This week in the Burrow we have been celebrating Chinese New Year, the year of the Rooster. The children and staff have all had a contribution towards Chinese New Year, we’ve talked about how our Chinese friends are celebrating in China, and that it’s good that we are celebrating too! In China, Chinese New Year’s Day is 28th of January, and they continue celebrating until the 15th of February!
In the Burrow we have a Chinese New Year display, it has books, dolls, lanterns and red envelopes. Lanterns are a very important part of the New Year celebration as they are known to ‘drive away’ bad luck. Another tradition is to send letters and money in red envelopes, as the colour red is seen as being very lucky. The children have noticed our brightly coloured display and have been asking questions, such as, ‘What is that?’ and ‘Can we read that story?’ ‘Why is that on the wall?’ It’s nice to be able to talk to the children about the Chinese New Year and how we are celebrating it
Also in the Burrow, the children have been very busy painting using cotton wall buds with red, yellow and orange paint. This mark making activity is similar to ‘couplets’ well known throughout Chinese culture, they come in pairs and are also known to be lucky.
Instruments, songs and noise are also a big part of the Chinese New Year celebrations, so the Burrowers have been using some different instruments this week, listening and noticing what different sounds they make.
We are going to continue celebrating the Chinese New Year in the Burrow for a few more weeks. We'll be looking at some more Chinese traditions such as paper cuttings, dancing and Chinese foods, so keep your eyes open and continue celebrating too!
Thank You
Ezme