Sometimes the best and most meaningful activities with my kids are ones that are not planned, but spontaneous and improvised on the spot based on what they want to do! Last night, Kai wanted to do a treasure map to show where we could hide all the Easter eggs in our condo, so we decided to do an Easter egg treasure map!
After showing Kai some examples of treasure maps in his pirate books, he started drawing the different locations in our condo. He drew trees, a gym, the pool, clubhouse, the playground and the parking lot. He coloured everything and using dotted stickers, identified where his Easter eggs would be hiding. Finally, he labelled the locations using his own spelling creations. Ta-da! This is his finished treasure map!
Later that evening, I thought that the treasure map would make a perfect resource for teaching prepositions.
Prepositions of place can help a child describe the position of something. I wrote out some English and Chinese sentences on A4 paper that describe where the Easter eggs are hiding, and cut out some different coloured papers with appropriate prepositions written on them.
English Lesson
- The next day, Kai and I talked about the treasure map, and I used the prepositions that I cut out to help Kai with his descriptions. We started with English first ….. as it is easier!
2. I then let Kai fill in the blanks by asking him to place the appropriate preposition in each of the sentences.
He then read out the sentences for me while looking at the map.
Chinese Lesson
- We did the Chinese portion of the activity in the same structure. I introduced the prepositions one by one and practiced making sentences. I left the labels on the picture the entire time, and repeated this activity three times before moving onto the next step.
2. I then had Kai fill in the blanks using the coloured tabs. I used English for support to make sure he understands the newer vocabulary such as bushes 灌木丛 and roof 屋顶.
That was it! Tomorrow, when we do our real Easter egg hunt, I will reinforce the use of prepositions by describing the location of the eggs, and asking Kai to explain where the Easter eggs are.
Some other resources that I found online to help with English prepositions include all these on TWINKL. It is a monthly-subscription based company from the UK that I use for my students:
Finally, I want to mention that not every child likes treasure map, and not all families will do an Easter egg hunt this year. However, I hope this blog post will inspire you to tune in to what your child is interested in and connect with activities that will help build their literacy skills. Sometimes, the best activities are not found on Pinterest or Instagram, but are inspired by observing your own child.
Hope everyone has a blessed Easter Sunday!
Ms Claudia Lee Kimura 