动物
Dòngwù — Animals
Animals are the most requested vocabulary in any Kindergarten classroom, and Chinese hands us a gift here: the twelve zodiac animals give every child a personal animal to care about, based on the year they were born.
Unit objectives
By the end of this unit, students will be able to:
- Name eight animals out loud
- Say 我喜欢狗 — “I like dogs”
- Recognise several zodiac animals and know their own
- Act out an animal for classmates to guess, in Chinese
Key vocabulary
Eight animals plus the “I like” frame from Unit 3.
狗 猫 鸟 鱼 马 兔子 熊猫 龙
Eight animals and a zodiac
Animal names & sounds
Flashcards with audio, then the guessing game — one child acts, the rest shout the Chinese name.
Start Lesson 1What’s your animal?
The zodiac story of the Great Race, then each child finds their own birth-year animal and learns to name it.
Start Lesson 2Name the pets
Name every animal you see this week — pets, birds outside, dogs on walks, animals in books.
The Great Race
The twelve zodiac animals were chosen, the story goes, by a race across a river. The clever rat rode on the ox’s head and jumped off at the last moment to finish first, which is why the ox came second despite doing all the work. The dragon, who could have flown straight there, stopped to make rain for a village and arrived fifth. Children remember the animals far better attached to a story than as a list — and the dragon, 龙, is worth dwelling on, because in Chinese tradition it is a benevolent bringer of rain and luck rather than something to be slain.
Unit 7 progress check
A light, no-pressure way to see what’s sticking:
- Can your child name four animals unprompted?
- Can they say which animal they like using 我喜欢?
- Do they know their own zodiac animal?
The zodiac animal is the one almost every child retains for years — it belongs to them personally, which is exactly why it sticks.