New Year, also know as the Lunar New Year, runs on a cycle of 12 years with each represented by an animal. The many traditions that make up the festival offer plentiful opportunities to extend children’s knowledge and understanding of the world. Discover engaging Chinese New Year activities for EYFS, designed to support creativity, cultural understanding, and development. From dragon dances to lantern crafts, explore fun and educational ways to celebrate the festival in your early years setting. Perfect for UK nurseries looking for cultural and festive learning activities. By appreciating how cultures celebrate events such as Chinese New Year, you are giving early years children the tools to develop a diverse social network in adulthood. This article will give you a selection of early years activities to integrate Chinese New Year into your early years setting and continuous provision. For example, telling the story of the 12 animals who competed in a race to represent the years of the Chinese zodiac – these are the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig. Read on for 9 suggestions for activities and crafts chosen to celebrate Chinese New Year. 1. Chinese Restaurant Pretend Play: Chinese New Year and Lunar New Year are dates not to be missed in the calendar. It is important to explore different festivals and cultural celebrations from around the world with your toddlers, so this blog aims to provide some fantastic activities and ideas for Lunar New Year and Chinese New Year you can carry out in your early years settings! Chinese New Year, also known as Lunar New Year or Spring Festival, is a vibrant and festive holiday that celebrates the beginning of a new year according to the lunar calendar. Celebrating Chinese New Year in an early years setting can be a wonderful opportunity to introduce children to different cultures and traditions. Chinese New Year Early Years Activities. This superb collection of Chinese New Year early years activities is full of inspiration for hands-on learning activities, creative themed craft projects and engaging group games young children will adore. Chinese New Year and Lunar New Year tummy time activities for babies Lucky colour textures: add a selection of gold, shiny and red items, such as red and gold tinsel, large pom-poms and feathers to a play mat or on top of a foil blanket for the young babies to explore as part of the sensory play available in your early years setting. This blog explores engaging Lunar New Year and Chinese New Year activities, with exciting continuous provision ideas for early years practitioners to use with babies and toddlers aged 1-2. The perfect way to celebrate the annual festival. Learn about the legend of Chinese New Year in this story for Reception children. Early years; The legend of Chinese New Year. Part of Understanding the World Religions, Exploring the 12 Chinese Zodiac animals is not just an engaging way to celebrate Chinese New Year but also an opportunity to teach kids about Chinese culture, language, and traditions. Whether you’re learning through storytelling, crafting, or playing games, we hope these activities will help bring the magic of the Chinese Zodiac to life for Each Chinese lunar year has a Chinese zodiac sign animal. The Chinese zodiac year's stsarting date is a little different from the Gregorian year. It starts from Chinese New Year. The Chinese zodiac years chart below is provided to help you find out the exact starting and ending dates of the Chinese zodiac years. (This is especially useful for Celebrate Chinese New Year 2025 with the Year of the Snake! Explore fascinating Year of the Snake facts, Chinese New Year activities for kids, fun crafts and Chinese zodiac facts for children. Discover traditions, celebrations and creative ideas for families. The legal holiday is seven days long, from the Lunar New Year's Eve to the sixth day of the first lunar month. Some companies and public institutions enjoy a longer holiday up to 10 days or more, because in common knowledge among Chinese people, the festival lasts longer, from the Lunar New Year's Eve to the 15th day of the first lunar month (Lantern Festival). Discover Chinese New Year 2025 with our exciting Year of the Snake facts, fun activities and interesting crafts, including family traditions. Early Years (Ages 3 Pre-Chinese New Year Preparations and Activities (Jan. 7–Feb. 12, 2025) Jan. 7, 2025: Laba Festival. Some Chinese start to celebrate and prepare for Chinese New Year as early as day 8 of the 12 th month of the lunar calendar. Here you'll find our Early Years Chinese and Lunar New Year Hub page to provide you with early years Lunar New Year support and EYFS Chinese New Year support. Usually, the Chinese New Year festival period lasts for approximately 16 days, starting from Chinese New Year’s Eve to the Lantern Festival. In 2021, it is from February 11 to February 26th. It is a great time to fill the centre with festive activities/experiences. Chinese New Year. Our range of Chinese New Year resources for schools and early years settings are selected to increase awareness this important holiday in the lunar calendar, understand the origins behind the Lunar New Years celebrations and learn all about how people celebrate, both traditionally and in the present day. A fun, practical and progressive Maths program from Birth to the end of Year 2 supporting White Rose Maths; Training videos to view at your convenience by amazing Early Years Leaders in the field; A supportive community of likeminded Early Years Practitioners with free access to an exclusive vetted group with anonymous posting
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