Celebrate the Chinese New Year and Learn to Speak Chinese

It’s a new year in China — the year of the Dog. So, what better way to celebrate the new Chinese year than to learn to speak Chinese?

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Let me just start by saying I love the way the Chinese bring in the new year. I mean, what brilliant person (i.e., mom) came up with a plan to start a celebration by cleaning out their house? AND, they can convince the kids to participate because there is also food and red envelopes stuffed with money. Don’t think the Chinese let all their traditions stay in bygone eras. Nope, they even have red envelope apps, so that the family can send the kids money electronically. Needless to say, we are siked about this Chinese tradition. In fact, even the dog is getting into it. Well, it is her year after all.

Celebrate the Chinese New Year

Did you know the Chinese New Year is celebrated for three weeks? Me, neither (Ok, I’m assuming you didn’t know this little fact). So we’re having some fun celebrating the Chinese New Year. Here are some of our planned activities over the next few weeks.

Make dumplings

Trace and learn the Chinese numerals

Chinese Character Practice Sheet – Numbers 1-10

A facebook friend suggested me to add stroke orders to the character practice sheets, and it was a great idea. So with the help of my husband, I finally figured out a way to add stroke orders. Believe me it was not easy! So here you go numbers 1-10 practice sheet.

Make Chinese Lanterns

We got this Chinese lantern craft in our Green Kid Crafts Subscription box. The youngest made several lanterns and then strung them up to make decorations for our Chinese New Year celebration.

Read some books about Chinese Culture and History

Learn to Speak Chinese

The youngest has a fascination with the Chinese language. I’m not sure if it’s due to an early immersion of Ni Hao, Kai-Lan or just a new interest, but she loves it and wants to learn as much as she can. As much as I can, I try to follow the kids on rabbit trails. This rabbit trail seemed like it would fit in nicely and encourage her to pursue different languages.

She has been using Panda Tree and loving it. You can read my whole review HERE. We have only just begun our Chinese studies, but I see this as being a simple way to immerse her in the language so she can learn to speak Chinese conversationally.

So, how do you plan to celebrate the Chinese New Year?