Kung Hay Fat Choy!

That means "Wishing you good fortune!" in Cantonese. This week starts the beginning of the 15 day celebration of the Chinese New Year.  Shay is very interested in other cultures and celebrations, and Chinese New Year was something she really wanted to study.

A few weeks ago, a friend told me that Panda Express had a program for educators on Chinese New Year. So I signed up Hannigan Academy, school of 1 child. I thought maybe they hadn't accepted my school as I hadn't received any package from them, but yesterday, in the mail, their Chinese New Year Learn with Me Program arrived. It was free, so we thought we'd give it a try.

The Program consists of a DVD, a Fact sheet, an interactive activity sheet, a "Lai See" word find,  a Chinese Lantern craft, and a book mark craft. Oh, and of course coupons to their restaurants.

A little Blurry for some reason.

First we watched the DVD. There were two programs on it. The first was an introduction to New Years- what it means, about the zodiac, and a small ad for their restaurants (which I expected, it was a FREE packet after all). The next program was about the Jade Emperor and after the short story, it had an activity sheet that went along with it. There was also an interactive activity that went with the worksheet, which was good because somebody was zoning a little through the video. Hey, it was a lot of new information!

The DVD

First Part of the DVD- learning a bit of what the New Year is about.

Interactive work sheet.

Worksheet

Next she did the word find. Word finds are Shay's "thing," so this took no time at all.

We read on about the Year of the Dragon and what that means. She was disappointed that her Zodiac Sign is the Dog. The sign of the Dog means: Honest, Loyal, Pays Attention, and Fast.

The bookmark was made to look like the "Lai See."  In the Chinese culture, elders give the children a red envelope with money in it. The amount of money in the envelope is even as a sign of good luck. However, the number 4 is unlucky, so that dollar amount will not be in the envelope.

After coloring, she glued the pieces together to look like a red envelope.

Her favorite part of the activity, was the Chinese Lantern. The Lanterns are hung out on the 15th day of the celebration. She made a rainbow one. She wants to hang it outside. Since it is winter here, and the lantern is made of paper, we will see what the weather brings on February 6th.

Overall, I think Shay enjoyed the program. It was very clear and to the point.  I has just the right amount of information for a young elementary student.

*We did go to the library and pick out a few other books on the Chinese New Year to delve further into the subject. While we were there, she saw a poster for a Chinese New Year Celebration at the Kennedy Center. It looks great, but at $50/pp for the cheap seats, I think we'll hold off a few years.