Free Chinese New Year Craft

According to the Chinese calendar, today marks the start of the Year of the Rabbit. Do you know why people wear red, why children receive money in red envelopes, or why some people paint the doors to their houses red? Red is a color that is supposed to scare away bad luck and bring good luck. This and many other interesting facts about Chinese New Year along with fun counting exercises are included in our title Chinese New Year: Count and Celebrate for grades 1–3.

If you're looking for a fun craft to celebrate the New Year, here's instructions on how to make a Dragon Streamer Puppet from our Chinese New Year Crafts book.

What you will need:

• construction paper
• bright fluffy feathers or bright tissue paper
• crepe paper in bright colors
• scissors
• glue
• wiggle eyes

1. Pick a piece of construction paper in a bright color. Fold the paper in half. Cut the corners opposite the
    fold to make them round. This is the dragon's head.

2. To make the dragon's mane, glue fluffy feathers along the folded edge or use fringed tissue paper. Cut   
    construction paper about 2 inches wide and about the same width of the dragon's head. Cut long, curving
    points to look like eyebrows. Glue in place to cover the ends of the feathers.

3. Cut two half-circles of paper for the eyes. Glue wiggle eyes to the half-circles. Glue some feather fluff to
    the backs of the eyes to make eyelashes. Glue the eyes below the eyebrows. Cut two shapes for nostrils.
    Glue in place.

4. For the dragon's whiskers, glue narrow feathers behind the nostrils. Cut six strips of crepe paper about 3
    feet long. Glue to the underside near the folded edge, overlapping the strips. Cut a strip of paper about 1
    inch wide and about the width of the head. Fold 1 inch under on either end. Glue the folded tabs to the
    underside of the head and let dry. This is the handle for your puppet. Glue long strips of tissue paper under
    the bottom "lip" of the dragon to form the dragon's beard.

5. Let everything dry completely. When the puppet is ready, hold it by the handle and make it dance around!