THENCE Editorial Team
THENCE illustrator extraordinaire, Nikita Lai Jing Tse has created this timely craft to connect students to the cultural significance of the Lunar New Year, and this year’s zodiac animal: The Snake!
Watch the full video below👇
The Lunar New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, and sometimes called “The Chinese New Year” is in fact celebrated in many forms and traditions across a number of Asian countries, and cultures. For example, China, South Korea, Vietnam, and Singapore all mark the year with exciting activities such as firework displays, cultural activities, art and parades. But the festival is also celebrated among a number of Asian diasporas around the world.
Nowadays, many schools in the US officially recognize this significant festival, and some states and counties give a day’s school holiday.
Whether you’re well versed in Lunar New Year traditions or just beginning to learn about them, this craft is a wonderful way to connect the festival to cultural awareness, classroom family presentations, learning about global languages, and other educational activities.
Download, print, and watch the tutorial of Nikita Lai Jing Tse crafting a vibrant Lantern, and a colorful snake to encourage key skills.
These multi-step crafts are fun, but also build small motor skills, dexterity, focus and forward thinking as children color, cut, fold, glue, paste and plan.
For younger children (pre-K and Kindergarten) we recommend gentle assistance from a grown-up, and note that many of the aforementioned skills need time and patience to build.
Older children may be reminded to think ahead as they create, consider the combination of colors, and the length their Snake creation.
Educators may share that one tradition in the Lunar New Year is to describe attributes of each creature.
The snake is know for it’s fine intuition, a skill that is built by memory, analysis and metacognition. Define the word intuition and lead a discussion about how this trait is developed over time.
Our latest video tutorial guides you through each step, making it easy, fun, and relevant for all ages.
