Since it's almost over, I thought I'd share what we've been working on throughout February for the Lunar New Year.
I first introduced the idea during December when I put out a basket of winter holiday photo cards (images sourced from google/stock photos). I also mentioned it in January while presenting the calendar lesson - while laying out the months of winter, I would say "And in February, we celebrate Valentine's Day, X's birthday, and Lunar New Year."
On the art shelf, I cut red construction paper to size, folded it, and cut slits. Then I presented it on the shelf with gold paint in a small jar (I always use these little craft jars for paint/glue to a, stop very young friends from eating the materials and b, encourage fine motor work in older children). Once they dried, we stapled on the handles and hung them up if the child wanted us to. They look so beautiful in the window!
Books:
- Baby's First Chinese New Year, from DK. Real photographs and pictures of babies and young children - always a win for toddlers.
- Celebrate the World: Lunar New Year. Gorgeous illustrations and simple explanations of traditions in many cultures that celebrate the holiday.
- My First Chinese New Year. Goodwill score! Again, a great, simple explanation of what families might do to celebrate the new year.
- A Big Mooncake for Little Star. It feels like everyone had this beautiful Grace Lin book this year, and for good reason. While it has some elements of fantasy (which are honestly skippable), it's still a gorgeous, mostly realistic story with a wonderful read-aloud cadence and beautiful illustrations. I love the way she incorporates the lunar cycle and the full-page spreads of Little Star and her Mama baking mooncakes together!
Geography & Culture Shelf:
Once again, sourced from stock photos. A handful of images to spark conversations about how people celebrate the New Year, parades and dances, the lunar zodiac, and the animal of the year.
Sneaking some fine motor work in there! Whenever we would look at a book that talked about these, one of the children would run over to the shelf and get them out to match.
These are from a great set that included a floor puzzle that I bought from Target ages ago. This one is staying out since next month we're studying/celebrating Holi! I might add matching animals to keep in interesting (need to find a panda!)
This year I'm trying to celebrate a holiday or two from different cultures every month. Check back and see how we're doing! It's always a fun and interesting research project for me, and the impact of experiencing people and celebrations they might not be familiar with is huge for young children. Thanks for reading!
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