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Celebrate Chinese New Year and learn about the beautiful culture and traditions with 15 activities! Read on to find books, printable activities, crafts, recipes, and videos for your Chinese New Year lesson plans!

Chinese New Year books, crafts, and activities for elementary to middle grades children. #craftivity #holiday #china #homeschooling #lessonplans #unitstudy
15 Chinese New Year activities and lessons for a fun China unit study!
One of my favorite things about homeschool is having time to enrich our lesson plans. Adding a mini- unit study gives us an opportunity to explore another culture’s traditions and celebrations in a hands-on way.
Last year we went Around the World in Kindergarten, and one of our favorite places to travel was China. This year, we are excited to pack our virtual bags and head back to celebrate the Lunar New Year! Read on to find all of the resources you’ll need to create a fun and engaging Chinese New Year celebration.

3 Books About Chinese New Year

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  1. See the beauty of China with the vivid photography from National Geographic with Holidays Around the World, Chinese New Year.
  2. Follow a young boy through Chinatown as he celebrates the Lunar New Year in the U.S. in the beautifully illustrated picture book, Sam and the Lucky Monkey.
  3. DEMI, award winning author of The Empty Pot, shares the traditions leading up to the Chinese New Year celebration in Happy, Happy Chinese New Year.

3 Chinese New Year Printables

4. Find fun Chinese New Year activities in this huge Chinese New Year printable pack from Royal Baloo suitable for lower elementary ages.

5. Learn about the Chinese zodiac with this fun free printable Chinese New Year Zodiac Matching Game from Teach Beside Me.

6. Use a free printable from Thrifty Jinxy to create a traditional Chinese Red Envelope and have good luck and good fortune in the new year!


3 Chinese New Year Recipes

Enjoy your favorite Chinese foods like sticky rice and spring rolls; then have a few traditional treats like oranges, kumquats, and fortune cookies. For dessert, try one of the following  New Year desserts.

7. Children and adults alike will love these Chinese Almond Cookies from Dessert Now Dinner Later.

8. Try traditional nian gao, a Chinese Sticky Rice Cake. What to Cook Today gives you three recipes to choose from – stove top, steamer, and slow cooker.

9. Chocolate Slopes shares her grandmother’s recipe for no-bake, chocolate Chinese New Year Cookies.


3 Chinese New Year Crafts

10. Create your own Chinese New Year Firecrackers from recycled toilet paper tubes with these instructions from This West Coast Mommy.

11. Make Chinese Drums for your celebration with directions for this simple paper plate craft from Artsy Momma.

12. You celebration wouldn’t be complete without Chinese Paper Lanterns. Find directions for this simple and fun craft on Nurture Store.


3 Chinese New Year Videos

13. Your little ones will love celebrating Chinese New Year with Kai Lan. Season 1, Episode 10: Happy Chinese New Year, Amazon, 24 min

14. Find out about the history of Chinese New Year from the History Channel. YouTube, 2:41

15. Watch a read aloud of The Story of Nian, a Chinese New Year Story from Fun With Mandarin. YouTube, 3:01


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5 replies on “15 Chinese New Year Activities for Kids!

    1. Thanks so much! Me too, but I’ll admit our cookies are probably going to burn. We’ll keep trying! Lol!

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