Lunar New Year Fun for Kids

Lunar New Year fun for kids...
lives in their memories forever.

Want to see a Chinese Dancing Dragon fly?  Nothing beats the sound of a dragon tail fluttering as you dance with it--along with 25 kids and their dragons!

It takes all morning to create these dancing Chinese New Year Dragons--punctuated by little breaks to practice our dance moves to the pounding drums, clashing cymbals and high flute of Chinese parade music.

JUST ADD A PIPE CLEANER, 18" STRING, AND A FOLDED STRIP OF RED TISSUE PAPER--SUBSTITUTES WILL DO!

My early finishers can read and color their Chinese New Year One-page mini-book of traditions and the cycle of animals sheet. 

I've just added gorgeous Chinese New Year printables for kids to color and decorate, or write on (using creative prompts), as a Morning Work when they enter the room and get settled.

 

2008 Chinese New Year Song 
blends pop and traditional elements into a visual spectacular.  It's a great cultural backdrop for your own class parade.  Video footage includes a crowded Chinese New Year parade with giant dancing dragons, Chinese mountains, temples, lanterns, fans, cherry blossoms, waterfalls, and gardens.  A 3-girl pop group, The M-Girls, cheerfully sing in several Chinese styles and tempos.  They alternate wearing contemporary and traditional gear.   (9:49)

Chinese New Year Story Video For Kids
is a beautifully crafted shadow puppet story.  It tells the origin of the Chinese New Year cycle of twelve animals.  (2:43)
  

YouTube.com is a great source for videos.  Many schools block YouTube, so you’ll have to use software, a YouTube to MP4 converter.  This is best done at home.  Then you can bring the MP4 on a flash drive to view at school on your SMARTboard or computer.

At the end of the day I've asked my kids what they’d like to do with their dragons.  They said…
·         Dance all night
·         Do ballet
·         Eat it
·         Feed it
·         Watch it grow
·         Do magic
·         Put on a magic show
·         Sleep with it
·         March in a parade
·         Put it in a doll house
·         Ride a scooter with it
·         Destroy it (said with a cartoonish swagger)

 A dozen ways to celebrate the night of the new moon.  Gung Hay Fat Choy, everybody!

If you'd like a Chinese Dancing Dragon, and all the memories and joy that come with it, it's right here.