Maggie's Dad, Daniel, visited with our class today to share traditions of Chinese New Year. Daniel began our conversation by asking the children " What do you know about Chinese New Year?" A few of the comments that the children said were, " They have red"," They eat dumplings and noodles" and "They have a dragon costume".
Daniel first shared beautiful paper lanterns that Maggie's family uses to decorate during the Chinese New Year. We looked at a 'chop' which is a stamp that has symbols and characters that are used to print Maggie's name in the Chinese language. Daniel shared with us photographs of his visit to China when he went to bring Maggie home. Afterwards he read the book
My First Chinese New Year by Karen Katz. This delightful book describes how Chinese New Year is a time to for new beginnings, giving thinks, and reunions with family and friends. We learned that families prepare for many days getting ready for the Chinese New Year. The holiday lasts for fifteen days, and each day is distinguished with a different activity, such as visiting relatives or eating special food.
We learned that the color red is symbolic during this celebration Families try to wear clothing that is red and some families give red envelopes to children. These envelopes may contain money or chocolate coins. The money and coins symbolize good luck and prosperity for the coming year. Daniel gave each child a red envelop with Chinese symbols representing an inspirational word with chocolate coins inside.
We saw many photographs of China and noticed the beautiful artwork and architecture of the country. The children especially loved see the photo taken from the airplane of the North Pole! The children were fascinated with seeing the photo album of the trip to China and we all appreciated getting to know and understand more about Maggie and her family and how they celebrate traditions.
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