Happy Chinese New Year

Let's celebrate the year of the Rabbit on February 3, 2011. Our family has quite a few Chinese friends. So, we will celebrate Chinese New Year with them. We will probably eat jiaozi (similar to pot stickers) and moon cakes. The room will be decorated with RED - everywhere! We will also say, "Zhu ni xin nian kuai le"or "Wish you a happy new year." You can learn more here. I suggest reading the Zodiac sign definitions for each family member. We got a good laugh at how close they were to our personalities.

Here are some things we will do at home to teach Anabelle about the Chinese New Year.

Red Envelope

It's a tradition for Chinese parents to give their children a red envelope with money in it. Red symbolizes it's a gift. We will start the morning giving Anabelle a red envelope with a dollar in it. We are using this one.

Year of the Rabbit

We are coloring this page (the rabbit is on page 12) and talking about the Chinese character (letter) for rabbit. Also, we will be making these cute rabbit ears.

Decorations

You can't have a Chinese New Year party with out making several lanterns and hanging up these greetings. 

Food

For snack we will make Moon Cakes together. Here is a kid-friendly recipe. Just watch carefully for the eggs.

Reading

To end our time we are reading the "D is for Dancing Dragon: A China Alphabet"  by Carol Crane book suggested on the lantern craft page.

There is a ton more you can do to celebrate! Have fun and Happy New Year!