Easy Activities for Lunar New Year

Lunar New Year (also sometimes called Chinese New Year) is coming up (January 22 in 2023), and it’s a great opportunity to get kids interested in a bit of Asian culture.

One of the most common symbols of Lunar New Year is the dragon, which is said to bring luck in the new year.

Adventures in a Messy Life has a great tutorial for an upcycled dragon craft made with egg cartons and other things you might have lying around the house.

Messy Little Monster has a printable dragon mask and a printable dragon puppet, both of which would be fun for kids to cut out, color and play with. The puppet can even be folded in the middle to look like the long dragons that might be used in a parade this time of year.

Of course it’s not just about dragons, and making and playing musical instruments is another fun thing to do when learning about Lunar New year.

Chinese drums are fun and easy to make with minimal materials. Here’s a version using a wooden spoon and an old CD from Activity Village. I also have one on my blog where we made a monkey drum (bolang gu) out of paper plates and a paper towel roll.

Add some movement into your learning by coming up with yoga poses or other moves to mimic the animals of the Chinese zodiac (this idea is from Carrots are Orange). 2023 is the year of the rabbit, which is a pretty easy one. You can find more on the zodiac and which animals represent which years, here.

We’ve also got a collection of Chinese New Year books to read with kids, and you should also check out this fun, easy, classic paper lantern craft. Here’s another good roundup of Chinese New Year crafts for kids if you need more ideas!

Next Plan Idea:

Celebrate the Year of the Dragon

If you want to teach kids the basics of Hanukkah in the classroom or at home, the picture book Hanukkah by Lesléa Newman and illustrated by Rotem Teplow is a nice place to start.

The book explores the Jewish holiday through the eyes of Lior, a boy whose name means “my light” in Hebrew, which is appropriate for talking about the Festival of Lights.

The book goes through all the preparations the family does, including cleaning, setting the table and cleaning the menorah. It talks about what the menorah symbolizes and the Hanukkah story of the oil in the Holy Temple of Jerusalem lasting for eight days when it should have only been a one-day supply.

The meaning of the letters on the dreidel are also explored, in that when you are in Israel they have a different fourth word (the letters symbolize the Hebrew letters for “a great miracle happened there” or, in Israel, “a great miracle happened here”).

Because the story of Hanukkah involves oil, a lot of the foods that are eaten during the celebration are fried in oil, such as latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiyot (fried jelly doughnuts). Other foods mentioned include challah, noodle kugel and sour cream and applesauce, which are served with the latkes. Family and friends drop by to share their food, light their menorahs together and play dreidel (the game is explained in the story). It also talks about how the candles are lit through the eight days and what happens at the end of Hanukkah.

The book includes Hanukkah blessings in English and Hebrew and talks about the lunar cycle of the Hebrew calendar, which is why Hanukkah is sometimes celebrated in November and sometimes in December. It also talks about why Jewish holidays are celebrated beginning at sunset rather than in the morning.

Other topics covered include Hanukkah greetings; how to spell Hanukkah; how to make an edible menorah and an tzedakah box (to collect money for charity); recipes for latkes and applesauce; and a more detailed story of Hanukkah than is included within the story of the book. There’s also a quiz to see how well you were paying attention.

This sweet little book is a quick read and a cute overview of the basics of Hanukkah and what the symbols, foods and games mean. It’s a great book for classrooms or at home for sharing basic knowledge.

About the book: 48 pages, hardcover. Published 2024 by words & pictures, suggested retail price $14.99.

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Have you read?

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