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We love learning about holidays around the world, as well as the customs and history behind them. This guide on how to celebrate Lunar New Year festival with kids has books, videos, crafts, recipes, science activities, and more to help you learn about and experience this wonderful holiday right from home.
This guide will also include ideas for how to avoid cultural appropriation when celebrating Lunar New Year, and suggest ways to support and compensate those native to the cultures that celebrate.
I hope you have a wonderful time celebrating Lunar New Year with kids!
This guide to celebrating Lunar New Year with kids contains affiliate links, but all opinions are 100% my own. That means I earn a small commission if you purchase through my link, but doesn’t change your price.
Table of Contents
The Nian Monster by Andrea Wang (Author), Alina Chau (Illustrator)
Find your Chinese zodiac (you can use this site or here’s a great Chinese picture book for kids that shows the animals for the different years). After you’ve determined the animal of your birth year, learn about what characteristics that animal represents in the Chinese zodiac.
Preschool children may then draw the animal. Elementary aged children may write 5 examples of ways they do or do not embody the the animal’s characteristics in their lives.
Here’s a wonderful guide to the 15 days of Chinese New Year. Learn about each day, then discuss which is your favorite!
This is a very simple art project that you can do in just a few minutes. Here are the instructions for the project. Here is what you will need:
Here’s a wonderful paper firecrackers craft that uses red paper, gold paint and gold tape, twine, and other basics.
There are a number of wonderful ways to celebrate Lunar New Year with kids:
There are a number of foods that are considered lucky to eat for Lunar New Year. In China, whole steamed fish is common, while chicken or duck may be more common in Thailand. Oranges and glutinous rice cakes are very popular for good luck in many countries that celebrate Lunar New Year.
Here’s a list of 7 lucky foods for Chinese New Year!
Nian gao, or sticky rice cakes, are one of the most traditional foods of Lunar New year and symbolize prosperity. You can steam or bake it, and eat it plain or with a number of fillings (black sesame paste is very popular).
Here’s a recipe to make your own nian gao!
Silkmaking is revered in China. It’s a beautiful and prized fabric that lots of people around the world admired. You will learn the process of silkmaking today!
An important part of avoiding cultural appropriation is to financially support the cultures from which we learn and borrow. It’s important compensate those from those cultures so that the culture can continue to thrive.
Here are some ways you can support those of Chinese and other Asian ancestry:
Instead of searching a big supermarket or even making items yourself, consider supporting a local Asian grocer. You may want to purchase fish to steam and glutinous rice, or you might pick up pre-prepared items.
You should absolutely purchase Lunar New Year decorations from someone of Asian heritage. Profiting off another culture is one of the most egregious forms of appropriation. We should avoid purchasing traditional items with deep significance, like these things, from big corporations or those appropriating Chinese and other Asian cultures and religious heritages.
The best way to purchase Lunar New Year decorations is from someone native to the culture. Head to your local Chinatown to support small businesses there if possible. If not, you can purchase red envelopes online.
Here is more information on decorating your home if you would like to celebrate Chinese New Year!
While there are wonderful Chinese New Year resources and celebrations, many countries throughout Asia and the world celebrate Lunar New Year. Learn about some of the different ways countries and peoples celebrate and reduce generalizations and stereotypes.
You can also learn the different names for the celebration in different countries.
Some different names for the festival are Chinese Chunjie, Vietnamese Tet, Korean Solnal, and Tibetan Losar. Chinese-Filipinos celebrate in the Philippines, as do Chinese-Thai in Thailand.
Lunar New Year is a perfect time to learn more about different Asian countries, such as China with Kids, Korea with kids, or the Philippines with kids. It’s a wonderful opportunity to study diverse and beautiful countries and their people, and also participate in some traditional activities. You may also consider learning about the history of the Asian diaspora.
It’s easy to Google recipes, but it’s also wonderful to support Asian (or Asian-American) cookbook authors. This book by Bee Yinn Low has wonderful and simple recipes that are great for families. I’m also itching to try this cookbook with fast Vietnamese recipes at home.
The lion symbolizes power, and the Lion Dance during Chinese New Year activities brings good luck and prosperity. The Dragon Lantern Dance is traditional to the Han people and is performed to scare away evil spirits.
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We’ve loved putting together this resource with Lunar New Year activities for kids. We’d love to hear if you do any of these activities!
We hope to inspire curiosity and connection through exploring and learning, and we hope this guide helps you and your families. Please share any activities you do with us over on our Instagram. And we’d be delighted if you passed this Lunar New Year with kids resource along to others, as well!
