Chinese New Year Kindergarten Fun
Chinese New year is one of my favorite thematic units to teach, and always a favorite with my students as well! Because of the richness of the Chinese culture it is a great time to introduce students to the cultures of others building tolerance and love for all people.
To make this fun hat, simply copy this circle on red tag, and enlarge as desired. Cut out and then bend to make a wide cone; staple. In this picture, I had the kids do an elaborate design, but my favorite thing is to give the kids a small brush and have them write a Chinese Character such as this one that says love. You can also place the character directly on the hat before copying on red paper. This year I had some old T-shirts so I died them read to add to the fun.
I have already been gathering my favorite books and ordering a few supplies so that I am ready for the day of Gung Hay Fat Choy. My affiliate links show a few of the things I use each year. I love to give my students red envelopes to bring luck to their new year, and I use the chopsticks for reading the room or guided room activities as well as using them as intended, to eat rice!
This song is so sweet and special, I love to use it! Afterwards I use my shortened version to the tune of The Nobel Duke of York (the free poster is below).
If you have musical instruments in your classroom, kids love to march around and play along with these fun songs.
Of course, quality literature is a much. I have tried many titles and have settled on these as my all-time favorites.
Our Chinese New Year unit is divided into areas of literature, music, art, literacy, math, independent practice, creative writing, word wall, and guided reading. The activities are clearly written, easy to use, and need limited amounts of preparation.
Each our units contain a well-organized planning guide.
All activities are clearly written for delivery
All materials for each activity are engaging, well organized, and ready to copy, laminate, and store for years and years to come.
Literacy Activities
Karate School-Kicking Vowels: Vowels
Chinese Blossom Festival: Demonstrating Graphophonemic Knowledge of Alphabet Letters
Beware The Chinese Dragon: Replacing Initial Consonants
The Lantern Race: Naming Alphabet Letter Sounds Fluently
The Lantern Race: Naming Sight Words Fluently
Lantern Walk: Writing Letters
Lantern Letters: Writing Lowercase Letters
Middle Sounds: Identifying Middle Sounds in Words
Math Activities
Dragon Squeeze: Identify a Given Number by Using Greater Than and Less Than
Building Teen Number: Building Numbers Using Tens and Ones
Light The Lanterns: Comparing Numerals to 20
The Missing Dragons: Ordering Numbers 0-20
Dragon Squeeze
China Number Hunt: Write the Room Math Journal Activity
Art Projects
Chinese Dragon Fan
Chinese Dragon
Paper Chinese Lantern
Songs
Gung Hay Fat Choy
Dragon Dance
Writing Prompts/Word Wall
China Word Wall Words
Chinese New Year Zodiac Chart
What I Know About China
Gung Hay Fat Choy
Guided Reading Books
The Dragon
Gung Hay Fat Choy
What people are saying about this unit...
“I loved using this with my children! Thank you! ”
“What a nice variety of activities! Thank you.”
“My students really enjoyed this stuff, it helped them gain an understanding of the specific concept they were learning.”
“Very helpful in planning my unit!”
“My kinders truly enjoyed the activities! Thank you!”
