Chinese New Year Mini Unit Day 1 with 'Celebrating Chinese New Year'

When author Eugenia Chu sent me a copy of her new book, "Celebrating Chinese New Year" I knew it would be the perfect base for a mini unit on Chinese New Year! This is an all inclusive guide to Chinese New Year - it includes history, background, legends, and an introduction to common traditions and foods. At the end of the book, Eugenia also includes a bunch of activities like making your own paper lanterns, dragon puppets, as well as her mother's famous jiăozi recipe!

For our first day of learning fun, we read pages 1-7, "What is Chinese New Year?" and "History and Folklore." We learned that the date of Chinese New Year changes every year because it follows the lunisolar calendar, beginning on the first new moon of the year. The celebration lasts 15 days until the first full moon. We also learned about the legend of Nian, the sea monster, and the story of the great race which determined that 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac calendar.

Lil C began making her own zodiac calendar (that she will finish later!), but decided that she felt bad that Cat didn't finish the race and included the Cat in her calendar! 

Directions on how to make your own zodiac calendar can be found on page 34 of "Celebrating Chinese New Year."

Be on the lookout for more fun Chinese New Year activities throughout the next two weeks! Xīnnián kuàilè! Gōng xĭ fā cái!