This phenomenographic study investigates the learning and teaching of Chinese characters through the observation of teaching activities in kindergartens and child care centres. There are two research questions: 1. What does it take for children to learn characters (i.e., What do children learn?) Nine critical features for learning characters have been identified, including the recognizing and writing of characters. 2. What are the various categories of teaching activities that teachers use to teach children to recognize and write characters? (i.e., How do teachers teach?) Four categories of teaching activities have been identified, namely, those that give extraneous clues, those that require imitation of performance, those that provide everyday context, and those that demand actual language use. This study is characterized by examining the object of learning in the teaching activities (rather than simply providing samples of various teach.ing activities). In this respect, this study is an endeavor to theorize the everyday learning and teaching experience of children and teachers in preschools.