5-8 years old is during the second language acquisition critical period. And according to the language acquisition critical period hypothesis, they will be relatively fast, successful, and qualitatively similar to first language acquisition. Don`t miss this period.

Private Tutoring

You can hire a Chinese nanny to accompany them. Many conversations will be acquired during daily communication and you can save lots of time to take care of them. The disadvantage is you can not make sure how is the nanny`s Mandarin level.
A professional teacher is what I highly recommend. You can choose learning at local language school or online Chinese school.

The advantages:
Local language school may bring more friends and classmates to the kids. They can immerse in the good learning environment. The group learning will also simulate them competing with others.
Online learning is the trend of education. It`s very convenient, flexible and cheap. Most of the online Chinese schools offer one-on-one tutoring. The students can get personalized learning plan based on their individual strengths and weaknesses. And of course they have much more opportunities to learn and practice. These schools often use Skype and other communication tools to teach.
The disadvantages:
Local school is rare and the teaching quality is a problem. Some teachers can`t even speak very fluent Chinese. They lack native Chinese teachers. And if you want to take one-on-one class, it`s always a little bit expensive. It also costs your time driving them there.
There are lots of online Chinese schools. It`s hard to choose the good one. If the teacher is not that good, kids will distract their attentions from other things easily. The internet connection is also a problem you should consider.

9 Tips to Help You Choose Chinese Lessons by Skype

Learning Materials

There are various Chinese learning APPs and websites for children. You can recommend them to your kids. Of course it`s too hard to learn from the websites for kids themselves. As parents, you can catch some useful information and make flashcards for them. You can also download lots of kids learning APPs for them. Most of them are games. Children can learning Chinese through playing games. It`s fun for them. There are also lots of textbooks for kids.
Specialized Textbooks Geared Toward K12 Students
Three Recommended Chinese Textbooks For Kids
But of course it`s hard to learn without a guide.

Chinese children`s songs and cartoons are also good choices, such as KungFuPanda, Mulan and so on. Kids can learn some Chinese culture at the same time. Of course, try to find the version with Chinese dubbing and subtitling.

How Parents Help Their Children To Master Mandarin Chinese, this article is for the parents!

Learning Chinese For Kids

Good luck!

Thank you very much for sharing your experience.

you have to make him focused on what you are teaching and according to his interests , combine the chinese study with his hobby.

The whole learning process is changing rapidly, now kids have been introduced with smart learning kits to make learning more friendly and easy. 

My kids are usually very engaged in gamification apps, which deliver content through the power of play.

Here there is an example of a game (android app) that let you learn mandarin colors.

The more you play to boost your highscore, the more you learn chinese colors. Have fun!

I agree with you.  Kids have to be interested in everything before they’ll engage.  Those suggestions you mentioned are definitely helpful. 

Kids may like something funny. Some simple and interesting Chinese Cartoons/TV worth a try! I know “Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf” is a popular one!

I think this is an informative post and it is very useful and knowledgeable. 

This is great idea! 

they need play with Chinese kids.

HI, check this free ebook out. It gives a report on how to learn Chinese the effective way. It helped me a lot so I think it’ll help your kids as well. Good Luck!

https://freepremiumebooks.com/files/pdf/LearnChineseEbook_1444g6p14q.pdf

I posted some videos on youtube about Chinese PINYIN and writing. 

Some traveling Chinese will be presented soon. Come and check it out. 

https://youtu.be/oceTCBFwPH4

Hi,

If you want to increase the learning criteria for your kids,so i would suggest teaching them differnet foreign languages like – Chinese, Japanese, german, french, and many more to develop their personal skills.

Whoa, handy set! I have personally met a couple of these documents before, and I can say that they are not bad for study. I learned mandarin chinese at one time, and there, of course, there are some peculiarities, even in the little things. But I taught in courses with a 1×1 teacher, so I quickly learned all the nuances. And there are good courses for children too!

Hi, and a handy set! I have personally read a couple of these documents before, and I can say they are ok for study use. I learned mandarin chinese but only one course so far, and there are, of course, some peculiarities, even in the small things. But my courses are with a 1×1 teacher, so I quickly taken on board the very basics first.

thanks for the information

To be honest, I learned more Chinese during that time through FOOD and visiting exhibits with family. Sometimes, watching the dramas helped me learn and there are different shows on Youtube and networks with good education shows that explain the words, how to write it, and good ways to remember it. Yeah… Food… and learning how it was made can bring about foodies but more language learning. 😀 

When I studied Chinese, I used several methods that I hope will be useful to you.
First, a tutor, I believe, is where you need to start, thanks to him your children will have a base and it will be easier to learn this language on their own.
Second – use flashcards, like quizlet: https://www.digmandarin.com/mandarin-chinese-flashcards
Third – various programs for communication, I used hellotalk, there are many native speakers of this language who do not mind helping foreigners in learning.
Good luck 🙂

This is a great resource for learning Pinyin, thanks for sharing!