20 Jan, 2024

7 Chinese New Year Videos and Songs Children Will Love

Dive into the rich history of Chinese New Year with these 7 exciting and educational videos! Whether you want to explore the origins and cultural traditions of the holiday or simply want to celebrate with some festive tunes, be sure to share these picks with your little ones. Kick off the Lunar New Year right!

Educational Videos

1. 芝麻街贺新年 Sesame Street Special: How to Celebrate Chinese New Year

Language: Mandarin

Video Length: 4 mins.

Skill Level: Beginner – Intermediate

Kick off the new year with the lovable Sesame Street cast in this special segment presented in Mandarin! This video shows Elmo and the gang preparing to celebrate Chinese New Year with their friends while their guests explain the historical origins of the holiday. We love that they highlight important vocabulary with bright graphics and repeat the main concepts to Elmo and friends so that young learners can understand and follow along with ease!

2. 新年好! Happy New Year Sing-Along

Language: Mandarin

Video Length: 2 mins.

Skill Level: Beginner

The perfect choice for younger learners, this catchy, straightforward, and festive song does a fantastic job at demonstrating Lunar New Year customs and traditional ways of celebrating the holiday. This is a great tool to not only introduce traditional cultural elements to students but also to practice New Year-related vocabulary and phrases!

3. 春节的来历 Origin of the Spring Festival

Language: Mandarin with Simplified Subtitles

Video Length: 3 mins.

Skill Level: Beginner – Intermediate

Explore the fantastical origins of the Chinese New Year celebration with the story of Nian the New Year’s monster! This video does a great job explaining this sometimes-scary classic tale in an approachable and appropriate way while still being entertaining for young learners. Students will learn new vocabulary and phrases relating to the Lunar festival and better understand the cultural relevance of modern traditions with this educational pick.

4. 元日 Lunar New Year's Day (Yuǎn Rì)

Genres: short film, animation

Duration: 5 minutes 30 seconds

Language: Mandarin Chinese

Subtitle: Simplified Chinese, No English subtitles

Why we recommend:

Charming modern adaption of a 900-year-old classic Chinese poem by 王安石 ( wǎng ān shí)
Song Dynasty (960-1279) setting with authentic, traditional New Year activities
Simple conversational language
Short and sweet
Pleasing original graphic design and music
Not only a delight for children, the film also sentimentally appeals to busy parents. Some of the beloved new year activities, for example, the blowing sugar figures, no longer commonly seen in today’s China, can be seen here. The new short film has received rave reviews from parents with young children in China.

The adapted poem in simplified Chinese:

王安石《元日》

爆竹声中一岁除，

东风送暖入屠苏。

千门万户曈曈日，

争插新桃换旧符。

English translation:

Chinese New Year's Day

by Wang Anshi

(translated by Xinliang Huang）

Amid the boom of firecrackers, a year has come to an end,

And the spring wind has wafted warm breath to the wine.

While the rising sun shines over each and every household,

People would put up new peachwood charm for the old.

Wang Anshi (1021-1086) was one of the greatest politicians, philosophers and scholars in the Song Dynasty.

Check out our other blog posts:
3 Best YouTube Movies About Chinese New Year
Simple & Fun Ways to Celebrate Chinese New Year
Fun Chinese New Year Activities to Do at Home or in the Classroom
10 Best Chinese Children's Books to Celebrate Chinese New Year

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7 Chinese New Year Videos and Songs Children Will Love