Kung-Hsi Fa-ts' Ai! (Happy New Year) ! Today we had a fantastic day celebrating some of the traditions of the Chinese New Year. The children were warmly welcomed into the class under a Chinese banner and dragon. Mrs. C. read two books, "The Dancing Dragon," by Marcia Vaughan and "This Next New Year," by Janet S. Wong which explained the holiday and traditions. Mrs. C. prepared five centers for the children. The craft stations were: making dragons, lanterns, and counting books (in English and Chinese.) There were two food stations: one was pork/fried rice (harmony and plenty) and the other was Hapins (shrimp chips).The Chinese New Year is determined by the Chinese lunar calendar. The new year begins with the new moon. The Chinese New Year falls during China's springtime. The new year celebrates the season for planting, as well as all new beginnings. Part of getting ready for the new year is making sure your home is neat and clean before the new year arrives. Tidy up your house -- sweep out the old and bring in the New Year. Firecrackers and lanterns are an important part of the New Year celebration because the evil spirits are scared away from the bright lights of the firecrackers and lanterns.
At the end of the day, the children were gifted with "lucky money" in red envelopes called "lai-see." The envelopes had designs in gold and holiday wishes written on it. The children were delighted to receive such a nice gift. We had a wonderful day learning about the Chinese New Year!
2 comments:
I have always thought our classes looked like the United Nations! What a wonderful gift to the children in your class - really celebrating our diversity at Chets Creek! dayle
It has been a wonderful week. Thank you for letting us all share. The children really seem to have enjoyed learning about the different cultures. What an awsome opportunity for them.
Tracy C.
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