Chinese New Year Activities for Preschool: Fun Crafts, Games and Songs

Chinese New Year is a fantastic theme to bring into your preschool classroom, and it works really well when teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) to young learners. The vibrant traditions, festive decorations, and fascinating stories about the Chinese Zodiac captivate little ones while offering loads of opportunities for language development!

So, if you’re looking for some engaging Chinese New Year activities for preschool, keep reading for loads of ideas to involve little ones in the Lunar New Year in a myriad of fun and educational ways!

Chinese New Year is a colourful celebration filled with opportunities to teach language through play and creativity. For preschoolers, it’s a great way to:

• Introduce new vocabulary related to animals, colours, and festivities.
• Develop fine motor skills through crafts and hands-on activities.
• Explore a different culture in an interactive and age-appropriate way.
• Build social skills with group activities and games.

Here are ten simple and engaging Lunar New Year activities that are great to use in your preschool classroom, and for teaching young kids English:

1. Chinese Zodiac Animal Stick Puppets

Make these Chinese Zodiac Animal stick puppets to teach your preschoolers about the twelve animals of the Chinese Zodiac. This is not only a simple craft activity, but also a tool for storytelling and for so many games! Here’s how:

• Craft Instructions:
  1. Download and print out my free printable featuring the twelve Zodiac animals!
  2. Have the children colour their favourite animals.
  3. Cut out the animal discs and glue them onto craft sticks.
  4. Optionally, decorate the sticks with red and gold ribbons to celebrate the festive colours of Chinese New Year.

• Learning Activities:
  • Use the puppets to introduce the animals’ names and sounds.
  • Create a simple story about the animals and let children act it out.
  • Play a guessing game: “Which animal am I?” where children describe or imitate the animals.

2. Chinese Zodiac Animal Phonics Match-Up

Print and cut out pictures of the twelve animals of the Chinese Zodiac (you can use my Chinese Zodiac Animals Stick Puppets for this). Write the beginning letter of each animal on separate cards. Spread the pictures and letter cards out on the table or stick them on the board. Have the children match the picture of each animal with its corresponding beginning letter. For older kids, you can write the animals names in full or add an extra challenge by including the Chinese characters for each animal!

3. Story Time with the Great Race

Share the legend of the Great Race, which explains how the Chinese Zodiac was created. This animation is a nice one to show the story to your kids:

Although the language in this video will be too complex for children learning English, the animation is clear and engaging. When I show this to my ESL preschoolers, I pause the video regularly to summarize in very simple language and focus on key vocabulary. You can use props like the Chinese Zodiac animal stick puppets to make the story interactive. Afterwards, invite children to act out parts of the story.

Another version of the Great Race you might prefer is this one, which talks about how the cat was originally in the race too:

4. Zodiac Animal Charades

Gather pictures of the Chinese Zodiac animals or write the animal names on cards. Place the pictures (or animal name cards) into a bag.  Children take turns picking an animal and acting it out for the others to guess what it is. This game is great for practicing animal vocabulary and action verbs like “jump,” “crawl,” or “hiss”.

5. Make Animal Masks

Another fun activity is to make Chinese Zodiac animal masks for children to then use in role play! You can make them from paper plates or construction paper, and markers or paints. 

As the children assemble their masks, teach them the names of the animals and some basic adjectives, like ‘fierce tiger’ or ‘friendly rabbit.’ This can be an opportunity to talk about the significance of each Zodiac animal in Chinese culture and how they are believed to represent different personality traits. You can find more information on this blog post: “Chinese Zodiac for Kids”.

Once kids have made their masks, invite them to role-play their animal, making sounds or movements that match, to really get immersed in the spirit of the Lunar New Year!

If you would like ready-made animal mask templates, I have the following products available in my Etsy and Teachers Pay Teachers stores:

You can also find them in my website store as part of my LUNAR NEW YEAR MASK & LUCKY ENVELOPE CRAFT PACKS:

I have Mask and Lucky Envelope Craft Packs for other Chinese Zodiac Animals in my section on Lunar New Year resources here, or directly in store.

6. Make a Lucky Red Envelope

Teach children about the tradition of giving red envelopes, a symbol of good luck and blessings during the Lunar New Year. Explain that these envelopes often contain money and are given to wish prosperity and happiness. Provide red paper, gold markers, and stickers for kids to decorate their envelopes with symbols like dragons, flowers, or the Chinese character for ‘fortune’ (福). Once the envelopes are complete, encourage the children to share kind wishes or small treats with each other to mimic the tradition.

I have a printable red envelope template included in my Lunar New Year Craft Packs available in store.

7. Lantern-Making Crafts

Introduce a popular Chinese New Year tradition by making paper lanterns. This activity improves fine motor skills and teaches simple instructions like “fold,” “cut,” and “glue.” Display the lanterns in the classroom for a festive atmosphere. Here are a couple of links to some lovely lantern crafts:

8. Dragon Dance Parade

The dragon dance is a stunning Lunar New Year tradition that is performed for good luck, prosperity, and to ward off evil spirits. A team of dancers manipulates a colourful dragon costume to energetic drumbeats. It’s an impressive display that is captivating for preschool children due to the bright colours, movements, and rhythmic music.  

Similarly, the lion dance is another traditional Lunar New Year performance symbolizing luck, prosperity, and the driving away of evil spirits:

A really fun idea is to organize a mini dragon dance with your kids, using a homemade dragon head and a long scarf or sheet for the body. To make this a longer project you could craft more elaborate dragon’s heads out of shoe boxes, or for a quick low-prep activity simply use a dragon mask.

Preschoolers can hold onto the sheet and parade around the room, moving the sheet up and down as they walk. Allow them to take it in turns to be the dragon’s head!

9. Zodiac Animal Who Am I? Game

Place pictures of the Chinese Zodiac animals where kids can see them. Describe one of the animals using simple language appropriate to your students’ age and level (e.g., for the tiger you could say “This animal is orange and black”, or “This animal is fierce”). Ask preschoolers to guess which animal matches the description. This game is a great way to practise basic adjectives and encourages listening skills!

10. Watch Chinese New Year Educational Videos & Songs

Here are some other educational videos and songs that you can use to teach your preschoolers more about the Lunar New Year:

• Create a festive environment: Decorate the classroom with lanterns, red banners, and Zodiac animal crafts to create a colourful and immersive environment.

• Use Visuals: Bright images, videos, and props like the Zodiac Animal stick puppets and masks make the lesson more engaging.

• Keep It Simple: Use short sentences and clear instructions suitable for preschoolers’ attention spans.

• Incorporate Movement: Activities like the dragon dance or acting the Chinese Zodiac animals keep energy levels high and learning fun.

Teaching preschoolers about the Lunar New Year is a joyful way to combine cultural education with language learning. Incorporating Chinese New Year activities for preschool, such as crafts, songs, and interactive games, ensures that even the youngest learners are engaged and excited to explore this fascinating holiday.

With activities like the Chinese Zodiac Animal stick puppets and dragon dance, you’ll not only teach new vocabulary and concepts but also create memorable experiences for your preschool ESL class. Don’t forget to share photos of your classroom celebrations with parents to showcase the fun and learning!

More Lunar New Year Crafts:

Free Lunar New Year Printables:

In store:

Year of the Horse Craft – Precolored Lunar New Year Mask & Red Envelope

Year of the Horse Colouring Craft – Chinese New Year Mask & Red Envelope Printable