Families of every heritage can find much to enjoy in the traditions of Chinese New Year. Sharing Chinese New Year traditions with children during the otherwise dreary winter months adds excitement and crafting fun to the coldest of days!
Many Chinese New Year activities and decorations were created as a result of the mythical Nian. This beast, depicted many ways in Chinese art, is sometimes drawn as a fearsome dragon or as a monster that combines the body of a giant bull, the face of a ferocious lion, and the clawed talons of an enormous bird. The Nian is said to appear on the first day of the Chinese New Year to decimate crops, devour livestock, and pounce on small children. Decorations for protecting the home against the Nian are centred on the colour red, as the monster is said to be afraid of this colour. In addition, the Chinese word for red sounds very much like the word for prosperous, imbuing the colour red with a special power to bring good fortune. Decorate your home in red cloth or crepe paper to invite luck in, while keeping the Nian out.
Create a Chinese New Year painting to decorate the walls of your home during the celebration. This tradition dates back to the late Ming Dynasty, and young artists love the size and the scope of these works of art. Bigger is better, so most New Year paintings are a square meter or more in area. Popular subjects include fans, which symbolize kindness, bats for their association with fortune, and spears to represent luck.
Decorate your home with celebratory messages when children create inverted Fu character signs to welcome luck, health, and prosperity. The traditional characters used for this project represent words such as happiness, blessings, good fortune, and health. However, these messages can be written in the language of your choice. Begin with red paper cut into squares and held diagonally to form a diamond shape. Children can use glittery gold and silver paint, markers, and crayons to write the messages and add celebratory art. Hang the Fu character signs upside down to symbolize the upcoming or anticipated arrival of good things in the New Year.
