1-Hour Chinese New Year Lesson for Kids
Use this super fun and simple Lunar New Year (or Chinese New Year) lesson with your next children’s ESL class.
Note: Depending on which country you’re teaching in, people will use Lunar New Year or Chinese New Year to describe this holiday. We will use the terms interchangeably throughout this lesson.
Materials:
(1) Lunar New Year flashcards
You can make your own or download our super cute Chinese New Year flashcards for $2.99.
This complete 25 lesson – Intermediate Unit is perfect for conversation classes, online tutoring, and one-on-one classes. Try the first lesson for free!
(2) Lunar New Year coloring page
- You can download ours for free here.
(3) Fly swatters
(4) A ball or stuffed animal
(5) A cell phone to play music
The vocabulary words for this lesson are…
- red envelopes,
- couplets,
- orange tree,
- spring cleaning,
- mahjong,
- fish,
- red clothes,
- fireworks,
- dumplings,
- fortune,
- pray,
- lucky
The target sentences are…
“What will you do for Lunar New Year?”
“I will…”
Step 1: Introduce the new vocabulary. (5 minutes)
Show students the flashcards. Encourage students to repeat the new vocabulary words after you.
Step 2: Play fly swatters. (10 minutes)
Stick all of the Lunar New Year flashcards on the board. Divide students into teams. Call someone from each team up and give each student a fly swatter. The teacher says a vocabulary word and each student tries to hit the flashcard with a fly swatter.
Step 3: Practice pronunciation as a class. (5 minutes)
Practice saying the new words together as a class. With older students just show them the flashcard and have them repeat the word after you. With younger students practice saying the word quietly and then louder. You can make this more fun by encouraging everyone to squat down and whisper the word, stand up to say it louder, and jump up to shout the vocabulary word.
Step 6: Play hot potato. (10 minutes)
Get students to sit in a circle and give one student a ball (or stuffed animal). Play some music. Students pass the ball around the circle while the music is playing. When the music stops, the teacher shows the student holding the ball a flashcard. That student has to say the word. Listen carefully for correct pronunciation and if students make a mistake, help them pronounce it correctly. Play the music and stop it several times so you can hear plenty of students speak.
Step 7: Have a short conversation. (10-15 minutes)
Ask students what they will do for Chinese New Year.
For younger students, they will need more support. If your students are young, write the following phrases on the board.
“What will you do for Lunar New Year?”
“I will…”
Ask your younger students to help you brainstorm some responses, such as, “I will open red envelopes, I will eat fish, I will do some spring cleaning, etc.”
Next, tell students that they are going to mingle and ask one another what they are doing for Chinese New Year. Tell them to try to remember their classmates’ responses because you are going to quiz them when the mingling activity is over.
For older students, simply split them up into groups and have them chat about what they’re going to do for Lunar New Year. You can call on individuals after students have had a chance to talk. Let a few students tell the class what they’ll do for the new year.
Step 8: Final activity for younger or older students. (15 minutes)
For younger students, simply let them color the Lunar New Year orange tree. You can let them put their pictures up on the wall when they’ve finished, or they can walk around the classroom and show their friends their coloring.
For older students, let them plan the perfect Chinese New Year holiday. Put them in small groups and instruct them to work together to craft the ideal holiday. Will they eat dumplings? Fish? Something else? Will they visit their families or hang out with friends? Will they go to the temple to pray? Are they going to play games?
Note: Be sure to tell the students how much time they have to plan. If you only have 10 minutes left of class, make sure students know they only have 5 minutes to quickly discuss a few ideas. If you want this activity to carry on into the next class (or the next day), be sure to tell students they’ll have the full 15 minutes to plan.
After your older students have had a few minutes to plan their ideal holidays, you can choose just one or two groups to tell their ideas to the class. You could also let every group present their ideas, which will take much longer.
Whatever you choose, be sure to listen to your students as they talk amongst each other and provide feedback on students’ pronunciation, grammar, and use of the new vocabulary.
