Making Chinese lanterns is a craft that I've always done as a teacher, and to be honest it wasn't easy with a whole class of children. Either I did most of the work for them in advance, or we went through a lot of paper when they didn't quite understand how they should be cutting them. One on one is definitely the way to go with lanterns, Ethan got a lot of great scissor practise and really did make these all by himself.
What you'll need:
First we folded the pieces of white card in half, then Ethan cut along the fold to make smaller pieces.
Next we decorated each of our six pieces of card. For the first two we used the stamps to make symbols all around the paper. This is a great opportunity to talk about Chinese symbols, and possibly even try to do some Chinese writing with older children.
Then we used the washi tape to secure the ends on each side and to make the lantern shape. Ethan loves using tape so he was very happy to do this part!
This post is part of a Chinese New Year Blog Hop hosted by Peakle Pie, take a look at all of the other fun ideas!
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What you'll need:
- white card
- red crayon
- stamps and a red stamp pad
- red markers
- red washi tape
- string
- scissors
First we folded the pieces of white card in half, then Ethan cut along the fold to make smaller pieces.
Next we decorated each of our six pieces of card. For the first two we used the stamps to make symbols all around the paper. This is a great opportunity to talk about Chinese symbols, and possibly even try to do some Chinese writing with older children.
For our next two pieces of paper we did some simple rubbings with the side of a crayon to make the paper all red.
Then for our last two pieces Ethan used the markers to draw a picture of a dragon (in one of them the dragon is breathing fire) but to be honest these pictures turned out so lovely that Ethan didn't want to cut them (and I don't blame him) so we didn't end up using them as lanterns!
For the stamped and coloured with crayon pictures Ethan then folded each one in half and used his scissors to cut in lines nearly to the end. He did a really good job of this and I didn't give him too much instruction on it as we're really working on building his confidence.
Then we used the washi tape to secure the ends on each side and to make the lantern shape. Ethan loves using tape so he was very happy to do this part!
Then we hung up our string and Ethan used the washi tape to make the handles of the lanterns and hang them up. They look fantastic and I'm so proud of Ethan for really making them all by himself.
They make a great decoration for Chinese New Year all hung up in a row along our fireplace, and we might make some more to add to our collection!
They make a great decoration for Chinese New Year all hung up in a row along our fireplace, and we might make some more to add to our collection!
This post is part of a Chinese New Year Blog Hop hosted by Peakle Pie, take a look at all of the other fun ideas!
The gingerbread house shared a cute Chinese New Year paper plate monkey
KiddyCharts shared these wonderful Dragon colouring pages
Kelly's Classroom shared a brilliant Chinese New Year Book
Peakle Pie shared a striking Red Monkey Mask
Witty Hoots shared these colourful Chinese New Year Lucky Fish
Kidz Activities shared this awesome Monkey Paper Bag Puppet
Creative World of Varya shared this adorable Year of the Monkey Door Hanger
Mama Smiles shared some favourite Monkey Picture Books
In The Playroom a musical Chinese New Year Shaker Craft
Play & Learn Everyday shared these festive Chinese New Year Mini Lanterns
For more fun, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest!
Follow Play & Learn Everyday's board Play & Learn Everyday - Crafts and Activities from the Blog on Pinterest.
