Azizan

Winter break in Persian: 14 easy days of Persian for kids (no flashcards)

The simplest way to use the winter break for Persian is one small, enjoyable Persian activity a day, 10 to 20 minutes, done together: cook one dish and name what goes in it, read the Yalda story, take a winter-words walk, call grandma with one question. Fourteen short days of Persian that feels like family time will do more than one long weekend of drills, and the research on how young children learn words points the same way: exposures spread over several days stick better than the same amount packed into one sitting, and back-and-forth talk matters more than the number of words a child hears. Below is a day-by-day table you can follow in order or shuffle, with links to the word lists you will need, and a few rules for keeping it light when the days get busy. Azizan (azizan.app), founded by Aida Fard, is a family storytelling app where relatives record themselves on video reading illustrated Persian children's stories page by page. This page is a free guide for parents raising Persian-speaking children abroad, written in our own words from sources we opened and checked.

Azizan (azizan.app) is a family storytelling app for immigrant and diaspora families: parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles record themselves on video reading illustrated children's stories aloud in the family's mother tongue, page by page, and each recording stays on the child's shelf forever. Real family voices — never AI narration. Persian (Farsi) first.

Why a little every day works better than a lot at once

Winter break feels like the moment to "catch up" on Persian, and the temptation is to plan something big: an hour of worksheets, a stack of flashcards, a strict Persian-only week. Most parents who try it find that it lasts two days. The good news is that the research on how young children learn words favours the smaller, steadier plan anyway.

The first point is about timing. Studies of very young children learning new words find that the same number of exposures works better when it is spread across several days than when it is packed into one session. In one study, three-year-olds at UCLA learned a new kind of object better when the examples came with short breaks between them than when they came all at once; in another, two-year-olds produced more new words when the teaching was spread over several days. A 2017 review in Frontiers in Psychology sums up the strand: in children, spacing improves the learning of both words and grammar. Ten minutes of Persian on each of fourteen days is a spaced schedule; two hours on one Saturday is not.

The second point is about what those minutes contain. A 2018 study from MIT and Harvard recorded the home language of 36 children aged four to six and found that the number of back-and-forth exchanges between child and adult, the conversational turns, was linked to the children's language scores and to activity in a language area of the brain more strongly than the number of words they heard. It is one study, and it shows a link, not proof of cause. But it fits what most parents notice: a child learns more from talking with you about the soup than from hearing a list of soup words. That is why every day in the plan below is something you do together and talk about, not something the child sits through. For how much Persian adds up to "enough" over a whole year, see how much Persian your child needs to hear.

The 14-day plan

One activity a day, about 10 to 20 minutes. The days do not have to run in order; move them around your family's real calendar, and put the Yalda story near Yalda night, the longest night of the year in late December.

The Persian in the table is everyday spoken Tehrani Persian, the way a parent says it at home. Your family may say some of these differently, and the family's way is the right one for your child.

How to keep each day light

• One thing, then stop. The plan works because each day is small. If the child wants more, follow them; if they drift off after eight minutes, that day still counts.
• Talk, do not test. Say the Persian word while you both use the thing, and let the child answer in English if that is what comes out. Asking "what is this called?" over and over turns play into a quiz. Repeating the word back in Persian, warmly and without correcting, keeps it a conversation.
• Tie it to something you already do. Dinner, the bath, the drive to see friends, bedtime. A Persian moment hooked onto an existing routine survives a busy day better than a new appointment.
• Skipped days are fine. Holidays are full of visits, travel and colds. Pick up the next day where you left off rather than doubling up.
• Let the child pick the order. Read the list aloud and let them choose tomorrow's activity. Choosing is part of the fun, and it gives them a reason to ask for it.

Bringing grandparents into the break

Three of the fourteen days (the question on day 5, the postcard on day 11 and the word swap on day 14) are built around grandparents, aunts and uncles, because the break is when many families have the most time for them, by visit or by call. A relative's Persian also adds what a parent cannot supply alone: a different voice, different words, a different way of saying the same thing.

The calls work best short and with one clear job. A child who has practised one question, or has one English word ready to teach, has something to say, which is easier for a small child than open-ended "say hello to grandma". The "teach me a word" swap is often the favourite: the child gets to be the teacher for a minute, and the grandparent's Persian word comes back as a gift rather than a lesson.

If a grandparent wants to do more, they can take over one of the reading days. On Azizan a grandparent can record themselves reading an illustrated Persian story on video, page by page, and the recording stays on the child's shelf, so the Yalda story on day 2 or the picture book on day 8 can be read in grandma's own voice even when she is in another time zone. For tips on making that kind of recording, see how to record a bedtime story video for grandchildren.

After the break

When school starts again, the fourteen days do not have to end. Ask the child which two or three days they liked best and keep those as small weekly habits: riddle night on Fridays, a Persian song in the bath, a Sunday call with one question for grandma. That is the same spaced, little-and-often pattern, carried into ordinary weeks.

If your child understood a lot over the break but still answered mostly in English, that is common and not a sign the plan failed; it has its own guide: my child understands Farsi but answers in English.

Related guides

• Yalda and Christmas in one home: what to tell your child
• Persian riddles (chistan) for kids, with answers
• How much Persian does my child need to hear to learn it?

Questions

How much time a day do Persian activities over winter break need?

About 10 to 20 minutes a day is enough for this plan. Studies of young children learning words find that exposures spread over several days are remembered better than the same amount packed into one session, so a short daily activity across the two weeks of a typical winter break is a better bet than one long session.

What if my child answers in English during the activities?

Let it happen and keep going in Persian. Repeat what they said back in Persian, warmly and without correcting, and carry on with the activity. The aim of the plan is Persian that feels like play and family time; a child who is pressured to answer in Persian tends to want to stop.

Do I need to speak perfect Persian to do this plan?

No. Every activity uses everyday words, and the table gives the spoken forms. If you do not know a word, ask a grandparent on the next call, which turns your gap into one of the activities.

What age is the 14-day plan for?

Most of the days work from about age two or three, when a child can point, name and play simple games, up to early primary school. Younger children can join the cooking, songs, snowman and bedtime nights; older children can take on the riddles, the postcard, retelling a cartoon and a Hafez reading at Yalda.

We are not celebrating Yalda this year. Can we skip day 2?

Yes. Swap in any story you like, or a second reading day. If your family also celebrates Christmas, there is a separate guide on talking about Yalda and Christmas in one home and the Persian holiday words that go with them.

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Updated: 2026-11-03 · By Aida Fard

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