Are your homeschooling lessons drying up?

Chinese New Year is officially celebrated this Friday so why not add some of these holiday activities into your curriculum.

The Chinese New Year is also known as the Lunar New Year and is the most celebrated holiday on the Chinese calendar. 

The 15-day festival is celebrated by a quarter of the world's population with symbolic traditions and rituals that celebrate family, renewal, prosperity and good fortune. 

There's nothing better than learning about different cultures and traditions especially when it engages the whole family. 

Here are a range of different activities for the all ages : 

Wear and decorate things in red 

This is a great start to your festivities for the Lunar New Year - red is symbolic of wealth and good fortune in China. 

The Argus:

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By dressing in red you automatically set the vibe of the day, hour or lesson. It also acts as a good initial talking point to help your children understand this important festival. 

It's also a colour that is seen as a weapon to scare away monsters, so wearing red pyjamas to bed on Chinese New Year could be a good idea for any child scared of the dark. 

Create origami art

Origami is the ancient craft of paper folding, its origins are disputed as being from Japan or China nearly 1,000 years ago. 

"Ori" means fold and "gami" means paper. 

In China children learn origami from their parents and historically created dolls and animal figures which were thrown in the river to drive away evil spirits. 

Visit YouTube for origami tutorials to suit all ages and abilities.

Children learn about other cultures and countries by hands-on activity so origami is a fantastic (and cheap) way to immerse your children in different traditions. 

Cook some traditional dishes

Food is a very important part of Lunar New Year celebrations.

Usually families would get together and have large feasts, first offering their food to the Gods before tucking in. 

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Why not cook up your favourite Chinese inspired dish, such as dumplings or noodles - perfect for all ages to help with. 

Or, you could try as many of these foods as you like - each have their own different meaning: 

  • Bamboo shoots, egg rolls, oranges or seaweed: Wealth
  • Chicken: happiness and marriage
  • Dried bean curd: Happiness
  • Eggs: Fertility
  • Fish served whole: Prosperity
  • Chinese garlic chives: Everlasting, a long life
  • Lychee nuts: Close family ties
  • Noodles or peanuts: A long life
  • Seeds: Having a large number of children
  • Tangerines: Luck

 

Learn how to write your name in Hanzi

The Argus:

Chinese characters, also called Hanzi, are the oldest continuously used system of writing in the world. 

Hanzi is short for 'Han characters', these logograms can be traced back to as far as the Shang Dynasty about 1200-1500BC.

The total number of Chinese characters ever to appear in a dictionary is in the tens of thousands though many are outdated and not used.

A university graduate who is literate in written Chinese known on average between three and four thousand characters - more are required for specialised fields. 

There's a wealth of history and beauty in the characters of Hanzi and Chinese calligraphy is a common and loved art form around the world. 

Find out how to spell your name with an online translator such as Chinese Gratis.

Online Martial Arts class

Whether you're a fan of Joe Wick's fancy dress Friday workout classes or not, perhaps this Friday it's time to try something new - like a martial arts class.

There are lots of free classes on YouTube to choose from which vary for age group and skill set. 

Shaolin Kung Fu originated and was developed in the Buddhist Shaolin temple in Songshan mountain, Henan province, China.

During the 1500 years of the development of Shaolin kung fu, it became one of the biggest schools of Kung Fu, and numerous other styles were created or inspired based on Shaolin Kung Fu.

Watch a movie

Films are a brilliant way to keep children entertained and engaged without them feeling like they're at school.

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Some good films include: 

  • Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a PG13 which features an international cast of actors of Chinese ethnicity. 

The story follows a rebellious young woman who has secretly trained to be a warrior and steals the sword of legendary master Li Mu Bai, but upon seeing her power Bai decides to offer her a chance at becoming his apprentice.

  • Kung Fu Panda is an iconic cartoon following Po the panda as he embarks on his martial arts dream.

The feel good comedy is a PG and although it could go a lot deeper it does highlight various elements of Chinese culture such as fireworks and Kung Fu - watch in Mandarin with English subtitles for added difficulty. 

  •  Last Train Home is a documentary rated PG - it looks at the life of Chinese migrant workers from rural areas who travel to large cities for work.

Over 130 million Chinese migrant workers travel back to their home villages for Chunjie every year; the largest human migration phenomenon in the world.  

Director Lixin Fan follows the Zhangs – a couple who have left their newborn daughter in their hometown to find work in Guangzhou, over the span of several years.

Play dominoes

The Argus:

The earliest form of dominoes were found in China and have been dated at 1120 AD.

However it is believed by many Chinese people that the game of dominoes was invented much earlier by a soldier hero named Hung Ming who lived between 181 - 234 AD and invented the game of dominoes to amuse his soldiers.

Chinese dominoes are used in several tile-based games, namely, tien gow, pai gow, tiu u and kap tai shap.

There are lots of tutorials to play Chinese dominoes online.