Chinese New Year (Lunar New Year) 新年/ 春節 is the most important traditional festival for the Chinese. This is also an essential festival for families and friends to get together to give blessings and fortune to each other.

In this blog post, I’m going to show you some best Chinese New Year traditions and activities that you can do with your kids, no matter where are you located. So we all can enjoy this awesome festival.

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Our Chinese New Year in Hong Kong

Isn’t this like another Christmas for kids? 

However, when I married and had two kids living in the United States, I found that keeping a traditional Chinese New Year at home was difficult without any support from outside.

Also, my kids were so young that I was always wondering if it was worth having it. I thought maybe I should wait until they were older, so I just bought some Chinese dresses, put some chocolate gold coins in their red packets, and prepared a Chinese dinner on the Chinese New Year.

Honestly, I didn’t really enjoy it as much as when I was a child in Hong Kong, but I knew it was a good start for my kids to learn about Chinese culture. 

Fortunately, my husband was willing to move us all back to Hong Kong, so we are excited to have our 3rd Chinese New Year here.

Since I’m homeschooling my kids, I would love to share some traditions and activities that we have done in the past and we are planning to do in the next few weeks to celebrate Chinese New Year. 

NOTE: I strongly recommend for those who are not Chinese or have little to no prior experience with Chinese New Year resources and materials to pick and choose from the following activities.

You don’t need to do everything that the Chinese traditionally do during the New Year!

You can simplify these traditions to meet your needs as you plan your activities. Simple things like throwing a Chinese New Year party at home, or learning and experiencing the Chinese New Year for a few days will still be super fun but not overwhelming.

Chinese New Year Traditions that You can Try

• Decorate your home
• Buy and wear Chinese clothing
• Use chopsticks to eat in a Chinese restaurant
• Check which Zodiac animal you are
• Attend Chinese New Year event if possible
• Visit a Chinese temple
• Give red packets to pass on fortune to others
• Deep clean your house

Chinese New Year Activities You Can Easily Do

• Make some Chinese New Year Crafts and decorate your home
• Learn and make some Chinese food and throw a Chinese New Year party with your neighbors
• Read or listen to some Chinese New Year’s stories – You can also act them out The Story of Nian – A Chinese New Year Story
• Story of the Chinese Zodiac (in English), (in Mandarin Chinese), and (in Cantonese)
• Listen to Chinese New Year music
• Watch Lion Dance in person or on the internet
• Go to a Chinese restaurant and try something that you haven’t tried before (e.g.: chicken or duck feet, seafood, and fish, etc.)
• Learn how to use chopstick correctly and hold a chopstick competition with your family

FREEBIES: Chinese New Year Banners

Making and decorating with Chinese New Year banners is one of the most common activities during the New Year. People buy them in the store, make their own, and even make them give to others.

The Chinese believe we can receive all kinds of blessings and fortune if we put these banners on the walls and doors of our home.

Since I personally love making Chinese New Year banners, I created 2 sets of Chinese New Year Crafts – 1 for free and a full version. You can try the free version first, and if you love them and want more banners to decorate, you can consider purchasing the full version.

I think it is much more fun to make the banners yourself, so the banners are all traceable (perfect for little kids and beginners), and they are very affordable. See how amazing they look. I’m sure they will bring the spirit of Chinese New Year into your home.

Chinese New Year Banners: Full Version 

4 different language versions

(All the banners have an English translation)

• Traditional Chinese
• Simplified Chinese
• Traditional Chinese with Pinyin
• Simplified Chinese with Pinyin.

It also includes

• over 20 pages of  traceable vertical and square banners
• English translations
• English instructions

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How Do the Chinese New Year Banners Work

You simply need to print them off, and then your kids/students can trace the Chinese characters on the banners with black markers, Q-tips & black paint, glitter, or even a Chinese paintbrush and ink. 

After all the Chinese characters are filled, the banners can be cut out and hung on the walls and doors. 

* We usually put TWO banners side by side, because it is not really fortunate if you only hang a  single banner on its own. Also, we love to match the meaning of the banners and put them in an auspicious place.

For example

Chinese people love putting “出入平安” (Safe Travel) on the front door to have safe travel, and “財源廣進” in the living room or front door so they can get rich, and “學業進步” on the wall by the kid’s desk, so their kids will have better grades.

You are free to use your creativity to place the right banners for your family in your home. 

Other Styles of Chinese New Year Banners that You May Also Like

What are your favorite Chinese New Year traditions or activities? 

What is your favorite Chinese New Year banner that you always hang on your wall?

You Might Also be Interested in

• Easy Chinese New Year’s Rounded Lanterns to Make with your Kids
• Chinese New Year Banners- Year of the Rat
  
• 100+ Chinese New Year Activities for Kids to Gain Chinese Cultural Experiences
• Chinese New Year Flower Market Pretend Play
• Sweet Rice Dumplings for Chinese Lantern Festival
• 130 Most Popular Greetings, Blessings & Wishes for Chinese New Year
• 10 Ways to Get Your Children Involved During Chinese New Year
• DIY Chinese New Year Red Envelopes Like a Pro
• Learn Chinese while Making Homemade Fortune Cookies
• Chinese New Year Flower Market Pretend Play
• Chinese New Year Cantonese Teaching Activities and Resources 農曆新年粵語教材 from Cantonese for Families
• Lunar New Year Traditions New and Old from Mama Baby Mandarin

You Are Not Doing it Alone

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After being a member, you can attend all the special LIVE training, events, and activities together.