)

We've found an excellent video experiment to help teach your kids all about oil spills and how hard they are to clean up.

An interesting fact to share: The largest oil spill to date occurred in 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico.

4. Being Waste Conscious: Making Recycling Bins

• Good for kids: 1 - 7 years old

• Time: 1 – 2 hours

Waste sorting is one of the easiest ways children of all ages can help take care of our planet. Even if you already have different bins for paper, plastic, glass, and organic waste, your children can make a couple of them for their rooms.

While organic waste should stay in the kitchen, your kids can create personal bins for paper and plastic. All you need is a couple of old cardboard boxes and crayons. Let them decorate the boxes and write "paper" or "plastic" on them. If you don't have the boxes, you can make them!

An interesting fact to share: Each ton of recycled paper can save 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil, three cubic yards of landfill space, 4,000 kilowatts of energy and 7,000 gallons of water!

5. Breathing Easier: Planting Seeds

• Good for kids: 1 - 12 years old

• Time: 1 - 3 hours

Planting seeds is always a fun activity. It's an excellent opportunity to tell your children why we should take care of plants and trees. It doesn't matter what kind of seeds you plant, kids will love the process.

You can either plant something in the backyard or extend the fun by making DIY flowerpots or decorating existing ones.

It's possible to make flowerpots out of recycled materials. You can use plastic bottles, old paint cans, tires, and even old shoes. What an excellent way to recycle the little shoes your children grew out of!

An interesting fact to share: Trees don't just help us breathe. They cut energy bills. The shade produced by trees can save up to 30% of the energy we use for air conditioning.

6. Saving Energy: Using Candles

• Good for kids: 1 - 99 years old

• Time: 1 - ∞

Earth Day is an excellent opportunity to teach your children about saving energy. Turn off all the lights in your home, light candles, and tell stories.

To make candles for the energy-saving evening, you can use the old and boring candles you have at home and give them a new life.  

You can also use this opportunity to teach children about fire safety.

An interesting fact to share: The custom of putting lit candles on the cake and making a wish dates back to ancient Greeks. They thought that smoke from a blown-out candle carried their thoughts to Gods.

Have Fun While Learning a New Language

Earth Day isn't just about saving our planet. It's also aimed at bringing people together. Closing the distance doesn't always have to be physical. You can do it by learning a new language.

At Little Pim, we focus on making learning fun. Contact us to find out about engaging, easy, and accessible programs for your children. Being stuck at home is an excellent opportunity to beef up your language skills!

Parent and Teacher Guide on How to Use Little Pim

First of all, congratulations on choosing the most effective method for introducing babies, toddlers, and pre-schoolers to a second or third language at the time they learn best. The foreign language learning series is specially designed to take advantage of the critical window when young minds are hard-wired to learn up to three languages with ease, which is up to six years old.

This parent and teacher guide includes information and tips so you can become your child’s first language tutor even if you don’t speak the language yourself. You can find full scripts for each language here.

The Little Pim series stars an animated panda bear named Little Pim who is also the teacher. Using our unique Entertainment Immersion Method™, Little Pim makes learning easy and fun. The videos combine live-action segments showing children eating, playing and engaging in everyday activities, along with the adorable animation of Little Pim the panda. The entire series is in the foreign language for total immersion, with optional subtitles.

We are always eager to hear from parents, teachers, or caregivers about their experience with our program. You can email us at info@littlepim.com. Thank you for choosing Little Pim for your little learner.

- Julia Pimsleur, Founder of Little Pim

Each Little Pim theme is broken up into seven short episodes. Because we know babies and toddlers have short attention spans, Little Pim was designed to allow you to start and stop after any of the five-minute episodes. Older children (2-6) may enjoy watching the seven short episodes in one sitting. You can pause the episodes at any time and interact with your child to help reinforce the new vocabulary.

Below are some tips on how to use Little Pim effectively at home:

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Why should my child learn a foreign language?

There are numerous benefits to learning a second language early in life. Children who are consistently exposed from a very young age to the sounds of a foreign language are more likely to achieve native or near-native fluency in adulthood and have a much easier time learning other languages later in life. Research shows that these children also tend to have stronger verbal, cognitive and analytical skills – giving them a head start in school. Simply put, learning a second language boosts brainpower, even if the child does not achieve total fluency

Will my child be confused?

Children are uniquely equipped to learn up to three languages without affecting their progress in their mother tongues. Countless people grow up in multilingual environments: for example, many Swiss, Belgians, Canadians and Africans learn two or even three languages from birth. In the first half of the 20th century, the prevailing view was that bilingualism and second-language acquisition early in life confused children and interfered with their ability to develop normal cognitive functions and succeed in educational environments. These ideas were reversed in a landmark study by Peal and Lambert that showed a general superiority of bilinguals over monolinguals in a wide range of intelligence tests and aspects of school achievement. Please refer to our books on page six to learn more about the many benefits of studying a second language at a young age.

What if I don’t speak any foreign languages?

The Little Pim series can be enjoyed and used by adults with no prior experience in speaking a foreign language. Although adults will not have as easy a time repeating the vocabulary as young children, they too will be amazed at how quickly they pick up a few new words. There are also aids built-in for adults: optional subtitles in English, writing on the screen, and a free downloadable script for each language on our website.

THE RESEARCH

Language Exposure At An Early Age

Study after study shows that from birth to age six, the human brain is optimally equipped for learning and producing language. Little Pim was specifically created for young children to be able to take full advantage of this window for learning.

Babies hear their mothers’ voices before birth and know the rhythm of their native language as newborns. Once born, babies can understand and discriminate the sounds of every language in the world. Infants detect different sounds and hear the nuances in foreign languages with perfect clarity and precision. The sound elements of language are called phonemes, and repeated studies show that adults perceive phonemes differently than infants.

Young children’s ways of assimilating language are distinctly different from adults, especially in pronunciation. As children become “tuned” to their native language (or languages), they gradually lose the ability to tell the subtle sounds in foreign languages apart. When people are introduced to foreign sounds later in life, they have much more difficulty hearing the differences, thus making it that much harder to imitate these sounds.

Babies gain understanding long before they can speak and benefit from having a rich language environment. That is because babies learn to talk by listening. Research tells us that the more words babies hear, the more quickly they learn to talk. Frequent exposure to words and active social engagement helps the brain pathways that foster language learning to develop more fully.

Children need to hear language in relation to what is happening around them. It must capture the child’s attention, thus the “motherese” - speech with rising and exaggerated contours - is very effective when speaking to one’s baby or toddler. In addition, surrounding children with language materials such as books, objects, and pictures for naming help to support language learning. Little Pim’s voice mirrors “motherese” and the series uses sharp and colorful images of objects and actions, allowing young viewers to connect the sounds they hear with actions and objects in real life.

Little Pim makes it easy and fun for parents to take advantage of the best window of opportunity for successful foreign language learning and give them all the cognitive benefits of being multilingual.

9 Chinese New Year Activities for Kids

Xīnnián kuàilè! Happy New Year! 

In China, the New Year is the most important holiday of the year. It's a time for families to come together and celebrate. People enjoy eating traditional foods, watching fireworks, and going to parades. 

When is the Chinese New Year? 

In 2020, the Chinese lunar year will start on January 25th and end on February 11th, 2021. The Chinese New Year starts on a different day each year because it is based on a lunar calendar.

• Each year starts on the new moon that occurs between the end of January and the end of February. 

• Celebrations run for approximately two weeks, from the first day of the year until the next full moon.

• New Year's festivities end with the Lantern Festival.

The Chinese lunar calendar has been in use since the Shang Dynasty during the 14th century B.C. Even though China adopted the Western calendar in 1912, the Chinese New Year is still observed as a cultural celebration. 

Chinese New Year's Activities for Kids

The New Year is the perfect opportunity to introduce Chinese culture and the Mandarin language to your kids. The great part about a celebration that lasts for two weeks is that you'll have the chance to do several activities.

Watch a Parade

Many larger cities hold Chinese New Year's celebrations. San Francisco and New York City are famous for their parades. If you can attend a parade, it will be an experience you and your child won't soon forget! If you can't be there in person, check your TV schedule or live stream a parade. 

If there aren't any Chinese New Year's celebrations near you, there are still plenty of ways you can celebrate right at home. 

Eat a Traditional Meal

Dumplings are a traditional Chinese New Year food. Making them from scratch requires a bit of prep work, but they are so tasty! Get the family together and make this kid-friendly Chinese dumpling recipe. Young children can help by mixing and rolling the dough. 

• If your family doesn't eat pork, you can substitute ground chicken or crumbled tofu.

• Serve with soy sauce or your favorite dipping sauce. 

• For extra fun, try eating with chopsticks. You might be surprised at how well your children do! If traditional chopsticks are intimidating, purchase a "beginner" pair. These chopsticks are made of plastic and are joined at one end.

Get Crafty

Preschoolers love making crafts. It allows them to be creative and spend time with their caregivers. Crafts are also beneficial because using scissors and coloring gives kids a chance to develop their fine motor skills.

• Lanterns are a traditional New Year's decoration. Using craft supplies you probably already have at home, you can help your child create this Chinese lantern. Children can make them in their favorite color, or go with the traditional red.

• Dragons are a symbol of good luck. Chinese New Year's parades feature dancing dragon puppets. The puppets are so large, they are operated by several people. Create your own good luck by making a smaller dragon puppet out of wooden spoons and ribbons. Your child can dance around the house with their new puppet. 

Give Gifts

A traditional New Year's gift for children is a red envelope containing money.

• You can surprise your children with this gift, or opt to have them decorate their own envelope.

• Depending on your child's age, you can give them real money and coins, or play money. 

Gifting red envelopes is an ancient tradition, but the origin is somewhat unknown. One legend states that an orphan defeated a demon that was terrorizing a village. As a show of thanks, the elders gave the child a red envelope full of money.

Learn about Chinese Zodiac Animals

Like the American zodiac, the Chinese zodiac has 12 signs. 

• However, the Chinese zodiac is based on a 12 year, and not a 12 month, cycle.

• The year your child was born determines their zodiac animal.

The rat is the zodiac animal for 2020. You can celebrate by making a cute rat finger puppet.

Read a Book

Visit your local library and check out books about China and Chinese culture. The author Grace Lin has several picture books that are appropriate for preschoolers:

• Dim Sum for Everyone

• Bringing in the New Year

• Fortune Cookie Fortunes

Ask your librarian if they have other book suggestions. 

Clean Your Home

Cleaning the home is a traditional way to prepare for the Chinese New Year's. While it is a chore, you can still make it fun. Young children love to mimic the activities they see you doing.

They can sweep with a small handheld broom and dustpan, or dust with a cloth lightly dampened with water.

Celebrate with Indoor "Fireworks"

Fireworks are a traditional way to celebrate, but there's a safer way to have noise and colors.

• Fill balloons with glitter or confetti before blowing them up. You or another adult can then pop them with a pin. If your child is adventurous, they can try to pop the balloons by sitting on them.

• If loud noises scare your child, make DIY confetti throwers.  

Learn Mandarin Words

The Chinese New Year is the perfect time to teach your kids some Mandarin words. You can use these words as a starting point:

Rat = Shǔ

Red = Hóngsè

Dragon = Lóng

Lantern = Dēnglóng

Are you and your child ready to learn more Mandarin?

The Little Pim Difference

Over a billion people speak Mandarin Chinese, more than any other language. It's a great choice for a foreign language for your child.

Children are never too young to learn a second, or even third, language. In fact, learning multiple languages is easiest and has the most benefits between birth and six years of age.

If don't you don't speak Mandarin, don't worry! Our program is designed so that parents don't have to already know the language in order to help their child learn it. You'll learn right along with your child. Our companion guides and scripts will make it easy.

Subscribe to Little Pim today and introduce your child to a new language!

Unlinked Sources:

https://www.littlepim.com/choose-a-language

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/0/chinese-new-year-2020-when-date-what-rats-meaning-zodiac/

https://www.rd.com/culture/history-chinese-new-year/

https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/chinese-new-year

Strengthen Your Child's Language Skills on a Nature Walk

Being outdoors among the birds, insects, plants and puddles gives your child endless hours of interesting things to do and study. Taking a nature walk with your young child has so many benefits! Being outdoors helps with important developmental things, like improving attention span and increasing creativity. It gives your child a chance to use his "outdoor voice" without getting in trouble. It gives you and your child physical exercise. Plus, the natural benefits of fresh air and sunshine give you both a healthy physical and emotional boost. Did you know that a nature walk is the perfect time to help strengthen your child's language skills? It's true. Learn more about the different ways you can incorporate language learning into your nature walks.

First and Most Importantly, Be Present

As a parent, you should be right there with the child, marveling over a wildflower, wondering about a birdsong, examining the sky for cloud-shapes. Spending time with your child helps them feel secure and free to play, imagine, and learn. Spending time outdoors with your child also lets your little one know that you think it is important to get fresh air and exercise. If it's important enough for you to take time to be outdoors, they will also learn to make it a priority. When you are spending quality time with your child (and not tuning out your child while you look at your phone), you have a connection with your child. It's this type of connection that makes you perfect for teaching your child language skills. You know the right times and right approaches to best reach your child. No one knows your child like you do! Take advantage of that fact.

Provide Plenty of Free Time, and Watch for Opportunities to Play Language Games

Although some trips outdoors might be only a few minutes, make sure there are times when your child can explore nature unhindered for long periods of time. You don't need to hike a 5-mile trail. Your nature walk could be a meander around the neighborhood park. Allow your child to get bored outdoors! A bored child soon finds ways to amuse himself. Boredom also provides an opportunity for you to step in and introduce something in another language. For example, if your child is learning the names of colors in Spanish, you can begin a game where you find objects that are rojo.

Explore Different Scenery

Take your child to different outdoor locations. Walk a nature trail in a wooded area. Visit a beach. Spend time on a farm. Sail toy boats in a small stream. Travel to the mountains or the plains. Go sledding in the winter, or play in the yard with umbrellas while it's raining. Don't leave out the beautiful night sky! A safe adventure in the dark, catching fireflies or running around with flashlights, could be one of your child's favorite memories. Nature has many faces; go out and meet them! When you are finished exploring, ask your child to tell you what she saw. Encourage her to use vocabulary words from the language she is learning. After some practice, this exercise becomes easier and helps your child focus. You might be amazed by what she notices, and you might also be amazed by the words she remembers!

Take Your Meals Outdoors

Nothing says fun like a picnic! Make a special occasion of the first picnic of the year, and then continue to eat out as often as possible. Picnics can be enjoyed on a blanket in the backyard, on your front porch, at a park, or even in the back of your pickup truck. Be sure to pack plenty of water and healthy snacks; fresh air and exercise works up a little one's appetite! As you set out the food, point to each item and say its name in the language you are teaching. Have your child repeat it. Keep up the fun by being lighthearted. If you come to something particularly delicious, rub your tummy and call it "All mine!" Your child will probably know you're teasing, and you can share the joke again later.

Take Books and Toys Outdoors

Do you and your child share special times reading books together? Many special things you do indoors can also be done outdoors. Pack some picture books written in the language you are studying. When you are taking a rest from your nature walk, you can enjoy the book together, perhaps sitting on a low branch in a tree. Other small toys can be brought along in a bag, too. Bring a favorite stuffed animal or doll and have your child be a tour guide to it, using words from the language you are learning.

Find a Special Place to Call Your Own

Your home is your special indoor place, but you can have a special outdoor place, too. This could be a spot under the big oak tree at your favorite park. It could be a picnic table that you return to again and again. Maybe it's a big rock that your child loves to sit on. Whatever it is, it's a special part of the outdoor world that your child claims as his own. Possession and familiarity with just a small part of nature really helps your child feel comfortable outdoors, and he'll want to return again and again. When you're at your special spot, make sure you notice certain things about it, using the vocabulary you're learning. Reinforcing these words will really help your child connect the real object to the word.

Remember that language is a natural part of our lives. It grows out of our everyday habits and conversations like flowers grow out of the ground. Extending your child's language skills into the natural world should not be difficult or feel unnatural. In fact, it may be the perfect way to grow enthusiasm and love for your child's second language. If you would like to know more about Little Pim's natural immersive method of teaching languages, please contact us.

Photo by James Wheeler on Unsplash

Eight Children's Books to Help Your Kids Learn About Other Cultures

Reading books is an excellent way to expose your children to new cultures or deepen their understanding of the ones they already know about. With recent social shifts paving the way for improved cultural diversity in our every day lives, a number of authors and publishers have happily stepped up to the plate and started putting out compelling, meaningful children's books designed to improve cultural awareness.

Those who are interested in a more immersive learning experience for their little ones may even want to consider reading books in the language (or languages) their children are learning. While this can prove difficult, particularly if you aren't bilingual yourself, the benefits of reading a language you're trying to learn are well-known. If your language skills are shaky, consider leaving out board books for little ones to gain exposure to the written language and letting older kids head off on their own with age-appropriate chapter books.

We know that figuring out what's best for your kids can be tough; that's why we've taken the initiative to round up the best children's books to help your kids learn about other cultures. Whether the messages are overt or not, each of these books carries a special meaning designed to build kids' understandings of cultures outside their own. 

Eight Children's Books to Help Your Kids Learn About Other Cultures

Global Babies, Global Baby Girls, and Global Baby Boys by the Global Fund for Children

1 - 3 years

Too literal? We don't think so! Learning at this age is all about sight; so what better way to start teaching your little one about cultures around the world than by showing them pictures of children who look just like them, only different? These three books all give our tots the opportunity to meet other babies from around the world. Whether it's a little girl in Guatemala or a young boy in Bhutan, your baby will be making friends with kiddos thousands of miles away. 

I Love My Mommy Because... by Laurel Porter Gaylord

1 - 3 years

While not explicitly a cultural undertaking, I Love My Mommy Because... is a fantastic book to introduce to toddlers and little ones. You may not be reading aloud about life in other countries, but you will be teaching your kiddo about empathy and the fact that we all communicate the same things a little differently. This book is a great chance to introduce the concept that not everybody's life or language looks like yours-- and that's okay!

Ramadan Moon by Na'ima B. Robert

4 - 7 years

Ramadan Moon offers children a peek into the festival of Ramadan and the way it's celebrated around the globe. This thoughtful, slow-paced book helps explain to children how faith and religion play into the lives of other kids regardless of where they are or where they come from. Lyrical, inspiring, and full of gorgeous illustrations, this book manages to capture the delight of an incredibly sacred annual event in the Muslim community. 

Fly, Eagle, Fly: An African Tale by Christopher Gregorowski

5 - 8 years

This book presents a dramatic story in a simple, intuitive way. Children will have the opportunity to learn about freedom, fulfillment, and African culture as they read the story of a baby eagle raised amongst chickens. One forward, written by Archbishop Tutu, proclaims that the piece will delight and encourage children to "lift off and soar."

Handa's Surprise: Read and Share by Eileen Browne

5 - 9 years

Most of us are familiar with the tale of the very hungry caterpillar. Handa's Surprise is yet another mouthwatering children's book that focuses on food and counting, but this tale brings in a little cultural twist. The books centers around Handa, a young Kenyan girl, who sets out to visit her friend. She brings along a basket of seven different fruits to offer as a gift, but hungry critters along the way foil her plans.

Fruits: A Caribbean Counting Poem by Valerie Bloom

5 - 6 years

It must be the fact that summer is just around the corner-- we can't get fruit out of our minds! Much like Handa's Surprise, this short book reminds us of the tale of a hungry little caterpillar munching his way through a smorgasbord of delicious foods. The book is essentially one long rhythmic counting poem. Your kiddo will get the opportunity to learn about the beautiful variety of Caribbean fruits that help enrich local cuisine and culture.

Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan

8 and up

While perhaps not an easy read for the more sensitive among us, Esperanza Rising serves as a sobering reminder of what happens when you're separated from the culture that you love. Children will follow along with the story as Esperanza goes from a beautiful life on her family's ranch in Mexico to the struggle to survive a Mexican farm labor camp in California. The novel teaches us that culture can help us rise above difficult circumstances and find our way home-- literally and figuratively.

The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis

10 and up

The Breadwinner is certainly a book best left to children with a little more age and maturity to their names, but it's worth the wait. The novel explores how a young girl, Parvana, and her mother and sisters struggle to make life work following Parvana's father's arrest. The catch? The women are house-bound under the Taliban's law stating girls and women aren't to enter public on their own. Tweens and teens will be faced head-on with the ugly truth that sometimes, other cultures look different from ours in ways that aren't so pleasant. 

Teaching your kids about cultures other than their own doesn't need to be difficult. Bringing these cultures into your reading routine is an excellent way to make learning about other people and countries a fun, easy, and natural experience. Tell your kids that you're excited to hear about any questions or comments they have once they've set their books down-- you may just be surprised by what you hear. 

Reading books is an excellent way to expose your children to new cultures or deepen their understanding of the ones they already know about. With recent social shifts paving the way for improved cultural diversity in our every day lives, a number of authors and publishers have happily stepped up to the plate and started putting out compelling, meaningful children's books designed to improve cultural awareness.

Photo by Brina Blum on Unsplash