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

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!

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