Happy (belated) Chinese New Year

This year our library teamed up with some high school volunteers for a Chinese New Year Celebration.  The volunteers did an amazing job with a short PowerPoint presentation about Chinese New Year, a lesson on Chinese calligraphy, a story, a Chinese dragon craft, and of course a snack.

The children were able to practice writing the word “good” in Chinese and when they were ready they copied it onto a bookmark that already had the word for “luck” written on it.  So when they were finished their bookmark said “good luck.”  The story we read was called The Dancing Dragon by Marcia K. Vaughan which tells a story about a Chinese New Year parade and as the dragon comes down the street the book unfolds – the kids love it!  The Chinese dragon craft was a simple template with 3 pieces and then we used brads to connect each section and attached popsicle sticks to the back to make a puppet.  The children got to decorate their puppet with sequins, feathers, and paper.

For a snack, we had clementine oranges and fancy fortune cookies dipped in chocolate and sprinkles.  At the end of the program the children also received red envelopes with a small piece of Chinese candy inside.

My biggest concern for this program was that we would be culturally insensitive to the traditions of a culture I am not very familiar with.  But in the end, even the parents who stayed with their children seemed to enjoy our program.  I think just the fact that we were acknowledging their traditions and cultures was important to them.

The Summer Reading theme this year is also multicultural and I’m excited to promote so many of the cultures we have in my community.  I live in a very diverse area and I’m excited to teach and learn about cultures this summer.  You don’t have to celebrate every holiday, but acknowledging some of them goes a long way!

Gung Hay Fat Choy!