It’s amazing to see how the awareness of Lunar New Year has increased in the US over the last decade. Most people don’t realize I am actually half Chinese and this holiday has been a big one for my family for as long as I can remember. With Kayla attending a Mandarin immersion school I wanted to create a lunar new year printable so she could share some gifts with her class.
I chose to use mandarin oranges because oranges are seen as a sign of abundance and good fortune AND these make a wholesome and inexpensive gift. Score one for mom. When I created this lunar new year printable I wanted to make it kid-friendly and cheeky so it includes a silly play on words with the “orange you glad” part. If you’re wondering what the Mandarin characters say, their translation is “new year happiness.” There are a few different phrases you can use to say happy new year, but I went with this one after asking Kayla’s teacher.
I picked up a couple of bags of Halos mandarins for about $10 total, loaded up my printer with some card stock and printed a bunch of these cards. I used a Elmer’s glue spot to hold each mandarin orange in place, cut a couple of slits in the card stock and tied the mandarin on with some red bakers twine. I love using bakers twine for these projects because it’s super strong and inexpensive. No joke, I have been using the same roll for over a year continuously and have yet to run out!
This printable is a great way to share a treat and a bit of culture with your child’s class or at a lunar new year party. I also personally think it’s less awkward than sending your child to school with cash…for obvious reasons and since those red envelopes or hongbaos you might see usually contain money and are traditionally given by adults to children rather than from children to other children.
You can download my lunar new year printable, pick up some Halos and do some stress free lunar new year crafting with your child! Just click the link, download the file and when you print set it to fill the entire paper. Good luck and happy new year!
