Category: crafts

crafts, Culture

DIY Chinese Dragon Puppet Tutorial

echenvw

With Chinese New Year just around the corner, I wanted to create a craft that could help my kids excited for the upcoming festivities. This DIY Chinese dragon puppet is perfect for grade school kids because it uses simple objects to create a customizable object that they can twirl and dance with afterwards. I was surprised how much fun my kids had with this–even my toddler wanted to constantly wave it around!

Some Cultural Background

Many Chinese New Year traditions can be traced back to the story of the monster, “Nian.” Every year, this monster would emerge from the sea and terrorize villages, eating livestock and even children! While villagers hid and shuttered their doors, one old man had a different plan. He decorated a house with bright red decorations and lanterns and prepared fireworks. When Nian approached the village, he noticed this particular house. As he drew near…pop! Bang! The old man lit the fireworks and banged on pots. The loud noise combined with the bright lights and colors sent Nian squealing into the night. The villagers, from then on, spent the new year with bright decorations and loud celebrations–all to scare away bad luck and any monsters who dared come near.

Today, many celebrate Chinese New Year by participating in a lion dance or a dragon dance. The dragon dance is meant to scare away evil spirits and bring good luck–the longer the dragon, the more the luck! Your kids can make this mini version of a dragon so they can do their own dragon dance and bring their own luck!

Let’s Get Crafting!

To get started, you will need:

  1. a paper cup
  2. a marker/pen
  3. red paint
  4. a paint brush
  5. scissors
  6. glitter
  7. colored paper
  8. streamers/crepe paper
  9. a stick or dowel
  10. tape
  11. googly eyes

Here is a quick tutorial of how to combine all these materials to make your Chinese dragon puppet:

In very simplistic terms, you need to attach long streamers onto a piece on paper, roll up that paper, and insert it into a cup. You must then push a dowel or a stick so it goes through the cup and pieces of paper, pinning everything into place. Decorations are customizable!

My kids made up their own dances and performances and had lots of fun. I hope you get a chance to try it out too!

Happy New Year! 新年快樂！

Christmas, crafts, Holidays

Chinese Christmas Cards (Free Printable)

echenvw

Here is a fun craft you can do with your kids to get them excited about Christmas. Often, when Chinese people wish each other a happy holiday, they insert a wish for that person. For example, “新年快樂，年年有餘 / Happy New Year, may you have abundance year after year!” I made a card that embodies that idea of leaving a wish for someone, because what speaks more to Christmas than looking outside yourself and thinking of others.

Here is the PDF file to the free printable of this pop-up present Chinese Christmas card. Before you print this out, make sure to read the instructions below.

pop-up-present-chinese-christmas-card-tch-1Download

Instructions:

  • First, print out the printable on 2 separate sheets. That is because you will glue them back to back at the very end.
  • Color and customize. I made the Chinese characters faded out so children can trace them.
  • Cut along the heavy dotted lines. You may have to fold the top and bottom of the present box so it can pop out properly.
  • Insert your wish for that person into the present. I left one blank because who knows what creative wish your kid will come up with.
  • Glue the papers back to back.
  • Give to someone you love, or use it as a display.

In all the displacement and adjustment that has gone on this year, I grateful for the simple traditions that come with the holidays that help retain some of the rhythms of life. Wish you and yours a merry Christmas!

crafts, Culture, Holidays

The Story Behind Chinese Valentine’s Day

echenvw

This year, Chinese Valentine’s Day or 七夕/Qīxī falls on August 25th, 2020. This is the one day in the entire year that the two lovers (the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl) are reunited. It is romantic and tragic and a good reminder to cherish those we love. It is also a fun explanation to why the stars Vega and Altair seem to stare at each other from across the Milky Way.

I created a printable you can use at home to share this story with your child. It is not only a coloring page, but a folding page–one that hides and reveals parts of the image to tell the story.

My daughter loved to fold the page over and over to retell the story. She was a little concerned about how sad the story was and felt it was unfair. She tried to think of various hypothetical situations where the two lovers and their children could be together all the time. We had a talk about it, and it was a good way to connect. After you tell the story, consider discussing the following questions with your child:

  • Why do you think the Queen Mother of Heaven disapproved of the marriage?
  • Why did the magpies want to help? What can you do to help someone when they are sad?
  • If you could only visit your family one day in the year, what activities would you choose to do?

You can download the printable below in English, Traditional, or Simplified Chinese.

cowherd-and-weaver-girl-folding-english-tchDownload
cowherd-and-weaver-girl-folding-chinese-traditional-tchDownload
cowherd-and-weaver-girl-folding-chinese-simplified-tchDownload

I hope you have fun exploring the story behind this Chinese holiday!

crafts, Culture, Holidays

Shadow Puppet Tutorial

echenvw

As part of the Tiny Chinese Homeschool Dragon Boat Festival Virtual Celebration, we are sharing a free activity you can do at home with your kids. Shadow puppets were a traditional way to tell stories in ancient China. My first exposure to it was watching “To Live” by Zhang Yimou. It seemed like something that looked simple but took a lot of skill. Here is an example you can see from the movie (you’ll need to skip to 25:18 and just watch 1 minute of it):

I wanted my kids to try it out, so I made a simplified version of it so they could control the little puppet with just two hands and chopsticks. And guess what? They loved it! My daughter found it fascinating to manipulate the hands and body. She made up her own stories or reenacted Chinese stories I had told her. I hope you can try it out too!

You will need:

  • cardstock paper
  • brads
  • tape
  • scissors
  • chopsticks
  • parchment paper

Instructions:

  1. Print out the free printable below. Cut out the man and body parts.
shadow-puppet-template-tchDownload
  1. Use brads to connect the hands to the arms and the arms to the body. Make sure to refer to the colored circles to know which part connects to which part. Use a brad to connect the legs to the body. You need to make this brad loose so the legs can swing freely as the body wiggles.
  1. Take the square cut out and curl up the white part so it makes a cylinder just big enough to fit a chopstick or pencil. Tape it closed. Then use the colored tab at the end of the square as a flat point to connect it to the puppet with tape. Again, make sure to match the colored rectangles to affix it.
  1. Now you can take a pair of chopsticks and stick them in the cylinders. You may need to pinch down the opening of the cylinder so it fits more snug around the chopstick. You can now move your puppet!
  1. Use parchment paper make a screen where the puppets can show flat against. I used two benches and placed them on top of one another to make a stage. Tape the sides of the parchment paper firmly so it will not move when the puppets press against it. As long as you have a light or a bright window behind your stage, you are ready to go!

I hope you will have a lot of fun with your puppet! And once you get the basic idea, you can experiment with your own designs or even cut our eyes in the faces!

My kids and I used these shadow puppets to create a video that tells the story behind the Dragon Boat Festival. I hope you check back next week to see it–it will be a real treat!