How to Celebrate Lunar New Year

Start anew on Fenruary 10, 2024! Here are some activities and ideas the whole family will love.

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January 29, 2024

By: Dakota Kim

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10 Ways to Celebrate Lunar New Year

Lunar New Year isn’t just celebrated in one culture, but across many. It’s a chance to let go of old ways and usher in new resolutions, as well as to bring new prosperity and joy into your life. There are many thoughtful and participatory ways to celebrate this joyful, renewing holiday, even from the comfort of your own home. Catch the new year spirit by doing some of these festive activities with your family, from creating Lunar New Year lanterns to making mooncakes.

Celebrate a Regal Zodiac Animal

2024 is the Year of Dragon, so you're in for a bit of luck. This upcoming year’s dragon calls for prosperity and good fortune. Making an origami paper dragon or dragon face will summon this animal’s confident, energetic spirit. Dress your kiddos in hats, shoes, and clothes featuring dragons. Make art with colors like red, gold, and silver, and give a special dragon-themed gift.

Read Lunar New Year Books At Home

There are few better ways for your family to learn about a holiday than through children’s books. From the sweet Mindy Kim and the Lunar New Year Parade to the poignant A New Year’s Reunion: A Chinese Story, lists like this one at Book Riot can help you get started.

Decorate Lunar New Year Lanterns

It’s surprisingly simple to make cute, little lanterns at home with your kiddos from some construction paper and some decorative elements like paint, markers, or sequins. This tutorial guides you through the process.

Make Cutout Paper Art or Folding Fans

Jianzhi is Chinese paper art and it’s so much fun, your kids will be asking to do it again. Grab your safety scissors and some red paper and get ready to make shapes of Chinese characters and flowers with these handy videos. You can also make your own easy DIY folding fans.

Design Your Own Red Envelopes

Sure, it’s tradition to gift money in red envelopes for the new year, but DIY them to make the occasion extra special.

Play with Homemade Dragon Puppets

If your kids love seeing the dragon dance in the new year parade, use this printable to make dragon puppets that they can dance around with at home.

Make Mooncakes

Making mooncakes looks complicated, but in reality, you just need to order the molds online. This recipe helps you figure out the particulars, but all you need for ingredients are eggs, sugar, butter, flour, and red bean paste (from a can).

Celebrate Korean Seollal

You can celebrate the Korean Lunar New Year, called Seollal, by paying tribute to your ancestors, making tteokguk (rice cake soup) and jeon (flat savory pancakes), and by playing the Korean folk game yutnori or flying a kite together as a family.

Participate in Vietnamese Tết Traditions

Cookbook author Andrea Nguyen’s tips for celebrating Tết include displaying good luck fruits like tangerines or oranges on a lovely platter in a prominent part of your home, writing a traditional couplet in Vietnamese and posting it on your front door, and having the first person to walk through your door in the new year bring you good luck. You can also make banh chung (rice cakes) and give red envelopes of money to children to celebrate the holiday.

Learn Calligraphy

You can use this helpful tutorial to teach your littles to do basic Chinese calligraphy or learn some phrases to decorate art around your home for the festive new year. You just need ink, brushes and paper, or a kit like this.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: New Year’s Traditions Across Cultures, How to Have an Epic New Year’s Eve at Home, Mindful Morning Routines to Start Your Day Off Right

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