Welcome to the Year of the Tiger!

Gung Hay Fat Choy! (Chinese)

Chuc Mung Nam Moi! (Vietnamese)

Happy Lunar New Year!

2010 is the Year of the Tiger!

We made "Chinese scrolls" to celebrate the Lunar New Year! We noticed that Chinese writing looks completely different than English letters, and learned that the characters are traditionally made with a brush and ink. Fortunately, we had stampers with Chinese characters on them and used these as a "finishing touch" on our scrolls.

Thanks to Uwajimaya for the New Year brochures that we cut up to use for our scrolls!

The photo above is a view of our Lunar New Year wall, complete with all our scrolls.
At Snacktime and Literature Circle we read lots of books about children celebrating the Lunar New Year in different countries. We learned that the color red is considered good luck, that children often get haircuts and new clothes, that families clean the house to prepare for the new year and "sweep out the old year" with a broom.

They cook lots of special foods, such as dumplings. Dumplings are symbolic of happiness, wealth and family togetherness.

We found that making dumplings brought us great happiness!

We filled the dumplings with yummy fillings that were fruity and sweet or a little spicy.

Then we steamed them... Every child ate the very dumplings that she/he made!

Thank you, Laurel, for creating this wonderful creative, cultural and culinary experience for us!

Many of the children couldn't finish eating all the dumplings that they made, so we will be sending them home for your child to have with dinner tonight. Enjoy!

Judith