Mission
Kingka's mission is to make learning Chinese language fun and effective through games and various media for children and adults who prefer interactive and hands-on learning methods. Our patented inventions bring cutting edge materials and methods to the "whole language" learning experience, supplementing school curriculums and textbooks. Our first product, the Kingka board game, is an age appropriate self-learning language toy for young children, including those with special needs. Kingka uses recycled materials and food grade paper and ink for children's and the environment's safety. We strive to maintain our market leadership in Chinese language materials and will introduce new designs every year. Our Constructive Chinese Language Learning System(TM) complies with all early childhood "learning by doing" education principles.
The Kingka Story
Kingka was created by Sholeen Lu-Hsiao, a language teacher and mom in northern New Jersey. Here is the story behind how she came up with and developed the Kingka game, a very helpful educational tool for non-native-speakers to teach children Mandarin Chinese at an early age.
My A-ha Moment
I love playing puzzles and board games, so I bought my son a simple matching game for his second birthday. To my amazement, he memorized all the names of the pieces in less than two days. A-ha! It struck me like lightning when I saw what happened. I thought if he could memorize all these different drawings with names (they looked challenging enough for me) he would be able to memorize the symbol-like Chinese characters. Of course, I knew I would have to make the game interesting enough so he would want to play it. Voila, a great toy idea was born.
Necessity is the Mother of Invention
I was already very frustrated with my search for high quality and age appropriate toys to teach my then two-year-old son Chinese when the idea sparked. I had searched high and low across the continents, from online stores to retail stores and nothing I bought passed my son’s approval, meaning nothing could make him pay attention for more than ten seconds. Why? Because all the available Chinese materials were either books, audio CDs, or DVDs. There were not toys for a two-year-old.
While surfing online for information, I came across research indicating pictographic Chinese characters can stimulate visual discrimination and increase IQ. So when I saw what happened to my son with the matching game, this “toy” idea for Kingka popped, and it all made sense. Why not use these abstract pictographic characters to further develop children’s visual discrimination and spatial perception after learning shapes like circle, square, triangle, etc? Treating these characters like more complex structures of lines, space and positions make wonderful brain teasers for untrained eyes, whether you are 3 or 93. Everybody can play this game for fun and for brain stimulation and no learning is necessary. Those pictographic Chinese characters are a great game design by themselves. You really don’t have to learn Chinese to enjoy this toy.
Perfecting the Design
I thought of my Chinese students after I handmade the first set for my son, who had become my game tester. I was teaching a family who adopted a baby girl from Mainland China and they always told me I should make something to help them practice Chinese at home. Both parents had no knowledge of Chinese nor did they have time to learn the language themselves to help their daughter. But they wished there was a way they could help without too much effort. So, I thought “why not combine these two needs together and create a fun game that everybody, especially those people without a Chinese background, can play and learn Chinese themselves at ease.
So I started squeezing my brain by asking myself “how do I create a board game that can be a self-learning tool for the Chinese language and also fun for everyone to play?” It took me a while to figure it out the perfect way. It was easy to make a matching game, a memory game and a Bingo game individually, but it was a challenge to make Kingka, a multi-level constructive learning system™ disguised as a toy. Because of the ingenious design, Kingka received US and international patents.
Adding Value
I am a person who is big on “high play value” and “added value.” So when I was perfecting the Kingka design I envisioned Kingka growing as the child grows. That’s why the game can be expanded vertically and horizontally. Vertically you can expand Kingka by adding additional new phrase cards and make it a puzzle game or a word game. Horizontally you can expand Kingka by adding a different volume (e.g. Kingka 1, Kingka 2, and Kingka 3) to increase difficulty or accommodate more players. The ability for expansion gives Kingka more play value. As a mother/housekeeper/entrepreneur/recycling fanatic I thought a compact design to save storage space and environmentally friendly materials are a must for added value. Now my Kingka design reflects a lot of my personal value and preferences.
I never stopped believing that my Kingka creation was worth protecting by patent law because it is so unique and original. However, when I was showing my invention at the 2009 NY Toy Fair, a retired Intellectual Property attorney (according to his appeared age) told me I would never be able to receive a US patent for my creation due to recent patent law changes. He gave me his business card and wanted a bet. He was so sure that he said he would stop practicing law if I got the patent. He asked me to call him when I received the results from the US Patent Office. Well, I didn’t call him because I wouldn’t want to cause him a heart attack. I am a true believer of Law of Attraction because my KINGKA was the fruit from that tree.
Contact Info
At KINGKA, we strive to provide effective educational tools and appreciate
your valuable comments. To send us your comments or request for any information,
please contact us at info@kingkagames.com.
The Kingka Story
Kingka was created by Sholeen Lu-Hsiao, a language teacher and mom in northern New Jersey. Here is the story behind how she came up with and developed the Kingka game, a very helpful educational tool for non-native-speakers to teach children Mandarin Chinese at an early age.
My A-ha Moment
I love playing puzzles and board games, so I bought my son a simple matching game for his second birthday. To my amazement, he memorized all the names of the pieces in less than two days. A-ha! It struck me like lightning when I saw what happened. I thought if he could memorize all these different drawings with names (they looked challenging enough for me) he would be able to memorize the symbol-like Chinese characters. Of course, I knew I would have to make the game interesting enough so he would want to play it. Voila, a great toy idea was born.
Necessity is the Mother of Invention
I was already very frustrated with my search for high quality and age appropriate toys to teach my then two-year-old son Chinese when the idea sparked. I had searched high and low across the continents, from online stores to retail stores and nothing I bought passed my son’s approval, meaning nothing could make him pay attention for more than ten seconds. Why? Because all the available Chinese materials were either books, audio CDs, or DVDs. There were not toys for a two-year-old.
While surfing online for information, I came across research indicating pictographic Chinese characters can stimulate visual discrimination and increase IQ. So when I saw what happened to my son with the matching game, this “toy” idea for Kingka popped, and it all made sense. Why not use these abstract pictographic characters to further develop children’s visual discrimination and spatial perception after learning shapes like circle, square, triangle, etc? Treating these characters like more complex structures of lines, space and positions make wonderful brain teasers for untrained eyes, whether you are 3 or 93. Everybody can play this game for fun and for brain stimulation and no learning is necessary. Those pictographic Chinese characters are a great game design by themselves. You really don’t have to learn Chinese to enjoy this toy.
Perfecting the Design
I thought of my Chinese students after I handmade the first set for my son, who had become my game tester. I was teaching a family who adopted a baby girl from Mainland China and they always told me I should make something to help them practice Chinese at home. Both parents had no knowledge of Chinese nor did they have time to learn the language themselves to help their daughter. But they wished there was a way they could help without too much effort. So, I thought “why not combine these two needs together and create a fun game that everybody, especially those people without a Chinese background, can play and learn Chinese themselves at ease.
So I started squeezing my brain by asking myself “how do I create a board game that can be a self-learning tool for the Chinese language and also fun for everyone to play?” It took me a while to figure it out the perfect way. It was easy to make a matching game, a memory game and a Bingo game individually, but it was a challenge to make Kingka, a multi-level constructive learning system™ disguised as a toy. Because of the ingenious design, Kingka received US and international patents.
Adding Value
I am a person who is big on “high play value” and “added value.” So when I was perfecting the Kingka design I envisioned Kingka growing as the child grows. That’s why the game can be expanded vertically and horizontally. Vertically you can expand Kingka by adding additional new phrase cards and make it a puzzle game or a word game. Horizontally you can expand Kingka by adding a different volume (e.g. Kingka 1, Kingka 2, and Kingka 3) to increase difficulty or accommodate more players. The ability for expansion gives Kingka more play value. As a mother/housekeeper/entrepreneur/recycling fanatic I thought a compact design to save storage space and environmentally friendly materials are a must for added value. Now my Kingka design reflects a lot of my personal value and preferences.
I never stopped believing that my Kingka creation was worth protecting by patent law because it is so unique and original. However, when I was showing my invention at the 2009 NY Toy Fair, a retired Intellectual Property attorney (according to his appeared age) told me I would never be able to receive a US patent for my creation due to recent patent law changes. He gave me his business card and wanted a bet. He was so sure that he said he would stop practicing law if I got the patent. He asked me to call him when I received the results from the US Patent Office. Well, I didn’t call him because I wouldn’t want to cause him a heart attack. I am a true believer of Law of Attraction because my KINGKA was the fruit from that tree.
Sholeen Lou-Hsaio – Inventor of KINGKA Games
Sholeen Lou-Hsiao is the inventor of KINGKA, a game that helps people learn Mandarin Chinese. Sholeen’s strong passion for languages was the driving force behind her invention. In addition to being a fluent Chinese and English speaker, she also speaks Spanish, her college minor, and French which she studied at L’Institute Catholique de Paris. She has taught Mandarin Chinese since 1984. She is currently learning Korean because she loves watching Korean soap operas and eating Korean food.
Sholeen receives frequent invitations to conduct “Play and Learn Chinese” workshops in Asia and at prominent American institutions such as Boston’s Children Museum and the Asia Society. Her most recent workshop was held at the Shanghai Montessori Education Academy in China last November.
Through teaching all age groups, Sholeen developed her patented Constructive Chinese Learning System™. This system is especially appropriate for young learners due to its hands-on nature. She was a presenter at the annual conferences of the National Association of Education for Young Children (NAEYC) in 2008 and 2009, the annual conference of the Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI) in 2009, and at the first Asian International Montessori Conference in 2009.
Sholeen teaches private students extensively and has also taught at The Spring School-Paideia Montessori School in Tenafly, NJ, the Montessori Early Learning Center in Englewood, NJ, the Teaneck Community Education Program in Teaneck, NJ and more. She is an accredited New Jersey Professional Development Provider and a member of the Chinese Language Association of Secondary-Elementary Schools (CLASS).
Sholeen Lou-Hsiao is the founder of Kingka LLC, a company that produces high quality educational products with original designs in New Jersey. She also authored She Talks Funny, the first book in the “Walk and Learn” series that promotes multicultural understanding and empathy. This book was a finalist in the 2009 Distinguished Achievement Awards Program given by The Association of Educational Publishers. She holds a BA in Library Science, with a minor in Spanish from Fu-Jen Catholic University in Taipei, Taiwan, an MS degree from Boston University’s College of Communication and a MBA from City University of New York’s Baruch College.
