Chinese Cartoons

7 Best Cartoons for Kids to Learn Mandarin Chinese

Kids learn the best when learning doesn’t seem like lessons at all. If learning is all fun and interactive, your kids will learn without even realising and without even trying hard. If you want your kids to be adept in the Chinese language from an early childhood, give them the opportunity to watch cartoons in Chinese. Cartoons are an excellent shot at learning the language, while also making it enjoyable, and many of these are often loaded with wonderful life lessons that you will want your young ones to know.

  1. Peppa Pig 小猪佩佩

The first Chinese cartoon that would come to anybody’s mind is Peppa Pig. This cartoon in Chinese is all about the daily life of Peppa, fun loving and naughty little pig, who moves through life with ease. She and her brother embark on small little adventures at home and with friends and their humorous banter is worth the watch.

  • The show has strong emphasis on family time

  • The simple daily conversations in Chinese help the kids learn the regular vocabularies of home and friends.

  • It is advisable that you watch it with your little ones to give them the gift of time, and also help them inculcate the good lessons while leaving aside the small tiffs of Peppa with her elders.

  • This Chinese cartoon for toddlers will teach them the lessons of love, family, friendship, care, kindness and happiness.

Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf 喜羊羊和灰太

This Chinese cartoon for kids is one of the oldest but is still a pleasure to watch for all and not just the kids. Kids find this group of fluffy goats simply adorable. The goats live at Green Green Pasture and are daily threatened by the Big Big Wolf. The cat and mouse chase and the goats’ attempt to save one another is what makes this Chinese animation truly a delight watching.

  • With the Chinese words repeating several times in the show, kids pick these up rather quickly.

  • The Chinese cartoon is a lesson in friendship and we all want our tiny tots to take this lesson well.

  • The subtitles are available in both English and Chinese, which makes it easier for kids to relate and translate, making it easy to learn Chinese like cartoons.


Pororo The Penguin 小企鹅波乐乐

This cartoon in Chinese is the life story of the penguin named Pororo who has the ultimate desire of learning to fly. Pororo is seen dressed in a pilot’s uniform and sets out on his learning experience and is helped by his Uber cute animal friends where the characters learn valuable life lessons by erring in their pursuits.

  • Kids learn through their favorite characters that there will always be difficulties in the path of their dreams, but all of it can be overcome with and lots of efforts and with the help of friends.

  • The animal characters are not just cute, but also loving and kind. They help each other out. Who wouldn’t want their toddlers to take up the same values!

  • The series is made in such a simple language that it is very easy to learn Mandarin Chinese for kids.

  • Kids also learn the importance of unity, when the characters snuggle together to help one another in their moments of crises and share happy days together.

Journey to the West 西游纪

Old is gold, and this Chinese cartoon for children stands true to it. The series is based on the book of the same name, which is one of the four great classics of China. The cartoon traces the travels and trials of a mischievous and haughty Monkey King, who has been punished and is on the path to redeem himself. He finds his friends in a Buddhist monk, a friar, a pig and a horse, who are on the quest for Three Collections of Scriptures.

  • This wonderful series teaches the kids about the Chinese culture and Buddhism.

  • Seeing the characters toil and never give up, kids are able to learn important values like courage, determination, perseverance, and the spirit of never giving up.

  • If you are a Chinese living outside China, the music and the oriental touch of the story telling will bring back memories of China and your kids will be able to learn the same.

  • How the characters turn from being bossy to understanding and mature is very well depicted in this Chinese cartoon for toddlers.

Baby Bus 宝宝巴士

This wonderful journey of 2 baby pandas, Kiki and Miumiu is filled with lessons that you would want your toddler to learn. They play around and explore the world around them, accompanied by their friends Timi the cat and Whiskers the mouse. In this Chinese cartoon, the characters learn and preach lessons on safety rules, good habits and healthy eating.

  • Most lessons are imparted through Chinese nursery rhymes and stories. Not only will your kids learn Mandarin in this Chinese cartoon, they will also learn innumerable nursery rhymes.

  • Kids follow their favourite cartoon characters. When these Chinese cartoon characters eat healthy food, your kids will also junk the junks.

  • When it is through the medium of songs and dance, kids tend to pick the lessons faster. Thus, while dancing to the tunes of the rhymes, they will learn the rhymes, and Chinese.

Masha and The Bear 玛莎与熊

This Chinese animation is the story of a very mischievous girl Masha who lives in the forest and is always up for a game with the animals of the forest. She is fun loving, intelligent and hyper notorious, and often gets into trouble because of her mischiefs. The Bear is the fatherly character to her, doting on her and always trying to get her to do the right things.

  • With the never-ending mischief, Masha is kids’ favourite.

  • This Chinese cartoon for children drives home the message that when kids do something wrong, they have to face its consequences as well.

  • With an appealing animation, the kids are able to learn Chinese with practically no efforts.

  • It also highlights the close relationship of humans with animals and the natural world.

  • With the mischiefs and all the errors in between, kids find Masha very similar to themselves and take up her words very easily.

Chinese Fairy Tales 中文童话

This is a YouTube channel with a huge collection of fairy tales, folk tales and other popular stories of China, and in Chinese. There are also many English fairy tales and other popular stories and tales from many places that have been made into Chinese to help your kids watch their favourite stories and cartoons in Chinese.

  • Contains the widest collection of tales from all over the world in general, and from China in particular.

  • Your little princess will always love the stories about other princesses in Chinese.

  • These cartoons in Chinese are replete with moral lessons that you will want your kids to learn.

  • Kids find it easy to learn Mandarin in Chinese cartoons like these stories.

The easiest and the quickest way for the kids to learn Mandarin is by watching Chinese cartoons. Cartoons are replete with lessons that we all want kids to inculcate. Did we all not learn a thing or two when we watched these as kids? The same holds true for our own kids watching Chinese cartoons. It is however always advisable that you watch these along with your kids to spend some good time with them, and also help them know which behavior is not appropriate even if it is fun watching the same in cartoons. And who knows, while watching these Chinese cartoons, you might also learn Mandarin!