Learning about Chinese New Year? Our free Chinese lantern template is perfect as a simple activity that kids can decorate while they find out about this fun celebration.
We’ve got lots of ideas on how you can use printable as well as more ideas and inspiration for Chinese New Year activities for kids.
RELATED: Chinese New Year Crafts for Toddlers
We have included affiliate links to some of the products and resources and as an associate we may earn from qualifying purchases.
What You'll Find on This Page
How can you celebrate Chinese New Year at home
When my kids were younger we used to visit our local Chinese restaurant where they would put on a dragon dance for Chinese New Year.
After we moved that was no longer possible but there’s still lots of ways you can celebrate Chinese New Year at home, try making and eating Chinese food together, putting up decorations and trying out Chinese New Year crafts and activities like the ones below.
You could even give red envelopes to each other, if you don’t want to put a crisp monetary note in as is traditional why not try a note for something fun like a movie night or staying up a bit past bedtime?
How to decorate your Chinese Lantern Template
Coloring – This is the easiest go-to option for kids and there’s nothing wrong with that at all! Just print your template onto white paper and grab your coloring pencils, markers or or crayons.
Dot stickers – Using dot stickers like these would be a great mess free way to colour in your lantern. Stickers are also great for helping with your child’s pincer grasp and hand strength. The OT Toolbox has a great article on the benefits of playing with stickers from an occupational therapy point of view if you’d like to find out more about this.
Mosaic – Make an easy mosaic Chinese lantern craft like this fun activity I did with my daughter. Older kids can try to create a proper mosaic pattern without the paper pieces touching while for young kids you can help them add the glue to the main shape so that all the bits of paper stay in the correct area. This activity is a great way to practice using scissors too.
Washi Tape – Cut or tear pieces of colored washi tape and use them to decorate your lantern template.
Tissue Paper – Check out our tissue paper lanterns for inspiration. We scrunched tissue paper to colour in the main part of our lanterns.
How do you make a Chinese Lantern?
If you’d like to make a Chinese lantern out of paper or card they’re really easy to make and a bit of a kids craft classic!
We made these lanterns and decorated them. To make Chinese lanterns just follow the same instructions but use red card or paper fr your lantern instead.
More Chinese New Year Crafts
Download and color our printable 3D Chinese New Year Scene with four different designs to choose from.
This Chinese Dragon craft uses another of our free printable templates and is painted using q-tips.
Use our free paper lantern template and make this spring blossom inspired Chinese lantern craft.
How To Get Your Chinese Lantern Template
To get the free template, subscribe below in the box to the Crafts on Sea newsletter.
Once you’ve confirmed your email address they will be delivered to your inbox as a free gift.
Please make sure you check ALL folders for the confirmation email in case it goes into your spam folder.
Leave a Reply