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Welcome to the vibrant celebration of Chinese New Year, also known as Lunar New Year or Spring Festival—China’s most significant and cherished occasion. As families come together to usher in the new lunar cycle, it marks a week of official public holiday festivities.
Chinese New Year falls on the first day of the new moon, occurring between January 1st and February 20th each year. The cultural richness and traditions associated with this festival make it a splendid opportunity to infuse creativity into your classroom or therapy sessions.
If you’re seeking Chinese New Year ideas tailored for your classroom or therapy sessions, you’re in for a treat. In my planning process, I prioritize a diverse range of activities catering to gross motor skills, sensory experiences, fine motor development, visual perception, writing/keyboarding, crafts, and engaging games. While not every activity is utilized with every student, this approach ensures a variety that aligns with the unique goals of the 50-75 students I work with weekly.
Stay tuned as I share a curated list of activities planned for the Chinese New Year week, designed to bring cultural enrichment and skill development to your learning environment. Let’s embark on a festive journey together!
I will use a variety of worksheets in conjunction with my hands-on activities to meet the fine motor, writing, and visual perceptual needs of my students. Check out this bundle for all my Chinese New Year resources.
Check out my Free Resource Library for some Chinese New Year activities and worksheets.
I am always looking for new simple craft ideas to add to my theme units. Here are three related to the Chinese New Year Theme.
I finish the session with a 5-10-minute game. Some are directly related to the theme and others are my favorite grab on the run games. Some of my favorite therapy bag games are Blink, Spot It, Tenzi, Mini Make n’ Break, and Left Center Right. They are also great to have in a classroom for indoor recess.
Storage: I use 2-gallon bags to store all the resources, manipulatives, and craft supplies for each theme. I store these bags in 5-gallon plastic tubs and have created labels to keep me organized. Over the years new ideas are added and old ones updated or removed. Check out my free resource library for a set of free bin labels that match my themes, or the set in my store that has an editable version.
Thank you for reading and I hope I gave you some new ideas or ways to make learning “not smell like work.”
About the Author
I am a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant (COTA) and have been working in a public school system for more than 25 years. My resources can be found on TPT, BOOM Learning, Made by Teachers, Classful, and Your Therapy Source. I appreciate your interest wherever you wish to shop.
My mission is to help you find creative ideas to incorporate fine motor, visual perception, gross motor, and social-emotional learning into your lessons.
I hope you consider signing up for my Free Resource Library with your Email. I send out emails about once a week and share resources, tips, and planning ideas for your classroom or occupational therapy needs. Hopefully, these help your students work on building their skills in a fun and engaging way.
