Chinese New Year Games for Elementary Students
The Chinese New Year is more than one night of celebrations and fireworks. Each year at the end of January or early February, China, Vietnam and Korea honor the new year with two weeks of traditional celebrations. Festivities begin on the new moon and wrap up two weeks later on the full moon. Chinese New Year is about starting fresh, warding off bad spirits and praying for good fortune in the coming year. Parents and teachers can teach elementary students about the Chinese New Year with engaging games.
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Ribbon Relay
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Chinese New Year celebrations often include ribbon dancers who twirl and spin long sections of brightly colored ribbon. Break children into relay teams of about five students. Give each team one 4-foot section of ribbon. On the signal, the first person from each team dances and twirls her ribbon to a designated end point and back to her team. She then passes the ribbon to the next person in line. The first team to complete the task wins.
Animal Charades
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The Chinese calendar is based on a 12-year cycle where each year is named after a different animal. People are said to adopt the traits of the animal for the year they were born. Animals include the rat, the ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. Help your child figure out what animal coincides with his birth year. A game of animal charades can help children remember these important icons in Chinese history. To play, provide a deck of cards with each animal's name and picture. Choose one child at a time to choose a card and act out the animal without using words. The child who correctly guesses the animal can be the next player to choose a card and act it out.
Hide the Lantern
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The Lantern Festival concludes the two-week holiday on the night of the full moon. Families light lanterns to place outside the home and children march in lantern parades to thank the gods for the end of winter and the beginning of spring. Teach children from other cultures about the tradition by playing a game of "Hide the Lantern." Help the children create simple paper lanterns by folding a piece of sturdy paper into a cylinder and then cutting vertical strips into the sides. Hide the lanterns and let the children search for them. You might consider playing this game outside under a full moon.
Money Game
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During the Chinese New Year, children traditionally receive gifts of money given in a red envelope. A game of counting money lets students practice an important math skill while learning about Chinese history. Set pairs of students up with two red envelopes and a pile of plastic or paper coins. Students take turns filling their envelope with coins while the other student closes his eyes. Then, students exchange envelopes as if they are giving a gift to the other student. Ask the students to count the money in their envelope to determine the total. Return all the coins to the pile and repeat.
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