Here
are some ideas for making your Lunar New Year unit special.
Books
Music
Music is an important part of
any Early Childhood program.
Songs/Fingerplays
Dragon Dragon
*see words below*
Lion Dance
*see words below*
For links to the
musical artists click here to go to the music
page.
Dragon,
Dragon
(Tune: Twinkle Twinkle
Little Star)
Dragon, dragon, dance around.
Dragon, dragon, touch the ground.
Dragon, dragon, shake your head.
Dragon, dragon, point to red.
Dragon, dragon, stamp your feet.
Dragon, dragon, run down the street.
Lion Dance
(Tune: Mary Had a Little
Lamb)
See the lion dance and prance,
Dance and prance, dance and prance.
See the lion dance and prance,
On Chinese New Year's Day.
Hear the firecrackers pop,
Pop, pop, pop,
pop, pop, pop.
Hear the firecrackers pop,
On Chinese New Year's Day.
Hear the drums go boom, boom, boom,
boom, boom, boom,
boom, boom, boom,
On Chinese New Year Day.
See the children laugh and clap,
Laugh and clap, laugh and clap.
See the children laugh and clap,
On Chinese New Year's Day.
Activities
Activity
Instructions
Red Envelopes
Materials: red
construction paper, glue, scissors, xerox copies of dollar
bills.
Create one red envelope
per child using the red construction paper. If you can
find a template to copy on to the paper it will be much easier.
Cut out each envelope and glue it together. Cut out the
dollar bills and insert one into each envelope. Red envelopes can also be purchased in bulk cheaply at your
local Asian market, or through
www.oriental.com
The Red Envelopes would
make perfect "story bits" to hand out after reading Sam and
the Lucky Money.
Firecrackers
Materials: one
toilet paper tube for each child, colorful wrapping paper or
tissue paper, red ribbon, uncooked rice or beans.
Place dried rice or beans
inside of a cardboard toilet paper tube and wrap with colorful
wrapping paper or tissue paper. Tie the ends with
red ribbon and shake to make pretend firecrackers for the Lunar
New Year.
Dragon Puppet
Materials:
brown lunch bags, outline of dragon face, glitter or sequins,
crayons, markers, glue, scissors.
Have each child color the
dragon face, cut out, and glue on the bottom of the paper bag.
You can glue glitter or sequins to the puppet's body to create
"scales".
Dragon Mask
Materials:
outline of dragon face, watercolor paint, brushes, paper plates,
large popsicle sticks.
Have each child watercolor
his or her dragon picture. When dry, cut out the pictures
and glue to a paper plate. Attach a large popsicle stick
to the bottom and you have your very own dragon mask. The
children love to use these masks to dance to the song Dragon,
Dragon above.
Asian Zodiac Signs
Materials:
pictures of the different animals in the Asian zodiac, one copy
of the animal for the current year for each child, crayons.
Have each child color the
picture of the animal that represents the current year.
For example, 2004 is the year of the monkey. You can find
these pictures at www.dltk-kids.com
Lanterns
Materials:
red construction paper, scissors, glue/stapler.
Fold a long piece of
construction paper in half "hot-dog style".
Make a
series of cuts along the fold line. Don't cut all the way to the
edge of the paper. Unfold the paper and glue the edges
together folding "hamburger style". Glue or staple a strip
of paper across one end of the lantern to make a handle.
Hang the lanterns from the ceiling in your classroom for good
luck.
Lunar New Year Party
We have a Lunar New Year
celebration every year. Here are some of the things you
can do to make your day special:
Eat oranges for a
treat.
Wear red for good
luck.
Sing special songs
(listed above) and dance with our masks and firecrackers.
Pass out red envelopes
and say "Happy New Year" to each other in Chinese.
Hang our lanterns from
the ceiling.
Read Lion Dancer:
Ernie Wan's Chinese New Year and dance around the
classroom or school to traditional music.
