Year of the Rabbit Craft Ideas

As I mentioned the other day, 2023 is the year of the rabbit in Chinese astrology. Because it’s a 12-year cycle, you are a rabbit if you were born in 2011, 1999, 1987, 1975, 1963 or 1951 (and so on).

People born in the year of the rabbit are said to be sensitive, gentle and compassionate, with a good memory and a good sense of humor. They tend to be creative homebodys who don’t like conflict.

If you want to make some crafts with your kids to celebrate the year of the rabbit, here are some ideas that aren’t all Easter Bunny style rabbits. Also: white is considered an unlucky color in China (because it’s worn for funerals) so make sure even if you are making more of an Easter bunny type craft for Lunar New Year that you make it red, blue, purple or pink instead.

Red Ted Art always has great collections of crafts for holidays, and their year of the rabbit crafts are no exception. While some of these are more bunny than rabbit, there’s an awesome origami rabbit you’ll definitely want to try. She’s also got a printable rabbit greeting card and a rabbit puppet that can be printed with the Chinese symbol for rabbit on its tummy. So cute!

Happy Toddler Playtime has also pulled together a bunch of rabbit crafts, and a lot of these have been done in red so they’re perfect for the new year. I love this fork painted rabbit but there are lots of options for littles, including paper crafts, Popsicle stick rabbits,a sock rabbit and more.

If your tastes run a little less crafty, Crafts on Sea has an adorable printable Chinese New Year coloring scene, complete with a little rabbit. A little assembly is required but it’s not difficult.

And if you have paper cups and straws you can easily make this rabbit craft from Hello Wonderful. It has a white face but you could make it in other colors if you like.

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Celebrate the Year of the Dragon

The celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is important throughout Mexico and other parts of the world. Her feast day is Dec. 12, and the celebrations honoring her appearance to Juan Diego in 1531 begin a few days before that.

Whether you celebrate yourself or just want to share about the celebration at home or in your classroom, Las Mañanitas: The Beautiful Celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a good place to start. The book, by Ernesto Joel Vega Rosales and Jeanette Gonzalez Seneviratne, with illustrations by Dana Sanmar, tells the story of a family’s celebration of the feast day in both English and Spanish.

They prepare with a novena, which is nine days of prayers and preparations. The children, Lucia and Pablo, are given special outfits made by their grandmother that look like what Juan Diego might have worn when he saw Our Lady. The book describes the prayers that are made each day, such as a prayer for respect for life, for families and for the indigenous people of the Americas, to name a few.

As told in the book, Juan Diego was a native Mexican born near modern day Mexico City. His given name was Cuaauhtlatoatzin, which means “He who speaks like an eagle.” When he converted to Christianity his name was changed to Juan Diego, and as he walked to church he passed a hill called Tepeyac. One day he heard the birds singing especially beautifully and a voice called him to go to the top of the hill.

There he saw Our Lady of Guadalupe, who asked him to tell the bishop she wanted a chapel built in her name at the foot of the hill. The bishop asked for a sign that Juan Diego really saw her, and later she had him collect flowers that she blessed and take them to the bishop. When Juan Diego dropped the flowers, an image of Our Lady could be seen on his cloak, which is still on display in her basilica to this day.

The feast day is celebrated as mañanitas, which includes singing, indigenous music and dancing, and children presenting flowers to Our Lady. Juan Diego is remembered today as being humble, brave and faithful, and was the first indigenous American made a saint.

The book is colorful and tells the story in a clear way, and it’s fun to have it both in English and Spanish if you teach Spanish or speak Spanish at home or in the classroom. It’s a great way to learn the basics of the celebration and the story of Juan Diego and why he is still remembered today.

About the book: 40 pages, paperback, published 2024 by Loyola Press. Suggested retail price $14.99.

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Have you read?

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