Kung Hei Fat Choy! Looking for some fun Chinese New Year ideas? Here are 5 fun Chinese New Year activities for kids that you can do together.

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I’ve always enjoyed Chinese New Year. I love Chinese food, fortune cookies and it’s a great time to learn a bit more about the culture and traditions of one of the largest countries in the world.

If you have been looking for some easy ideas for things to do with your child to get them interested in Chinese New Year, then these 5 ideas might help.

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Fun Chinese New Year Activities For Kids

#1. Make a Chinese Dragon

Image: Krokotak

Despite being in Russian, Krokotak has a template for making a Chinese Dragon with coloured paper, a printable for the head and tail, and using a paper concertina and sticks to assemble your dragon.

The photos are fairly self-explanatory, and if you toggle the language to English on their website, they also have some other great projects to do with kids.

#2. Create a Tangram Puzzle

Image: Enchanted Learning

Tangram puzzles are a form of ancient Chinese puzzle, and the activity is called “seven pieces of cleverness”. The idea is to rearrange the pieces of a square, to form figures/object.

All you need to make your own tangram puzzle is some paper, pencils, ruler and scissors.

Once you have cut out your 7 pieces you’ll be able to make an amazing amount of different shapes, animals, people, everyday objects, etc.

#3. Make Chinese Lanterns

Image: First Palette

We liked this easy-to-make project from First Palette for kids, making Chinese paper lanterns in different colours.

You will need construction paper, scissors, tape, stapler, ruler, pencil and then plenty of glue, glitter, sequins to decorate your lantern.

#4. Research the Chinese Calendar

The Chinese calendar follows a 12 year pattern, with every year named after an animal. Depending on the year you are born, you are thought to portray the various character traits of that year’s animals.

Why not find out what animal represented your birth year and what it signifies? National Geographic for Kids has a great page explaining about the years, as well as facts about the different animals.

#5. Cook Chinese Food Together

Image: Mel’s Kitchen Cafe

Chinese New Year is a good excuse to try some Chinese food at home. Kids generally love rice and noodle dishes.

Or why not give homemade fortune cookies a go using this recipe from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe, and have some fun writing out the fortunes?

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