Xin Nian Kuai Le! Happy New Year! Today is the first day of Chinese New Year. Did you have anything yummy for dinner to celebrate? We did – but I will admit it was a busy day and I skipped making anything myself. I got some great food from one of the local restaurants and it was delicious! Yummy tiny spicy chicken, ham fried rice, egg rolls, hot and sour soup, and more! After dinner we sat down and looked at a few Chinese New Year activities.

One of the Chinese New Year activities we like to do is learn a little bit about the animal for the new year. The animal for 2015 is one that is a bit of a discussion point. You may have seen that it is the goat, sheep or ram when looking at the English translation for this year’s animal. According to the Chinese zodiac it is yang, in Mandarin. That translates in a way that makes all of the three animals right. Was anyone in your family born in the year of the goat? People born in 1919, 1931, 1943, 1967, 1979, 1991 or 2003 are goats. These people’s lucky colors are brown, red and purple. They are thought to be kind and peaceable. Lucky months for goats are supposedly August and November. A goat’s lucky flowers are primroses and carnations.

My kids like to do other Chinese New Year activities too. My little kids are still into arts and crafts and want to make things and do lots of crafty Chinese New Year activities. Here are a couple of our favorites:

Paper Lanters
This is a fun and very easy project you can do with your kids. It is one of my kids favorite Chinese New Year activities. You can make paper lanterns out of construction paper or printer paper. The only other supplies you need are scissors and tape or glue. The directions are super easy – check them out here: https://mykidcraft.com/chinese-lanterns/ The lanterns look great when made with red construction paper. They are fun to decorate with after you make them.

Dragon Masks and Puppets
Making dragon masks and puppets are another of my kids’ favorite Chinese New Year activities. These masks and puppets are so much fun to color, we also use glitter and other fun embellishments to make them sparkle and shine. My kids also make them to hang with the lanterns. There is a great pattern that works for masks, puppets, and decorations here: https://www.teachervision.com/tv/printables/TCR/0615_131-132.pdf This printable works best as a mask when you print it on card stock.

Do you have any Chinese New Year activities that you like to do to with your families? Let us know what you do. We love to hear from you!