Chinese New Years 2021

Today is Chinese New Year. It is the Year of the Ox.

On this day, I will wear red for good luck, and not argue with anyone. I want to have good luck the rest of the year.

Happy New Year to all my Chinese family and friends!

Chinese New Years Lesson

This year Chinese New Years falls on February 8^th and it is the Year of the Monkey.

This year I have opened a store on the Teachers Pay Teachers site. My first lesson for sale is a Chinese New Years Lesson. It includes a lesson plan, a student reading passage, and a Chinese zodiac chart.

You can find my lesson here.

If you know of some lessons that you would like for me to write up plans and activities for, please let me know. 

Chinese New Year 2014

On January 31, 2014, my family celebrates Chinese New Years. It is the Year of the Horse.

New Years dinner was very important to my family and we would always have chicken and other traditional Chinese dishes. I don’t make these dishes now that I’m an adult but I have such wonderful memories of them.

We would also shoot off fireworks at midnight to scare away the evil spirits. Of course where I live, we can’t shoot off fireworks so I bang pot lids with a spoon. I figure noise is noise, right?

Red envelopes were envelopes with money in it (usually a dollar bill) and given to children by married couples or elderly people. This money was considered good luck.

All cleaning had to be done before the New Year. No cleaning could be done on that day because you might get rid of the good luck.

We also liked to wear red which was a color symbolizing good luck too.

So, if you have any Chinese friends, wish them a happy new year on this day and make them smile!

Photo “Year of the Horse” - http://photo.elsoar.com/chinese-new-year-2014-horse.html

Chinese New Years – The Year of the Ox

In Cantonese we say, “Gung Hay Fot Toy!” which means Happy New Year!

Every year I would explain Chinese New Years to my students because they really didn’t have much information about it. I am always thrilled when my students eagerly ask questions and seem curious enough to learn about another culture. Many times I will see a cultural holiday on a calendar and try to do a mini lesson about it.

Here is some information that I remember when I was growing up:

Foods: In my family we always had chicken on this day because chicken symbolizes prosperity.
Superstitions: Our family cleaned the house spotless in preparation for the new year. On New Years Day we didn’t clean or take the trash out because you might throw out the good luck. Having a clean house supposedly meant that you would have a clean safe house the rest of the year.
Decorations: We had a lot of red things up because red symbolizes good luck. Firecrackers were set off to scare away evil spirits. Red envelopes with money were given to small children to symbolize lucky money. There was also a Dragon dance where young men would hold a big dragon head while others held the body of silk and there were drums to beat time.

The link gives some neat children’s activities to do on this holiday. I liked the magnet, the door hanger and the red envelopes. If you have time, I hope you try some of these activities.

Other links with interesting information and facts are given below:
Chinese New Years – great info on foods, decorations, superstitions
Chinese New Years (Wikipedia)
Chinese New Years (Infoplease)

Original image: 'Yum!' http://www.flickr.com/photos/23472348@N00/18924191 by: Claudia Scholz