Celebrating Chinese New Year with tamariki in early childhood is more than just a fun event; it’s an opportunity to embrace cultural diversity, foster a sense of belonging, and introduce young tamariki to global traditions. The Chinese New Year, also known as the Lunar New Year and Spring Festival, is rich in symbolism, colour, and excitement, making it the perfect occasion for engaging young minds.
Introducing tamariki to the Chinese New Year helps them appreciate and understand different cultures, encourages respect for diversity, and lays the foundation for a more inclusive worldview. Learning about Chinese traditions, greetings, and songs enhances language skills and broadens vocabulary. And of course, the vibrant traditions associated with the Chinese New Year celebrations open the door to numerous arts and crafts activities.
Looking for some fun ways to celebrate the Chinese New Year in your environment? Here are some of our suggestions using our Chinese New Year downloadable resources.
Lanterns -
Get busy with tamariki and start creating some of your own red decorations to display around your environment, starting with colouring a lantern. An easy activity to encourage creativity and fine motor skills.
Hóngbāo/Red Envelope Giving -
Traditionally, red envelopes are given as gifts to someone special and are a symbol of bringing good luck. Instead of gifting money, this tradition can still be applied as an activity during this celebration. Instead, create your envelopes and get tamariki to create a simple friendly good luck note or picture which could be inserted inside.
Learn about the 12 Chinese Zodiac animals -
Learn the story of the Chinese Zodiac animals, then use the mask templates to retell the story or create your own. Discuss the special traits that each animal holds and encourage tamariki to get creative in their designs. Think bright, vibrant colours.
Snake exploration -
2025 is the year of the wood snake. The snake symbolises wisdom, introspection, and intuition. By learning about the snake adds another layer to our learning opportunities. Give our hanging snake template a go, create paper chain snakes, and encourage the use of fun new words such as slither and coil through gross motor exploration.
You can find all these ideas and more inside our Chinese New Year download!
Celebrating Chinese New Year with tamariki is a fun and educational way to start the year. It brings the excitement of a new culture into the classroom/environment and provides a platform for young learners to develop essential social, motor, and cognitive skills. Let us know how you will be celebrating the Chinese New Year in your learning environment.
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