Tiger Puppet
Chinese New Year is February 14th this year, and it’s high time we make a Chinese New Year craft to celebrate! This tiger puppet is easy and promotes imaginative play, my little man sat this one out, he had an eye appointment a few hours earlier and had ” clouds in the way” his eyes were dilated for it and he was not interested in anything close up. He did play with it while I made dinner though!
- Gather your materials. You will need a paper bag, black construction paper, kid scissors, adult scissors, glue, googly eyes, some white paper ( we used foam because we were out of white- oops), orange paint, paint brush( or roller), and a marker.
- Start by drawing a nose and mouth. Using permanent maker works well , you can make it with paper as well.
- Paint the paper bag with orange paint. I love using these rollers for young kids, they are easy to get good coverage with without too much effort and also dries quickly!
- While they are painting cut the paper into one strip.
- When they are done hand them the paper ( if they are old enough to cut) and scissors to cut stripes.
- Time to glue! Glue the stripes on the tiger .
- While they are gluing cut out a tummy from the white paper.
- Glue the tummy and eyes on.
- I cut the bottom of the painted bag off ( so it fit on my son’s arm) and used that to make 2 ears, and glued them on.
- Let dry.
Books
Bringing in the New Year by Grace Lin is a wonderful book to explain Chinese New Year and some of the customs that comes along with it to your preschooler. The illustrations are bright and help explain the festivities and preparations that go into the celebration. The book culminates with a fold out page with a huge dragon briging in the new year. There is also a great explanation of the holiday for parents at the back of the book.
Dragon Dancing by Carole Lexa Schaefer is a story with a great imagination. A preschool teacher is reading her class a story about a dragon and when the class goes to art they create a birthday dragon and let their imaginations soar! The illustrations gradually change from the children parading as a dragon to a dragon in the wilderness of China, and back again when the teacher calls them in from the playground. My son loved it but was quite concerned that the dragon ate the children, once I reassured him that the were imagining we were set!
Legend of the Chinese Dragon (English and Mandarin Chinese Edition) by Marie Sellier , Catherine Louis and Wang Fei is a great book about the legend of how the children of China wanted to put an end to tribal fighting and created a dragon from all the tribes different animals. I like this book , I like how the text in English and Chinese characters , the traditional calligraphy and beautiful illustrations. My son loved the illustrations and the story kept his attention as well.
cathleen ryer says
I love your site and we have been enjoying your crafts with my 19 month and 3 yr old. Where do you find those rollers?
admin says
Thanks!
They have them at both Walmart and Home Depot!
Philippa says
Thank you so much I love your blog and it has given me so many ideas my daughter is loving all the new activities.
.-= Philippa´s last blog ..A Little Bit of Cuteness =-.
Little Nutmeg says
Thanks for the inspiration. I am going to check out when the Chinese New Year Parade will be held. I think my son is now old enough to go and not be frightened by all the noise. How fun!
.-= Little Nutmeg´s last blog ..Gifts that Cultivate a Sense of Wonder of the Natural World =-.
Joan hagan says
Is there a way to get your website by email?
admin says
Joan there is – please email me at allie@notimeforflashcards.com we are in the process of switching from one service to another so it’s a little tricky right now.