Chinese New Year is a time of joy, tradition, and vibrant celebrations, and we made sure to bring the magic of this festival to life across all three of our nurseries! From immersive role play to sensory exploration, traditional crafts, and delicious cuisine, our children dived headfirst into the sights, sounds, tastes, and traditions of this wonderful celebration.
From the moment the children stepped into their nursery rooms, they were greeted with a feast for the senses! Our home corners were transformed into mini Chinese themed homes and restaurants, featuring traditionally decorated plates, bowls, chopsticks, and even pretend Chinese food to encourage role play and cultural appreciation.
Over at our Heanor nursery, they took things up a notch by using real Chinese food in their setups, allowing the children to explore the textures, smells, and shapes of different traditional ingredients before they even tasted them! It was a truly immersive experience that sparked curiosity and excitement in the children.
One of the highlights of the week was our Chinese New Year feast! From crispy prawn crackers to tangy sweet & sour, and hoisin beef noodles, the children had the chance to broaden their taste buds and try authentic flavors.
But the real challenge? Mastering chopsticks! 🥢 Watching the children persevere, giggle, and cheer each other on as they attempted to pick up slippery noodles was a joy to witness. Some even managed to eat an entire meal using chopsticks by the end of the day—what an achievement for their fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination!
To top it all off, they enjoyed sweet fortune cookies, cracking them open to reveal positive messages and lucky fortunes—which led to some wonderful conversations.
The children got stuck in with some amazing hands-on activities, filling our nurseries with vibrant reds and golds—the lucky colours of the festival.
Lantern & Fan Making – We crafted beautiful paper lanterns and folded fans, decorating them with traditional Chinese patterns, glittering gold designs, and bold red accents. We even learned the significance of lanterns in Chinese culture, with stories of lantern festivals lighting up the sky.
Year of the Snake Crafts – Since 2025 is the Year of the Snake, we made snakes in every form imaginable! Paper chains, pipe cleaner snakes, playdough models, and even recycled kitchen roll tubes slithered across our craft tables as the children learned about the Chinese zodiac and what each animal represents.
Lucky Red Envelopes – A firm favorite among the children was making lucky red envelopes (known as hongbao in Chinese tradition). We designed, decorated, and filled them with pretend gold coins and special wishes, just like the real ones given to children in China!
Chinese Symbol Writing in Flour – We turned our sensory trays into mini mark making stations, where the children traced Chinese symbols into flour, rice, and even paint! They were fascinated to see how different Chinese writing looks compared to our alphabet, and they were so proud when they could copy symbols.
Chinese New Year is also about music, movement, and storytelling, and we fully embraced this in our celebrations!
Traditional Chinese Dancing – The children practiced graceful movements, swirling their arms and stepping to traditional Chinese music. Some even took part in a mini dragon dance, waving colorful fabric to mimic the flow of a Chinese dragon parade!
Learning About the Chinese Zodiac – We explored all twelve animals in the Chinese zodiac, learning what each one represents and even finding out which animal year we were born in. The children loved hearing stories and legends behind the zodiac signs and guessing what their animal might say or do if they could talk!
Hearing from Families Who Celebrate – Some of our wonderful families shared how they celebrate Chinese New Year at home, from family feasts and dragon dances to lighting firecrackers and wearing special outfits. This was a wonderful opportunity for the children to hear real-life traditions, ask questions, and deepen their understanding of different cultures.
Learning Traditional Greetings – By the end of the celebrations, we could all wish each other a Happy New Year in Chinese! The children were so proud to learn and say phrases like:
"Xīn Nián Kuài Lè" (新年快乐) – Happy New Year!
"Gōng Xǐ Fā Cái" (恭喜发财) – Wishing you prosperity!
Our Chinese New Year celebrations were packed with joy, discovery, and hands-on learning, leaving a lasting impression on all our children. Through food, music, crafts, storytelling, and play, we created meaningful connections to this important cultural event and broadened our understanding of the world around us.
Here's to a prosperous, happy, and exciting year ahead—Xīn Nián Kuài Lè! We hope to continue to hear from our families who celebrated so we can further build on the experiences each year to give our little ones the most authentic representation of the celebrations!
