Chinese New Year Craft Ideas for Children
The Chinese New Year, whose date is determined by the lunar calendar, comes around each year during the months of January or February. With its rich traditions of food, family and celebrations, children will love this holiday. With all the bright colors and decorations, there is a plethora of craft options for children and parents to complete together.
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Plum Blossoms
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Depicted in many Chinese paintings of winter, the plum blossom is a symbol of courage and hope during the New Year holiday. With only a few pipe cleaners, a sheet or two of tissue paper and half of a foam ball, children will be able to twist together a plum blossom tree to decorate their homes with during their New Year celebrations. While children paint their foam balls with brown paint, parents can give the trees a head start by twisting two pipe cleaners together. Children can then shred a piece of pink or purple tissue paper into small strips and insert them between the ends of the pipe cleaners. Once the paint dries, children can push their pipe cleaners into the foam balls and arrange them into tree-like branches.
Chinese Lantern
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During the Chinese New Year, the streets fill with extravagant decorations. One of these decorations that doubles as extra street lighting is the Chinese lantern. Using only paper, these lamps are simple enough for children of nearly any age. After folding a sheet of construction paper in half lengthwise, children will cut a series of gill-like slices into the fold of their paper. Once all cutting is complete, children can glue the short edges of their paper to create a tube that fans out at the fold. To give their lanterns extra flair, children can glue a series of tissue paper streamers to the bottom. As simple as this craft is, parents and children could decorate their entire house with these paper creations.
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Chinese New Year Dragon
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One of the most famous icons of the Chinese New Year gala is the gigantic dragon puppet that parades through the streets. Using a few cups from an egg carton, children can create a pint-sized version of this festive creature. Parents can separate the cups from an egg carton while children gather two pompoms, two googly eyes, and a scrap of red fabric for their dragon's tongue. Children can paint the outsides of each cup with bright colors of their choosing, such as red, yellow or blue. Once the paint dries, parents can help children connect their cups into a chain by using the point of a pair of scissors to make a hole in the front and back of each cup. Short pieces of yarn threaded through these holes will hold the segments together. After gluing the pompoms, google eyes and felt tongue onto their final cup, their mini dragons will be ready for the holiday celebration.
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- Photo Credit chinese lantern image by araraadt from Fotolia.com
