Curriculum resources for teaching kids Chinese Calligraphy

My 4 year old daughter re-discovered her bamboo writing instruments today as she rummaged through her "office" of craft supplies.

She then promptly declared she wanted to do "Chinese inking."

So we printed some tracer pages with Chinese characters for her.  I watered down some washable tempra paint for the "ink" and she was happy to work on some chinese writing.

Teaching resources: There are more printables (and gobs of activities) available at Activity Village (UK) and at Circletime kids's world library along with lesson plans at Scholastic. Don't forget to celebrate Chinese New Year!

Children's story books referencing Chinese calligraphy:

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin - download free activity kit corresponding to the book and learn to write some of the Chinese characters related to the book

Round is a mooncake by Roseann Thong and illustrated by Grace Lin - pictures and references to "name chops" and "inking stones"

The Pet Dragon: A Story about Adventure, Friendship, and Chinese Characters by Christoph Niemann - uses stories and pictures to teach 33 Chinese characters

 

Henry's First Moon Birthday by Lenore Look and illustrated by Yumi Heo - explanations of characters and mishaps with ink!

My Little Book of Chinese Words by Catherine Louis (Illustrator), Shi Bo (Illustrator), MaryChris Bradley (Translator) - introduction to context and meaning for the visual aspect of the characters

Hiss! Pop! Boom! Celebrating Chinese New Year by Tricia Morrissey - Chinese calligraphy are integrated into the illustrations

Moonbeams, Dumplings & Dragon Boats: A Treasury of Chinese Holiday Tales, Activities & Recipes by Nina Simonds, Leslie Swartz, The Children's Museum Boston, and illustrated by Meilo So - includes activities for making prints and characters









More resources for learning to write and appreciate Chinese Calligraphy

Chinese Calligraphy : Learn the Beautiful Art of Chinese Writing (Troll Discovery Kit) by Alice Wong

Montessori picture cards with Mandarin characters and pronunciation

Online Chinese Tools

Links for drawing Chinese characters

USC Chinese Language Program

Explanation of strokes in Chinese characters

Mechanics of drawing, making  ink, paper, holding the brush

Translate English to Chinese

Translate English to Chinese with addition of Cantonese and variants

Just for fun -- Get your own Chinese name and find your Chinese zodiac