Lunar New Year Celebration

2/9/2023

Mimi’s mom, Nan, reached out to us at the beginning of January inquiring about organizing a Chinese New Year, also called Lunar New Year, celebration with the children. She thought about how Seon’s mother, Jinmyung, might like to be involved since Korea celebrates Seollal or Lunar New Year. We were thrilled to welcome them into the classroom to share these special cultural traditions with the children. Here is an article that shares more information regarding the specifics of the different holidays.

Chinese New Year

On Friday, January 27th, the festivities began in the Rainey Room and we were truly so lucky. Nan brought in lanterns and decorations to adorn the walls, doors, and ceiling of the classroom. The colors red and gold were prominent, as they are considered to be “lucky colors” in the Chinese New Year tradition.

She brought in fans and we set out various shades of red, yellow, and gold liquid watercolor for them to paint.

Isabelle singing while painting: Mr. Fan, Mr. Golden Fan.
Bailee: After this (the watercolor painted fan) dries, I can take it home.
Bailee painted her fan in alternating blocks of red and gold.
Ellie: I'm making gold and I’m thinking about golden colors. I put all the colors.
Bailee: A little bit orange.

Rawls: Gold. I’m doing it all dark red. All dark red now.
Cal describing the up and down pattern of the fan as he dragged his paintbrush across its ridges: I did the bumps. I need a little bit more (paint). I have more space.
Ava: I’m just going to make mine all red.

Nan prepared a presentation with images of the different aspects of the Chinese New Year Celebration.

You can find Nan's Chinese New Year presentation here:

Chinese New Year PPT
File Size:	4571 kb
File Type:	pptx

Download File

During this presentation, Nan talked about “red packets”, which usually contain real money for children, but the ones for the Rainey Room children held a small chocolate coin.

Seollal - Korean Lunar New Year

Jinmyung prepared many materials and experiences for the children that highlighted the traditions of Seollal, the Korean Lunar New Year. She told us that with the help of Seon’s father, Youngil, all of the supplies were shipped directly from South Korea.

She brought in one of Seon’s traditional New Year dresses from a past celebration as well as beautiful table runners and decorations.

She prepared paper lucky bags for the children to assemble and decorate.

And cards for the children to create with cutouts of the Rainey Room children’s faces and traditional Korean clothing and other beautiful papers and embellishments.

Jinmyung also shared a presentation for the children and a few grownups about Seollal. The children learned about the similarities and differences between the Chinese traditions and the Korean traditions. One of the main differences were the colors. While the Chinese tradition typically has red and gold/yellow, the Korean tradition uses a rainbow of colors in their clothing, lucky bags, and decor.

You can find Jinmyung's Seollal presentation here:

Seollal PPT
File Size:	13958 kb
File Type:	pptx

Download File

Finally, the children enjoyed a special snack that was inside of a fabric, Bokjumoni or Lucky Bag. A sweet and salty rice cracker called Ttokguk and a fried cookie called Yakgwa.

Thank you, Nan and Jinmyung

During a recent Morning Meeting we asked the children to share what they remembered about the celebration. Here were a few of their responses:

Zari: Chinese New Year.
Whit: Happy Lunar New Year!
Ellie: The dresses.
Rawls: Thank you Seon’s mommy for the bags and treats.
Bailee: Thank you Mimi's mommy for the chocolate coin.

Thank you so much to Nan and Jinmyung for the time, preparation, and thought that went into making the Lunar New Year celebration in the Rainey Room such a memorable experience for the children. We feel so grateful to have such diverse cultural backgrounds in our class and know how important it is to honor and share them with the children.

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