Next week we will be starting our Chinese New Year Activities.
2012 is the year of the Dragon.

The activities will include opportunities to

• practise fine motor control by painting dragons and the fire that comes out of their mouth



• Practise cutting skills by making and decorating red envelopes - these are given out to all children in China at Chinese New Year to bring them good fortune



• participate in out Chinese New Year display



• Act out the story of how the years came about



• Order the animals according to the position they came in the race



• Make and taste stir fry



• decorating the home corner like a traditional Chinese home



• trying Chinese snacks

Children will also be practising a dragon dance that we will perform for parents on Thursday 26th January at 1.30p.m (more information on this to follow) .

Please help your child to make a colourful instrument that they can play whilst performing in the Dragon Dance. Please send instruments into school by Monday 23rd January - many thanks

There is a very famous, ancient banyan tree in Lam Tsuen in Hong Kong to which people travel at Chinese New Year and during other festivals to leave their own special wishes. First they write their wishes on colourful red wishing paper, then they tie them to oranges, and throw them up into the tree. If the wishes stick, it is thought that they will come true!!

We would like to complete this activity with the children. To help us with this your child will be sent home with a tag to write a wish on. Please help your child with the writing but please let them think of their own wish - even if they wish for a new baby brother or sister!!

We are all looking forward to celebrating Chinese New year and look forward to seeing you at the Dragon Dance