Chinese New Year is a special time when families come together to celebrate, share amazing meals, and wish each other good luck for the coming year! For kids, they love getting angpao and celebrating the festivities with their extended family. One way to keep the kids busy and teach them about traditions, is to do small craft projects during the busy day. We’ve rounded up five Chinese New Year crafts that are easy to do at home and great for decorating the house.
1. Chinese Paper Lanterns
Source: Welcome to Nana's
This is one of the easiest paper crafts to do with kids. DIY Chinese Paper Lanterns are a great way to add auspicious decorations to your house. You can even make several lanterns and string them together in a garland. These work with any type of coloured paper like construction and card stock, and if you’re feeling brave, use glitter and markers to add more details.
What You’ll Need:
- Scissors
- Glue
- Card stock (works better) or any coloured paper
- Optional: Markers, glitter, stickers for decoration
Instructions:
- Fold a sheet of coloured paper in half.
- Cut small slits along the folded edge, leaving a margin at the ends.
- Unfold the paper and glue the two short edges together to form a cylinder.
- Add a handle on top with a strip of paper, and your lantern is ready!
2. Popsicle Stick Puzzles
Source: Chalk Academy
We found an interactive way to teach your kids Chinese phrases to help them get through the new year. These popsicle stick puzzles are great for teaching everyone basic Chinese characters including greetings, animal zodiacs and more. This can work for toddlers (with a bit more help) to elementary school children who are pros at Chinese.
What You’ll Need:
- Popsicle sticks
- Acrylic red paint
- Painter’s tape
- Pencil
- Black Marker
Chinese phrases you can use:
恭喜发财 (Gōngxǐ fācái: Wishing you happiness and prosperity
新年快乐 (Xīn nián kuài lè): Happy New Year
万事如意 (Wàn shì rú yì): May all your wishes come true
OR for the smaller kids, you can simply teach them the 12 Chinese zodiac animals:
- 鼠 (Shǔ): Rat
- 牛 (Niú): Ox
- 虎 (Hǔ): Tiger
- 兔 (Tù): Rabbit
- 龙 (Lóng): Dragon
- 蛇 (Shé): Snake
- 马 (Mǎ): Horse
- 羊 (Yáng): Goat (or Sheep)
- 猴 (Hóu): Monkey
- 鸡 (Jī): Rooster
- 狗 (Gǒu): Dog
- 猪 (Zhū): Pig
Instructions:
- Paint the craft sticks red
- Tape five sticks together horizontally and write Chinese characters in pencil
- Trace the characters with a black permanent marker
- Number the sticks at the back (so you know their order)
- Show your kids the complete puzzles, then mix them up
- Start piecing them together!
3. Paper Cut Zodiacs
Source: Shopee
My kids love, LOVE to cut! We’ve found a great paper-cutting activity that teaches kids about the 12 Chinese zodiacs. You can order the rice paper templates online and just provide the kids with scissors (with supervision of course). Depending on the intricacy of the template, you’ll have to fold some into smaller pieces. Once they’re done, you can stick the paper cutouts on your windows to decorate the house for Chinese New Year.
What You’ll Need:
- Paper Cutting Templates
- Scissors
Instructions:
- Fold the templates along the dotted lines
- Cut along the solid black lines
- Unfold the paper
- Stick finished cutouts around the house
4. Lucky Paper Envelopes
Source: Chalk Academy
We love this ang pao craft from Chalkacademy because it’s simple but goes a long way. Nothing says love and family than a homemade Chinese New Year packet made by the kids. Plus, they can practice writing their Chinese characters.
What You’ll Need:
- Red A4 paper or card stock (Doesn’t have to be red. It can be any bright colour)
- Glue or double sided tape
- Scissors
- Gold paint or gold leaf pen
Instructions:
- Print the template on coloured paper
- Cut along the solid black lines
- Fold paper along the dotted lines
- Use glue or double sided tape to stick the flaps in
- Use a gold leaf pen or bright pen to trace the Chinese characters
- Decorate the envelope
- Insert crisp bills into the envelope for Chinese New Year!
5. Recycled Red Envelope Dragon
Source: Baby Mama Mandarin Dragon Craft
We were inspired by Baby Mama Mandarin Dragon Craft after seeing a large pile of old ang pao packets from the previous year. Our daughter is three, so she needed some guidance cutting and gluing but still enjoyed the whole process. Let’s face it, making a dragon is the coolest way to decorate your house for Chinese New Year festivities.
What You’ll Need:
- Scissors
- Glue
- 6 x 7cm-wide red packets
- Dragon template
- String for hanging
Instructions:
- Print the dragon template on cardstock
- Colour the head and tail of the dragon (if it’s not printed on red card)
- Cut the red packets along the sides to create one long strip
- Fold the red envelopes into accordions and glue all the red packets together to make a long piece
- Stick accordions along the body of the dragon
- Punch holes in the dragon and attach the string
- Hang the dragon up!
These hands-on activities not only entertain but also educate, making Chinese New Year a truly memorable experience for the whole family. So, gather your supplies, put on some festive music, and let the creativity flow!