On 23rd January 2012 we wave goodbye to the rabbit and welcome in the Year of the Dragon!
Explore below for all our Chinese New Year activities for kids, or go straight to our new Year of the Dragon page: Year of the DragonNEW!
What Is Chinese New Year?
Chinese New Year is the most important of the Chinese holidays, and is a time of feasting with the family, celebration,
fireworks and gift-giving. It is a 15-day holiday, beginning on the first day of a new moon and ending with the full moon
on the day of the Lantern Festival.
The Chinese calendar is based on the lunar year, so the date of Chinese New Year changes every year. The Chinese calendar follows a
12-year pattern with each year named after an animal. There are various stories which explain this. The simplest is that Buddha (or the Jade
Emperor) invited all of the animals to join him for a New Year celebration, but only 12 animals turned up. To reward the animals that did
come, Buddha named a year after each of them in the order that they arrived, starting with the Rat, followed by the Ox, Tiger, Rabbit,
Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat (or Sheep), Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. (Find another version of the story to print, below)
Depending on the year you are born, you are believed to have the various character traits of that year's animal.
Learn about Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year is a fascinating and colourful holiday and as such is a super introduction into a study of China and Chinese culture.
Find out all about the traditions and customs of Chinese New Year with Activity Village: Learn about Chinese New Year
We've got character posters, bookmarks, colouring pages, printables of alls sorts, crafts and so much more on this page! The Chinese ZodiacLots NEW!
Chinese New Year Crafts
Enjoy our collection of general Chinese New Year and China-inspired crafts .. and we have many specifically for Year
of the Dragon, too! Chinese New Year CraftsLots NEW!
Chinese New Year Printables
We have some bright and cheerful Chinese New Year printables for you, including posters, games, crafts, tangrams, lucky money envelopes,
notebooking pages, story paper, mini booklets and paper dolls! Chinese New Year PrintablesLots NEW!
Chinese New Year Colouring Pages
We have a huge collection of Chinese New Year colouring pages for you to enjoy with the children. Chinese New Year colouring pagesLots NEW!
We've got all sorts of puzzles, word searches and mazes for Chinese New Year, including some new puzzles specially for the Year of the Dragon. Chinese New Year Puzzles and MazesLots NEW!
Chinese New Year Stories
Read (or print out) "The Story Of The Chinese Zodiac" and other traditional stories from China Stories from China
Have some fun with our Chinese New Year and China-inspired origami models. Chinese New Year Origami
More Chinese New Year Activities for Kids
How about painting some faces for the Year of the Dragon?
Write your own Chinese restaurant menu ... here are two by Jack and Sam for inspiration!
Chinese New Year Jokes
Why does an embarrassed panda get mistaken for a newspaper? Because they're both black and white and red all over!
What’s purple, 10,000 km long and 12m high? The grape wall of China!
Traditional Chinese New Year Rhyme
You'll find whenever the New Year comes
The Kitchen God will want some plums.
The girls will want some flowers new;
The boys will want firecrackers, too.
A new felt cap will please papa
And a sugar cake for dear mama.
"If I had my life to live over I would have sat on the lawn with my children and not worried about grass stains." Erma Bombeck
"Whoever you are, there is some younger person who thinks you
are perfect. There is some work that will never be done if you
don't do it. There is someone who would miss you if you were
gone. There is a place that you alone can fill." Jacob M. Braude
