Celebrate Chinese New Year with these fun, cultural activities…
FranW.com: Tangrams – Make your own Tangram pieces and puzzles.
The China Culture Corner: 12 Important Symbols of The Chinese Spring Festival – Learn about the colors, characters, traditions, and symbols that make up this celebration.
DLTK: Chinese Zodiac – Learn how to write the characters for each of the Chinese zodiac and learn a little bit about each one.
China Highlights: The Chinese Zodiac Story – The Zodiac Rankings Race – Read the story about Chinese Zodiac.
The myth behind the Chinese zodiac – Megan Campisi and Pen-Pen Chen
Make your own Zodiac Mat or Wheel
As you find out about each zodiac symbol, glue that icon to a mat or wheel and add information about it underneath.
Make a Chinese Character Necklace
Good Luck Love Happiness Wisdom Health Fortune
You will need…
A cardboard cereal box, scissor, hole punch, red paint and a paint brush, a black maker, a pony bead, ribbon and the printable Chinese Characters from Activities For Kids
What to do…
Cut cardboard into circles and paint each one red. Once they dry, pop a hole in the top of each one, then write a different Chinese Character in the middle with a marker. Loop a ribbon with a pony bead through the hole on top and tie it off to make a necklace.
Chopstick Frame
Make a frame with chopsticks, draw a Chinese character on a piece of paper the size of your frame, and glue it to the chopsticks. Once dry, glue a ribbon to hang the frame, and add a dragon, panda, tiger or another animals related to China, to one corner of the frame.
Other Suggestions…
Make Bookmarks with Chinese Symbols
Origami Zodiac Symbols
The Origami Resource Center has a variety of zodiac symbols to choose from.
Make a Chinese Yo-Yo
You will need a dowel, wrapping paper – 6’x 5-7″, and a glue stick to do this project.
Instructables: Paper Yo-Yo – Instructions.
Coloring and Activity Pages
DLTK: China – Chinese New Year and China Crafts and Children’s Activities
Enchanted Learning: Chinese New Year – Crafts and activities for the Chinese New Year. This site offers information about the holiday and instructions for crafts free of charge. A paid membership may be required for some of the printable pages.
Panda Express: Chinese New Year Resource Page – Site offers a video, printable worksheets, lesson plans, and information about the Chinese Zodiac.
The Do It Yourself Mom – Offers a free 29 page PDF filled with 20+ crafts and activities to help celebrate the Chinese New Year.
Still Learning Something New: Resources For Teaching Chinese New Year – Links to games, resources, craft ideas, and more.
FranW.com 