Looking for a Chinese cultural experience that is fun and engaging for children and parents alike? Then take a close look at the Dragon Express, Chinese Language and Cultural Activity kits created by Rice Paper Kite!

My resident 8-year old China expert and I shared a wonderful afternoon, learning about and preparing for this upcoming Chinese New Year as we explored the numerous activities in this latest Dragon Express kit.

Following the “Dear Parent” instructions in the kit, I offered the mystery box to my daughter and invited her to explore the contents and choose the activity she wanted to start with. Layer by layer, she explored the contents and methodically placed them in order of preference around her.

“Look dad, purple and gold glitter glue! Let’s use this first,” exclaimed Jenna. Three hours later and still excited about completing every activity in the kit, I requested a recess to share a cup of Oolong tea and talk about what we had learned together with the Dragon Express kit. We discussed our favorite activities, compared artwork, totaled our individual flashcard scores, and challenged our memory to pronounce the new Chinese words we learned from the Dragon Express audio CD. Jenna declared herself the winner in all categories and I couldn’t argue her claim. So far Dragon Express was living up to its advertised mission of providing parents the means to explore Chinese language and culture with their child and have fun in the process.

Dragon Express creator, Tara Bardeen draws on her background in Montessori teaching, a degree in Chinese studies and her years of tutoring children in Chinese to develop a monthly curriculum of Chinese language and cultural activities in a complete kit delivered to your foor. For most children, receiving a package in the mail is in itself a special treat!

Each kit contains 13 different activities and features a different theme each month. There are also four special kits celebrating the Chinese holiday events of Chinese New Year (January), Qing Ming (April), Dragon Boat Festival (June) and Mid Autumn Festival (September).

Our 8-year old reviewer is a good reader and enjoys cut and paste projects so her response to the Dragon Express kit along with her success in reading and completing the activities was my yardstick for evaluating this program. She was able to read and follow the instructions for each activity including writing Chinese characters with little adult assistance. She immediately connected with “My Adventure Journal,” a 16 page mini workbook that tied all of the activities together and encouraged her to make entries and personalize the journal. Dragon Express suggests that parents use My Adventure Journal as a discussion guide for children who are not yet reading.

Our Chinese New Year kit boasts a long list of activities that provided numerous sessions where Jenna and I could work together on a craft project, practice our Chinese character writing skills or listen to the Dragon Express audio CD of Chinese poems, word lessons and conversational phrases. All of the materials in Dragon Express are presented in both simplified characters and pinyin and the audio CD recording featured a native speaker of Mandarin Chinese. The activity materials are simple, without a lot of flash and are definitely directed at providing an interesting educational experience.

The Dragon Express kit contains materials for one user and multiple kits could be used in a class or small group setting. An older child with good reading and comprehension skills could work through the activities without adult assistance, but that means mom or dad would miss all of the fun! I recommend Dragon Express as a family cultural learning experience to be repeated on a regular scheduld. Suitable for children five years and older.

A one-month subscription to Dragon Express is $19.95 with a 10 percent discount for a sibling subscription. There is also a three-month subscription offer, a Chinese Holidays package and a discounted twelve-month subscription package. For more information, write to Rice Paper Kite at 1638 Jackson Street • Denver, CO 80206, call (720) 249-2467, e-mail to info@ricepaperkite.com, or visit the Web site at www.ricepaperkite.com.