Have your new year resolutions already started to fall by the wayside?  Don't fret! You get a second chance for a new start with the Chinese New Year! As I update this blog, the year of the Dragon will be here in just a few days!  

One of the most fun things about raising Chinese-speaking kids as a non-ethnically Chinese American for the past eight years is that I have gotten to know so many cool new Chinese friends who have taught me a ton about Chinese culture. When asked, almost every Chinese friend has told me that their favorite Chinese holiday is the Lunar New Year or Spring Festival. Now that I have gotten to celebrate it several times as well, I can understand why-it is a fun-filled celebration of family, friends, fresh-starts, and, of course, plenty of delicious FOOD.

This is a picture of me at Christine's house on the last Chinese New Year Eve when groups felt comfortable gathering--2019, the Year of the Pig. 

Since we at JoJo believe that it's essential that learning Chinese culture goes hand-in-hand with learning the language, we've put together some easy ways to help your family celebrate CNY like the Chinese do!

New Year's Eve (Saturday, Feb. 9, 2024)

1. Clean your home!  除旧迎新 （chú jiù yíng xīn）means  "get rid of the old and welcome the new". Play music while you clean to knock out idea #5 ,"make some noise", too!

2. Decorate your home with plenty of red and gold decorations or images of the new year's zodiac animal (this year, it's the ox). Do some simple red paper cuttings and hang them in the window. Hang couplets & the character 福 (fú) "good fortune" around your entryway. (Note about the character "福": This character is most often hung upside down because, in Chinese, 福倒了 (fú dào le) "falling 'fu'" sounds like 福到了(fú dào le) "'fu' arriving". Also, since, in China, the new year holiday is most often referred to as 春节 (chūn jié) "Spring Festival". The character 春 (chūn) "spring" is also often used in decorations. Try this 3D 春 paper craft. Or make or buy some lanterns.

3. Turn on every light in your home since it symbolizes welcoming a bright new year and chasing away bad luck from the previous year. It may also help you spot some dust that you missed during your cleaning spree!

3. Mind your Lucky Numbers: 

4. Give your kids some New Year "pocket money", ideally in a store-bought or homemade  红包 （hóng bāo) red pocket, but, they'll probably forgive you if you just give them cash! When deciding what amount, see the note about auspicious numbers above (ex. $6, $8, $10, $22, $18, etc.)

5. Make some noise! Just this once, encourage your kids to get creative and make a lot of noise. In China, people use firecrackers, drums, etc. The purpose of the noise is to scare away the monster "Nian". If you want to take things to the next level, let the kids use a cardboard box to create a lion or dragon head & a blanket to create a living room lion/dragon dance while you tap out the beat with a wooden spoon on an old pot or stainless steel bowl. Here's a video of a competitive lion dance for inspiration！）

6. Eat special foods:                                                                                          

Dumplings 饺子 (jiǎo zǐ): Dumplings are probably the first food that most Chinese think of when they think of Chinese New Year. It's possible that the labor-intensive act of making dumplings as a family is also part of the magic since families can spend hours around the kitchen table talking and wrapping dumplings. If you don't have time to make them yourself this year, don't worry. We've found that the Trader Joe's, Target, Costco, and Bibigo frozen dumplings are actually pretty good too! Wondering how many to serve each person? Make sure it is lucky even numbered quantity like those mentioned above! 

Lantern Festival (Saturday, Feb 24, 2024)

1. Eat more Tang Yuan!
2. Make or buy a lantern, hang it from a stick with a string and let your child to hold and play with it outside under the starry moonlit sky. In the video below, Christine describes how to make a lantern that your kids can actually hold on a stick and take for a walk outside. The red orange glow is perfect for the new year!

Chinese-American adaptions for celebrating the New Year

1. Play games that relate to the new year. Here are a few examples: head-to-head competitive games to see who can use chopsticks to transport the most dried beans or marbles from one bowl to another in a limited amount of time, see who can put the zodiac animals in order the quickest, make a pin the tail on the Ox blindfolded game
2. Read about Chinese New Year in Chinese! Check out this list of our favorite CNY kids books. 
3. Read a Chinese book every day during the new year celebration. If you'd like, you can participate in our Chinese New Year reading challenge by printing the "March of the Zodiac Animals" Reading Challenge coloring sheet here and coloring an animal for each book you read during the holiday. 
4. Watch Chinese movies and shows. Although, in China, it is very common for people to watch the Spring Festival Gala, it may be a little hard for most young Chinese learners in the west to follow.  Instead, you may want to check out our list of Chinese Movies about the New Year available on YouTube!

Here is to a healthy, peaceful and prosperous New Year!  

Happy eating, happy playing, and happy learning! 

Caelyn

Co-founder, JoJo Learning

 Check out our other blog posts:
3 Best YouTube Movies About Chinese New Year
7 Chinese New Year Videos and Songs Children Will Love
Fun Chinese New Year Activities to Do at Home or in the Classroom
10 Best Chinese Children's Books to Celebrate Chinese New Year