Chinese New Year Crafts

Chinese New Year is an important festival for people of Chinese descent! In a multi-racial country like Singapore, everybody would have taken part in some sort of festivities. At Astor International School, we value the unique cultures in our school and aim to expose children to different cultures; especially that of the host country.

Here are some different ways to decorate your home to welcome the Year of the Rabbit!

Self-made Red Packets

Materials:

1. Plain red packets (or you can also print the template on a piece of red paper)

2. Gold, silver, or black pens

Steps:

1. Take a look at the different types of red packets.

2. Design your red packet!

P.S.: Red packets usually contain wishes you’d like to give to the recipient. They also have pictures of gold ingots to symbolise wealth, or a picture of the zodiac of the year (in 2023, the zodiac is the Rabbit).

Rabbit Silhouette Painting

Materials:

1. Cut-out of a rabbit

2. Scissors

3. A4-sized paper

4. Paint

5. Sponges

Steps:

1. Firstly, cut out the silhouette of a rabbit.

2. Then, place the cut-out of the rabbit on the piece of A4-sized paper.

3. Decorate the stocking with stickers and markers.

4. Pick up paint with the sponges and cover the A4-sized paper with different coloured paint.

5. Remove the rabbit cut-out.

Cherry Blossom Art

Materials:

1. Paper

2. Paintbrushes

3. Pink, brown, and black paint

Steps:

1. Paint the branch of the cherry blossom using black or brown paint.

2. With the paintbrush, dab the pink paint onto the twigs of the branch.

*For young children, you can print their fingerprints onto the twigs after they are dry!

Red Packet Lanterns

Materials:

1. Red packet

2. Scissors

3. Stapler

Steps:

1. Cut the opening flap of the red packet.

2. Following the crease, cut the envelope into two.

3. Cut a 1 cm rectangle strip vertically from the back piece.

4. Fold the front piece of the rectangle vertically into two and cut slits horizontally, leaving a 1 cm gap from the top.

5. Attach the front and back pieces of rectangles together with a stapler.

6. Fold one end of the rectangular strip to the other end and secure it.

7. Take the 1 cm vertical strip that was cut and attach it to make the handle of the lantern.

8. Decorate the lantern however you’d like!

Red Packet Fans

Materials:

1. 6 red packets

2. Stapler

3. Rubber band

Steps:

1. Staple each red packet to each other on the long side, creating a row of 5 red packets.

2. Fold the 6th red packet into a strip and staple it to the bottom of the first and last red packet in the row.

3. Fold the red packet into the shape of a fan.

4. Tie the bottom of the fan with a rubber band or staple it together to create a handle.