Chinese New Year
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A Unit Study for Homeschoolers
新年快乐 Happy Chinese New Year! Take your children on a fascinating cultural experience -- celebrate Chinese New Year!
Chinese New Year is the celebration of a new lunar year. It is a fifteen day holiday that starts on the evening of the second new moon after the winter solstice. This is sometime in January or February each year. This holiday ends with the Lantern Festival on the 15th day.
In China, this holiday is also called Spring Festival 春节 Chun Jie since it marks the change in the weather from bitter cold to the coming of warmer weather.
Long-Long's New Year
A Story About The Chinese Spring Festival
Long-Long's New Year: A Story About the Chinese Spring Festival
Amazon Price: $9.62 (as of 02/14/2012)
Used Price: $0.73
This book is really special because it it set in China and not in an American Chinatown. A family celebrates the Spring Festival in a traditional way in this picture book.
Chinese Zodiac
2010 is the Year of the Tiger
According to the lunar calendar, time operates in cycles of twelve years. Each year is represented by an animal: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig. The lunar calendar even has a "leap lunar year" with an entire extra MONTH added in!The lunar calendar is also considered a farmer's calendar since it is used to make decisions related to agriculture.
There is a folk story that explains how each animal was assigned to its year.
The animals were assembled for a race. The rat knew since he was such a small animal, he had no chance to win honestly. He conviced the ox to let him ride on his head. Just as they were about to arrive, the crafty rat jumped down and crossed the finish line as the winner.
This is why the year of the rat is the first year in the cycle and the year of the ox is the second.
A practical craft idea is to make a year calendar featuring the zodiac animal of that year at the top. Visit these school children's examples for inspiration.There are plenty of options for your yearly calendar graphic. Just explore some of these coloring page links:
- YOUR Chinese Zodiac Sign
Were you born in the year of the monkey? The tiger? The pig? Find out quickly with this easy form!- Chinese Zodiac Images with Characters
- These are my favorite zodiac images. Simple black and white line drawings of each animal AND the Chinese character!
- Zodiac Images
- Print out these 12 squares to make a memory game, flashcards, a minibook, or a poster.
- Chinese Zodiac Sign Coloring Book
- This coloring book, strangely, cannot be viewed before you print it. The cover is a full color, circular zodiac sign diagram. Then each following page features an animal coloring page with its corresponding Chinese character.
- Year of the.... Coloring Pages
- Twelve cartoon style Year of the ... pages.
- Chinese New Year at Crayola
- A coloring page for each animal of the zodiac.
- Chinese Zodiac Origami
- Make paper origami animal to represent the years of the zodiac! There are many options for each animal listed at this link,
The Color Red
The tradition is that when your zodiac year comes each twelve years, that is a special year; you should increase your good luck by wearing red everyday. Many people wear red underwear all year long!
The Story of the Chinese Zodiac
The Great Race
Amazon Price: $413.66 (as of 02/14/2012)
Used Price: $264.84
Ever wondered where the cycle of twelve animals came from? And why would the rat be first? This book explains the fun story behind the tradition.
Countdown to Chinese New Year 2012 -- the Year of the Dragon
Hong Bao -- Red Envelopes
lucky money
Making some 红包 hong bao -- literally red packets -- is a very authentic and easy craft for celebrating Chinese New Year.
At the Spring Festival, adults give children these red envelopes with gifts of cash tucked inside! (The bride and groom also receive these at their wedding.)
In English, they are sometimes also called lucky money. Make sure to use a lot of red. Gold or yellow is also popular on hong bao.
- Hong Bao Template
- A PDF envelope template from Scholastic.
- Feng Shui Web
- (If you are opposed to Feng Shui, choose another of the links here.)
This site has a lengthy explanation and two hong bao printables in full color. - Activity Village
- This envelope template is small -- a square shape.
- Chinese Red Envelope
- Print, cut, glue, and go. This is a really cute full color envelope featuring a panda theme.
- Chinese New Year Money Envelopes
- Three more, full color, printable hong bao.
- Printable Lucky Money Envelopes
- Several full color printable templates to cut out and assemble.
- Red Packet Oval Ball
- This tutorial shows you how to make a lovely papercraft with hong bao.
- Red Packet StarLantern
- Another tutorial demonstrating a craft fashioned from hong bao.
Sam and the Lucky Money
Sam and the Lucky Money
Amazon Price: $3.95 (as of 02/14/2012)
Used Price: $2.76
In this picture book, Sam struggles with how to spend his lucky money.
Celebrating Chinese New Year
Why do fish feature so predominantly in Chinese New Year's decorations?The Chinese word for fish 鱼 has the same sound as another word --余-- which means abundance. So eating fish on the New Year is a way to bring good luck or abundance to your family.
Make your own 3D paper fish with this wonderful template from Kiddy House. Use bright papers and string them around your home. Or connect them into a New Year's mobile.
Visit Childbook for some wonderful coloring pages that depict typical New Year's customs.
For a more indepth unit study, find one of these great activity and craft books.
Chinese New Year Cartoon Music Video
New Clothes -- A Chinese New Year Tradition
It is a tradition in China to buy new clothes when the new year comes. Parents buy new outfits for their children and for themselves.
Celebrate in your own way by making "new clothes" for some paper dolls.
- Making Friends Chinese Paper Dolls
- These free printables feature a Chinese styled outfit. Color them red for a traditional new year's outfit.
- Winston and Lily
- There are several options of paper dolls here and a complete set of Chinese new year attire.
- Chinese Dress Coloring Pages
- Adorable coloring pages with little girls and boys in traditional Chinese dress.
Dui Lian -- Chinese Door Banners
sometimes called a distich
Chinese doors almost always bear decoration of some type. The 对 联 (dui lian) are the set of banners hung above and to the sides of the door. They are always red and have a message of good luck or blessings of prosperity. Any door or gate can be decorated in this way -- even a pig stall or a barn.
Usually, it is at the Chinese New Year when new banners are pasted around the door.
Be sure to look at this beautiful painting done in traditional Chinese style that depicts a man preparing his dui lian at Spring Festival.
On the doors themselves you will find one of two things - either a door god as seen to the right or a single Chinese character fu 福 which means blessing. One fascinating feature of the fu 福 decoration is that it is always placed upside down. Why? This is a bit of a pun. The word for "upside down" sounds the same as the word that means "to arrive." So they take the blessing and turn it upside down to mean "blessings arrive." It's a way of inviting blessings to the home.
Make your own dui lian with long strips of paper. Make three - one for the top and one on each side. Use the template below for your fu 福 decoration.
- Fu Printable Door Decoration
- Print and add color -- red and gold are preferred. Be sure to hang it upside down so the blessings will come to you!
- Spring Festival Dui Lian
- More information about Spring Festival dui lians.
- Chinese New Year Greetings Coloring Pages/Pictures
- Chinese characters to embellish with color. Decorate for the New Year.
- Chinese New Year Wall & Door Scroll
- More black line Chinese characters suitable for dui lian.
Lanterns and Firecrackers
Lanterns and Firecrackers: A Chinese New Year Story (Festival Time)
Amazon Price: $0.83 (as of 02/14/2012)
Used Price: $0.86
Lantern Festival
The Lantern Festival is a favorite for children. Many families give lanterns to the children who walk around outdoors showing them off. Other families set off fireworks and firecrackers. It's a wonderful evening of fun for young people and old.- Lantern Craft and New Year's Background
- A simple paper craft template for a 2D lantern to hang in a window.
- Basic Construction Paper Lantern Craft
- This is the old standby lantern craft. I'm sure you've made a few of these in your own childhood.
- Lantern Coloring Page
- Look for the tiny link "balllantern.pdf." That will take you to a PDF version of the small graphic on this page. You could color this page, or be even more creative and glue on sequins and other brilliant decorations.
- Chinese New Year Coloring Page
- This coloring page features the words "Chinese New Year" and two lanterns. It also has a paragraph of explanation about both Chinese New Year and the Lantern Festival.
- Lantern Cakes
- No boring papercraft here! This is an edible lantern. Directions for making lantern shaped cakes!
- Kids Craft Weekly-- Chinese New Year
- You'll find several great Chinese New Year related crafts here. One that I especially like is a lantern made with hong bao (red packets).
- Chinese Lanterns Picture Craft
- Use baking papers (for cupcakes or muffins) to create this 3D lantern picture.
Chinese Characters
Learn some Chinese characters for your unit study. The character fu 福--blessing or luck-- is a great place to start since it's a common decoration.
- Write the Character Fu
- This page shows you the strokes and stroke order for making the character FU which means blessing or luck. This is a popular character all over China, and especially during the New Year.
- Chinese Character Cards
- Four pages of printable character cards and several ideas for how to use them.
- Fu Minibook Template and Directions
- Bookmaking with Kids blog shares a fun minibook idea, complete with printable template.
- Fu Poster to Color
- This is a template I made. It's just a simple poster to print and decorate. Be sure to use a lot of red and gold and hang it upside down so the blessing will come to you.
- Chinese Note Paper
- This is an attractive lined paper with a Chinese graphic in the corner. It would make great paper for practicing writing characters!
- Chinese Themed Stationery
- Another printable notebooking or stationery page.
- Get Your Own Chinese Name
- You know you need one -- your very own Chinese name.
- Learn How to Write Numbers in Chinese
- When writing characters, it is common to begin with the numbers since they are relatively simple.
- Chinese Greeting Cards
- Printable Valentines, but these cute card templates could be use any time of the year. Featured characters are love, joy, and happiness.
- Chinese Character Coloring Pictures
- Each coloring page features the traditional Chinese character plus its English pronunciation.
- Practice Two Chinese Characters
- This reproducible page from Scholastic features two characters -- spring and wealth.
D is for Doufu: An Alphabet Book of Chinese Culture
D Is for Doufu: An Alphabet Book of Chinese Culture
Amazon Price: $5.75 (as of 02/14/2012)
Used Price: $5.14
This book is a great place to start a study of Chinese characters!
Other Printables
And Online Fun
These didn't fit neatly into another category, but are far too good to omit.
- Chinese Coloring Pages
- A great selection of Chinese zodiac animals, lanterns, lantern festival, Chinese kites, and more.
- Pagoda Printable
- Black and white pagoda image that would be great for the cover and template of a shape book about China.
- PBS Kids Sagwa Countdown to the New Year
- Several interactive games teach traditions of the new year.
- Chinese New Year Crafts by The Lazy Stay-at-Home Mommy
- Each year since 2005, this mom has chronicled the crafts she's done with her children for Chinese New Year. It's a new craft each year!
- East Asian Peoples
- Some PDF craft ideas for Chinese New Year or Chinese culture in general.
Guestbook
Happy Chinese New Year! I welcome your notes, questions, or suggestions.
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Reply
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jimmyworldstar
Feb 4, 2012 @ 4:30 pm | delete
- There's a lot of information I didn't know, I knew that red symbolized prosperity though. Thanks for the interesting facts!
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intermarks
Feb 2, 2012 @ 3:19 am | delete
- Wonderful lens, it clearly explain how the Chinese celebrate Chinese New Year.
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grflgrfl
Jan 26, 2012 @ 7:24 pm | delete
- The Chinese calendar is so confusing to Westerners! Sometimes I compare understanding the Chinese calendar to the Dark Ages when information was tightly controlled by an elite class only for the sake of control over the masses.
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TomMaybrier
Jan 19, 2012 @ 3:07 pm | delete
- gong hay fat choy! great lens!
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Reply
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darleen and gregg
Jan 14, 2012 @ 1:45 am | delete
- gong xi, gong xi, gong xi ni ya
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Chinese New Year
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