Chinese New Year Printables and Activities for Kids
It’s nearly time for the Lunar New Year—an important festival and tradition that’s made for celebration. If you’re looking for fun, educational ideas for the kids, you’ll love this list of 18+ Chinese New Year printables and activities. Red and gold are prominent colors in the celebrations, and you’ll find those colors in the printables and activities below.
Chinese New Year is a time to sweep away the old year and bad luck and making way for prosperity in the new year. It’s a very special time in the Chinese calendar, and there’s much to celebrate! Use these activities as a starting point to dive deeper into the traditions of the holiday.
Chinese New Year Printable Worksheets
You’ll find plenty of printables below for learning more about the Chinese New Year as well as printables for practicing fine motor skills and other educational skills. You’ll also find a few just plain fun ones, like Bingo and the printable ox headband. Let’s dive in!
Chinese Zodiac Coloring Book from Artsy Momma – Kids can practice their colors with our fun Chinese zodiac coloring book. It features cute animals to color and traceable lines to practice handwriting.
Chinese Zodiac Wheel from Chalk Academy – This interactive Chinese zodiac wheel is a creative way for kids to learn about the zodiac animals in the Chinese calendar system. Print it on cardstock and laminate it to use it year after year in your Chinese New Year celebrations and activities.
Red Envelope Math Mats from Nurturestore – This playdough math mat is a great way to brush up on counting and adding! Laminate the cards so the kids can play with them again and again throughout the day.
I Spy the Chinese New Year from Rainy Day Mum -Here’s a fun printable for your preschooler that’s good for practicing counting. Placing counters over the objects they’re counting can help little ones keep track until they’re ready to tally the total.
Chinese New Year Do a Dot Printables from Gift of Curiosity – These do-a-dot printables are great for practicing one-to-one correspondence, letter and shape recognition, and more with a CNY theme.
Printable Party Activities for Kids
Lucky Chinese Red Envelopes from Chalk Academy – These envelopes are available in traditional and simplified Chinese and are a fun tradition to add to any special celebration, such as the Lunar New Year. The gift of a red envelope represents a wish for good fortune for the recipient. What a fun way for kids to spread some kindness to a friend or loved one!
Chinese New Year Bingo from Hawaii Travel with Kids – Use this printable Bingo game for a fun family game night on Lunar New Year. The cards feature many of the zodiac animals and other symbols associated with the holiday and culture.
Year of the Ox Printable Headband from Artsy Craftsy Mom – 2021 is the Year of the Ox, so this printable headband is a must for this year’s celebration. It’s a great activity for the kids at home or a simple classroom project that can be completed with a group in just a few minutes.
Zodiac Animal Drawing Prompts from Red Ted Art – Use these simple drawing prompts to encourage kids to practice their drawing skills or make greeting cards for friends for the Lunar New Year. Each card features a Happy New Year message in English and Chinese, the phonetic pronunciation, and a space to draw the animal for the year.
Chinese New Year Word Search from Jinxy Kids – Learn some of the vocabulary associated with the Chinese New Year by working on this fun word search. There are 24 words for kids to find.
Chinese New Year Banners from Chalk Academy – Red Chinese banners are a symbol of wishing good health and prosperity, so what better way to celebrate the Lunar New Year than by decorating your home with some of these beautiful printable banners?
Chinese New Year Activities for Kids
If you’re looking for some hands-on activities for the Chinese New Year, try the ideas below. You’ll find sensory ideas like slime, playdough, and sand writing to keep little hands busy and minds engaged.
Chinese New Year Slime Recipe from Little Bins for Little Hands – Make a festive slime recipe as you learn about the rich culture and traditions of the Lunar New Year. This slime is fiery red, the color used to ward off evil spirits, and has sparkling gold sequins for good fortune.
Chinese New Year Sensory Bin from Gift of Curiosity – Set up an engaging sensory experience for the kids on Chinese New Year. Use any red filler (no rice necessary), bury some Chinese coins, add some of the Chinese zodiac animals, chopsticks, a lucky red envelope, and other symbols of the holiday. You could also include some tools to scoop and pour for those kids who may not be able to master the chopsticks yet.
Chinese New Year Playdough from Laughing Kids Learn – Talk about happiness and good fortune for the coming year with a big batch of CNY playdough. Make it bright red, and add some gold coins for prosperity and good luck!
Sweeping Sensory Bin for Chinese New Year from The Educators’ Spin On It- This sweeping sensory bin is one of three fun choices in the post. It’s a great way to symbolize sweeping away the old year and welcoming the new year. The pom-poms are poured into the square and then swept away into a mini-dust bin.
Chinese New Year Sensory Painting from Nurturestore – Use red and gold colors to create a sensory painting to celebrate the Lunar New Year. You could provide pictures of some Chinese characters for the kids to paint if they wish or leave it as an open-ended project. Let them use brushes, their fingers, or other apparatuses to spread the paint across the page. You could even add scent to the paint in the form of herbs or extracts.
Chinese New Year Sand Writing Tray from Rainy Day Mum – Use a sand writing tray with bright red sand to practice forming Chinese characters, to practice name writing, or even to practice writing numbers.
Sensory Spaghetti for Chinese New Year from Learning and Exploring Through Play – Take the red and gold theme even further with some sensory spaghetti for your babies, toddlers, and preschoolers to explore. Squish it, cut it up, or twirl it as you read stories about Chinese New Year together.
Busy right now? Pin this list of Chinese New Year Printables and Activities to make planning your celebration easier later.