For weeks both students and teachers have been diligently preparing for Chinese New Year by learning about Chinese culture and traditions and doing many related projects in class.
While Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival or Lunar New Year, as it also may be called, is still a couple of days away, here at Eduwings kindergarten we have already celebrated in advance. On Friday, January 17th, we hosted a Chinese New Year party for our students. All students dressed up in beautiful traditional Chinese clothes for this special day.
During the entire morning the children got to take part in various activities related to Chinese traditions and culture, and Chinese New Year. After enjoying a rich party breakfast with various treats the children had brought to share with their friends, our kindergarten groups did a Chinese New Year themed circle time and took turns doing various activities.
During Chinese New Year circle time, the teachers introduced the story of Chinese New Year and, among others, sang songs with the children.
The children practised their balance and coordination when trying to touch the lucky character Fu, while blindfolded with a scarf or sleeping mask.
Dragon Dance is a fascinating traditional activity performed during the festivities for Chinese New Year. In Chinese culture dragons stand for wisdom, power, and wealth, and according to popular belief, the dragon dance chases away evil spirits and bad luck. Our students got to participate!
What would Chinese New Year be without dumplings? At least here in the region of Beijing, dumplings and CNY are linked like cookies and Christmas. Of course our party lunch was dumplings – and all children helped to wrap a couple of dumplings too!
What a lovely craft! This student decorated a little bag with various ornaments and lucky characters!
Candy carrying contest was a great opportunity for the children to practise their fine motor skills. Using chopsticks is a challenge for young children indeed!
In the weeks leading up to our party, the children learned about Chinese zodiac animals. In this fun musical chairs game the children got to review the zodiac animals, interact with other children and burn off loads of energy moving around. It is not easy to lose a game at the age our students are at, but with the right guidance, children can learn to be happy for the winner, and enjoy the game whether they win or not. And for the youngest, the game can even be adapted so that everyone will win together : )
Have you ever made your own firecrackers? Well, Eduwings students sure have!
Everyone got to try their hand at Chinese calligraphy, tracing or freely writing character Fu, which stands for good fortune.
The children printed Chinese New Year pictures by using beautiful stencils designed by art teacher Ken.
Do you know the Chinese door god? It is usually displayed in pairs facing each other on entrance doors to protect people’s homes from evil spirits. But beware: Don’t ever put the gods with their backs turned towards each other. That is said to be rather unlucky… This is the way to place these guys:
In Shunyi campus, the children also got to watch a traditional lion dance, accompanied by rhythmic drums. What a great show! But see for yourself:
What a special day! And what happy memories everyone made!
Do you want to learn more about events and parties @Eduwings? Stay tuned to our blog for our latest articles!
For more information on how we teach our students about Chinese culture and traditions and cultural diversity, check our recent article “Appreciating Chinese culture and embracing cultural diversity”.
We wish you a Happy Chinese New Year of the Rat!
May good fortune, health, success and happiness
come your way in the New Year!!
The Eduwings Team