Are you struggling to help your children love Chinese? Besides memorising poems or copying Chinese characters, there are educational Chinese apps for kids to explore learning with.
I’ve shared some easy activities to make learning English and Chinese fun for our bilingual kids. Since screentime is pretty much part of their lives, we could offer them educational platforms to watch, play or listen.
Check out these popular Chinese apps learning platforms to stir their interest!
Useful educational Chinese apps for kids to learn effectively:
#1: Prep Junior
Prep Junior is a Chinese learning mobile application game developed for preschoolers. An interactive way to introduce Simplified Chinese to kids, expect Singapore’s context, along with familiar culture (Chinese New Year), food (satay) and places (hawker centre). Kids complete game quests to earn trophies and embark on the next level as they listen and read Chinese. It’s designed by a local start-up too! It used to be free; it’s currently a paid app at under $5.
#2: Pleco Chinese Dictionary
Use Pleco to look up words that you aren’t able to read – there are handwriting, voice and keyboard options to help with searching. Its audio function reads out the Chinese characters, showing Hanyu Pinyin, meanings in both English and Chinese too. For young kids learning to write, Pleco shows the strokes sequence.
#3: Dim Sum Warriors Bilingual Comic Reader App
Well-loved for their bilingual comic stories, the Dim Sum Warriors app houses an interactive treasure of bilingual stories and vocabulary games. Developed by education experts and award-winning creatives, their US patent-pending learning system hopes to improve both English and Chinese amongst kids. Through quirky bilingual stories and cute dim sum characters, they hope to grow cultural confidence, global competence, and inspire creativity. Additionally, their resident comic illustrator, Uncle Colin, organises LIVE doodle dates too. Keep an eye out for the next one! This app is free to download, allowing assess to several stories. To unlock new comics, it comes with a subscription from $7/month.
#4: Chineasy App
Besides their bilingual books and playing cards, Chineasy app takes learning on-the-go with cute illustrations and interactive challenges to excite learners of all levels. Growing your child’s vocabulary bank and memory retention could be this easy! The app is free to download, and more activities can be unlocked by subscribing.
#5: Xi Ma La Ya Kids Chinese App 喜马拉雅儿童
Designed for children are 0 to 12 years old, Xi Ma La Ya Kids Chinese App 喜马拉雅儿童 packs a ton of audio Chinese stories. From Chinese folklores like the Monkey God, to popular characters such as Super Wings and Plants versus Zombies, simply tune to listen. However, the interface is entirely in Mandarin, so navigation may be challenging for those who are unable to read the language.
#6: WawaYaya / WawaYaya Joyreader Pro
Like the Xi Ma La Ya Kids Chinese App 喜马拉雅儿童, Wawayaya apps are in full simplified Chinese, so the ability to read Chinese is necessary. This free app packs a variety of e-books that include folklores, ancient tales, myths and legends that are familiar to China, where the app was founded and developed for. The WawaYaYa Joyreader Pro has innovative functions such as: text to speech, e-dictionary, character stroke sequence and bilingual translation. Kids can choose to read by themes e.g. School, Growing Up etc, and are classified by learning level to support young learner’s Chinese literacy development. An annual payment unlocks a larger library of Chinese books and activities.
#7: Luke AI Reading Companion
No time to read to your children? Unable to read Chinese? Let Luka help you read over 70,000 Chinese and over 20,000 English picture books effortlessly! This is not a standalone educational Chinese app; Luka works like an animated storyteller with the physical books in front of your kids. Helping to stimulate reading interest and encourage children to love reading, this cute reading owl is ideal for busy families who wish to raise independent readers from young.
All in all, learning Chinese or any language can be made extra interesting through a hybrid of teaching methods. Besides educational apps, you can check out these parent-approved YouTube channels suitable for preschoolers too.
That said, do be mindful of your growing child’s vision too, since learning often involves near work. Taking eye breaks are a must!
What are your favourite Educational Chinese apps for kids? Do share them too! As a mum of two, I’m also constantly learning how best to guide my children. At work, drawing up financial roadmaps, planning our budget and expenses come naturally to me. With parenthood, it’s a continuous learning journey that gets better with the right support, don’t you think?
