Are you wanting to celebrate Lunar New Year with your toddler and looking for fun games and activities to do? Whether it’s making paper lanterns and origami, watching a dragon dance or immersing yourself in Lunar New Year celebrations, there are a plethora of things you can do with your toddler. So read on for some inspiring lunar activity ideas!
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What Is Lunar New Year?
Lunar New Year is the new year based on lunar or lunisolar calendars rather than the Gregorian calendar. A lunisolar calendar uses both the phases of the moon and the Earth’s orbit around the sun.
Chinese New Year in 2025 falls on January 29th, has 7 days of public holidays until February 4th (though celebrations can last up to 16 days) and celebrates the Year of the Snake. Here’s more about how communities celebrate Chinese New Year.
Why Is It Now Called Lunar New Year?
Lunar New Year refers to celebrations by all cultures which use a lunar calendar to mark the new year. Different cultures celebrate on different dates. So Lunar New Year is a more umbrella term than Chinese New Year etc. which refers just to China rather than the rest of Asia as well.
1. Decorate Your Home In Red And Yellow
Red and yellow are lucky colours in China, so why not make some traditional decorations or some easy home-made paper chains in red and gold? Or you can do a ‘red’ and ‘gold’ hunt around the house – see what items you and your toddler can find and sort them into two piles for fun.
2. Make Paper Lanterns
Use A4 paper or card for this. First, you need to cut off a strip of paper or card for the handle. Then (and your toddler can help do this using children’s scissors), fold the paper in half lengthways and make cuts from one edge of the paper towards the centre. If you don’t want to use a stapler (as they do in the video below), just use a glue stick or tape to fasten the two edges of the lantern together and attach the handle.
3. Go To A Baby Or Toddler Class With A Lunar New Year Theme
With such a range of baby and toddler classes out there, many will adopt a Lunar New Year theme towards the end of January. Ask your class provider or do a quick class search to see what’s on near you.
4. Use CBeebies To Help Explain Lunar New Year To Your Toddler
Watch children explain Lunar New Year in this clip from JoJo And Gran Gran. You can also see an animation of a lion dance – both lions and dragons are lucky animals.
5. Learn Some Chinese
Check out these free resources to help your child learn some basic Mandarin Chinese.
If you’re looking for an in-person experience, click here for Mandarin classes suitable for toddlers from 18 months old.
6. Make Spring Rolls Or Dumplings
Even your toddler can get involved in some basic cooking and food preparation as a Lunar New Year activity.
Here’s a toddler-friendly spring roll recipe where your child can get involved with the spooning of the ingredients, wrapping and rolling. Here’s another one of a child making dumplings:
7. Make Snake, Dragon Or Lion Artwork
2025 is the Year Of The Snake, while dragons and lions both symbolise good luck in Chinese culture. So you’ll often see a lion or dragon dance around Lunar New Year. You could make a dragon or lion picture. Use toddler fingerprints for the lion’s mane or for the dragon’s fire.
Other cultures use some slightly different animals in their zodiac. For example, in Thailand, there is a snake-like creature called Naga instead of a dragon. In Vietnam it’s a cat instead of a rabbit. Again, your toddler could make pictures of these.
8. Make A Dragon And Perform A Dragon Dance
If you’ve got loads of boxes lying around, you can use these to make a body and head for a dragon at home. Some outdoor nature groups will include crafts like making a dragon and the toddlers will get to carry the dragon along in a line.
Here’s how you can make a smaller Lunar New Year dragon using handprints, colours and lolly pop sticks.Or use this template to make a dragon with concertina body. Here’s a dragon puppet from Messy Monster which you could then use in a dance or puppet show.
9. Catch The Dragon’s Tail Game
If there are several kids or adults around at Lunar New Year, you can play a game where you all stand in a line with your hands on the shoulders of the person in front and try to ‘catch the dragon’s tail’. The idea is that the dragon’s head is the first person in the line and the last person is its tail. The head tries to catch the tail while the people in the middle try to prevent this by moving around. But you can’t break the line.
Thanks to Netmums for this idea.
10. Make Dragons Breathing Fire Using Toilet Rolls
For a dragon breathing fire, you just need a toilet roll tube and some tissue paper. Draw eyes on the toilet roll and decorate it so it looks like a dragon’s head. Glue strips of tissue paper at one end, so when you blow through it it looks like a dragon breathing fire.
With thanks to Glyn of NCT Herts North Nature Tots for this idea
11. Make Paper Plate Dragon Heads
Here’s another one for our list of Lunar New Year toddler activities: a paper plate dragon! You just need a paper plate, lollipop stick and some paint or fabric to decorate it. Your toddler may need some help with the cutting of the shapes but should be able to do some fun painting and decorating.
12. Make A Hongbao
Hongbaos are little red envelopes that older relatives use to put money in for children. With a bit of help, toddlers can help fold the paper or decorate these. Follow the instructions in this video for kids below. You just need some red and yellow paper, some scissors, glue and thread. The yellow paper lantern you can use to decorate it is very cute.
13. Watch Some Fireworks
With celebrations for Lunar New Year falling at the end of January, there will be plenty of fireworks around if your toddler likes fireworks. Or use our handy guide to help your children if they’re afraid of fireworks for alternative ideas.
14. Make A Firework Model
Here are some easy firework art and firework models using toilet roll tubes. Simply stuff a toilet roll with lots of different coloured tissue paper so it looks like a firework coming out of the bottom of the tube.
15. Make Firework Pictures
Perhaps you could make some footprint rockets? Fill a small tray or takeaway tub with washable toddler paint. Your toddler steps in the paint with each foot and makes a set of footprints on a piece of paper on the floor. You can add extra toe prints for the sparks coming out of the bottom of the rocket. Draw or stick extra shapes on by hand for the body of the rocket – and voilà!
16. Make Origami Bangers
These are fun – and loud! – to make. You will need an A4 piece of paper to fold. Follow the instructions along with the video and help your toddler fold to make a banger they can operate by hand!
17. Take A Walk Through Chinatown
If you live in a town or city with a Chinatown, it can be really fun to take a stroll and see all the Chinese lanterns and other decorations. Dragon dances, parades and fireworks during are great toddler activities during Lunar New Year. If your toddler’s not a fan of crowds, standing at the entrance and looking through the archway can be a good alternative. Did you know that Manchester has the second largest Chinatown in the UK and the third largest in Europe? Other centres include Birmingham, Liverpool, Leeds and Glasgow.
18. Visit A Museum Or Local Community Event
Museums like the Royal Museums at Greenwich often host lots of activities and celebrations for Lunar New Year that you can do with your toddler and there are others around the country. For example, there’s a one-day festival in Trafalgar Square, celebrations in Hippodrome Square in Birmingham and a Lunar New Year celebration at Manchester Museum.
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