They just stared at me blankly (but to be fair they do that a lot)
I corrected myself "You might be thinking, 'Whoa you are a month late wishing a happy new year' so I will say instead Happy Chinese New Year."
The Chinese Zodiac has interested me ever since I was a kid, reading over the place mats at the Chinese buffet while chowing down on fried rice. Indeed, I was one of those women desperately trying to conceive during 2012 so I could have my firstborn be born in the Year of the Dragon.
I found a storytime idea for Chinese New Year in Artsy Toddler Storytime which has a whole year of storytime themes incorporating arts and craft activities. I adapted mine since I can never count on a small or large group. I might have 30 plus kids and no space to put up finger painting tables (Much less keep kids from tearing into them before stories are done)
2015 brings us the Year of the Sheep (or Goat depending on your sources) Children born under this new year are suppose to have calm, gentle and creative personality.
Since there are more picture books about sheep than goats, I'm sticking with sheep. Half the books deal with Chinese New Year/Culture, the rest are about sheep.
Books:
My First Chinese New Year by Karen Katz *
Round is a Mooncake by Rosanne Thong* - She also has two other books that deal with colors and
numbers with Chinese culture. A good pick for a multicultural storytime.
Where is the Green Sheep by Mem Fox
Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy Shaw- Or any in this series. I find them all cute and funny.
My Lucky Little Dragon by Joyce Wan- Shorter Board book if you do baby storytimes, totally adorable.
*These books I shorten for time an attention span. You can do this easily without losing the whole story.
Activities:
Fireworks, parades, dragons, holidays there are so many direction you can go with this. Here's what I did.
Fire Little Firecrackers- I told the kids we would have indoor fireworks. How exciting is that? The flannel idea came from Storytime with Miss Tara and Friends
The firecrackers were made from red felt with white pipe cleaners attached with hot glue. The fireworks were made with felt and curling ribbon. I curled several dozen strands of ribbon (Only cutting myself twice) taped them together in bundles before stapling them to the felt.
As you can see here, this firework flannel has many uses not just for Chinese New Years but also 4th of July, patriotic holidays and a Letter F themed storytime. This was one flannel story that my group really responded well to. It's defiantly a keeper!
I try not to lean on the crutch of doing the same storytime every year. I have at least two years rotation. I only have a handful that I repeat because they involve common and popular themes. I think this one is going into that select group. All you have to do is change the animal every year and your have something new. So be on the look out for Monkeys in 2016!
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