Year of the Dragon Crafts and Fun

Today is the first day of the Chinese Lunar New Year. The date of Chinese New Year or the Chinese Lunar New Year, is determined according to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, and usually falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice. One way that the Chinese calendar differs from the Gregorian (or Western) calendar is that in addition to a repeating sequence of 12 months, the Chinese Calendar has a repeating sequence of twelve years, each named after a different animal. This is referred to as the animal zodiac, and this year is the year of the Dragon. We welcomed in the year of the Dragon with a trip to the "Year of the Dragon Chinese New Year Carnival" at the Calgary Chinese Cultural Centre. It was filled with dance performances, ice sculptures, and of course delicious foods. My 8 year old nephew and I also celebrated by creating these hand print dragons: 

Here's how to make one of your own: 

1. Trace your child's handprint onto blue and yellow construction paper, and cut out. We used a total of 3 blue and two yellow handprints, but feel free to make your dragon as long or short as you would like. 

2. On a second sheet of construction paper, arrange the handprints in alternating colours in the shape of a dragon's body. It helps to keep all of the fingers facing to the left. Use a glue stick to glue in place. 

3. Cut four short legs out of red construction paper, and glue just below dragon's body (you can tuck the legs just under the body if you prefer). 

4. Cut a thin tail out of red construction paper. We drew it slightly curvy, with a triangle point at the end, but feel free to design your own tail. We also added a yellow triangle inside the tip of the tail. Glue tail in place. 

5. Draw a pointy mane for the dragon. Cut out of red construction paper, and glue onto to dragon's body. Draw the dragon's head, with a slightly smaller pointy main, and cut out of yellow construction paper. Glue on top of red mane, overlapping slightly. 

6. Cut eyes out of white paper, and glue on, or use googlie eyes instead. You can also add a red tongue to your dragon if you would like. 

We also read "The Great Race: The Story of the Chinese Zodiac", by Dawn Casey. The book recounts the traditional legend of how the order of the animals in the zodiac was determined. As the book explains, the order of the animals in the zodiac was determined by a race amongst all 13 animals in the kingdom. Rat wins by trickery, and is awarded first place in the calendar. Cat, who is unable to finish the race because of Rat's trickery, is left off the calendar. The emperor, who judges the race, notices Rat's trickery, but calls it clever and does not punish Rat for his actions. As such, the book can also spark an interesting discussion about whether it was right for Rat to be rewarded rather than reprimanded for his actions. It is probably a bit long for a typical preschooler to enjoy, but perfect for children aged 5-8. 

Happy New Year! 

PS: Head over to momstown.ca for instructions on how to make a Chinese lantern.