Celebrating the Lunar New Year  

Today marks the first day of the Lunar New Year. Many people that celebrate the Lunar New Year will dress in brand-new clothes, usually in the colour of red or other bright colours. The colour red symbolizes good fortune and joy. This festivity is celebrated over 15 days with cleaning the home, family gathering, sharing meals, gift exchanges, a firework show, dragon dance, lion dance, and lanterns. 
 

Dragon Dance Party 

Today we are going to use the paper dragons we created in Part One to dance and celebrate the Lunar New Year. The Dragon and Lion dances are commonly performed during the New Year to bring in good luck and drive away evil spirits. Let us play some music and move our bodies. This will be a fun way to celebrate and a great way to get in physical activity that helps build a strong body and mind. So, let’s begin the dance party with our paper dragons. 
 

What You will Need 

Engaging with Your Child 

An invitation to celebrate is an invitation to share happiness. Use this moment to invite your child to appreciate and celebrate our diverse community. Watch the recommended videos to learn, celebrate and have fun dancing with your paper dragons. This will be an excellent time to inspire creativity, self-expression and develop those fundamental movement skills, all while celebrating the Lunar New Year.  

Encourage your child to perform a dragon dance of their own. Ask your child “What moves will you choose?” and “What does this move mean?”. Your child can blow air through the tube like a dragon, move around like a dragon or use their dragon as a prop for pretend play. Allow them to lead their explorations with their crafty dragon to the rhythm of the music and join them in dancing. Use words of encouragement and have fun!