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!
Looking for fun activities with your baby or toddler? There are thousands of classes and groups on Happity. Find one you’ll love here.
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.
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.
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.
Want to get out and about, have fun with your baby or toddler, and meet other parents?
Search Happity to find everything that’s happening for the under-5s in your local area – from music and singing classes, to messy play, arts and crafts, baby massage, gymnastics and more. Simply enter your postcode and child’s age to search, and then book your spot in a few taps. Enjoy dedicated fun time with your little one, watch their skills develop, and make friends at the same time. Mums, dads, grandparents and carers will all find something to love!
I’ve always struggled with social interaction to various degrees. I was known as the girl who didn’t hug at school. I don’t mind hugging at all. I just find it hard to work out if someone is coming in for a hug / kiss / handshake as it causes me stress if they don’t make it obvious. So I just don’t unless they come in strong!
We’re joined by Emily, co-founder of Happity, who is sharing her story and talking about what life is like as a neurodivergent parent after her recent diagnosis with ADHD and ASD. She’s here to share what she’s personally found helps her to get by, in the hopes that other parents might feel seen and take away ideas of how to help themselves as a parent.
The Growing Understanding Of Neurodiversity
There is no denying that the number of kids being diagnosed with Neurodiversity (ADHD, ASD, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, etc.) has hugely grown over the last decade or so. Whilst some put this down to tech-focused childhoods or ultra-processed foods, others put it down to pollution or genetics. Nurseries and schools need to think of different ways to ensure neurotypical and neurodivergent kids are able to learn alongside each other. And in my opinion, this is a great thing.
The world needs different types of people (both types of brains) to see innovation. Some of the biggest innovations have come from people who are reportedly neurodivergent. Bill Gates is reported to have Dyslexia and ADHD, and Steve Jobs has Dyslexia. Albert Einstein, whilst living long before diagnosis was available, was believed by experts to have been diagnosed with ADHD, Dyslexia & Autism should he be alive today.
Notably, these are all men. This is partially due to the fact that in history, men were in the position to innovate (or have their innovations promoted). But this is also because picking up neurodiversity in women is typically much harder.
Nowadays, there are many successful women also being diagnosed. Simone Biles, Emma Watson, Cara Delevingne.
And me.
I’m not pretending to be as successful as any of those women (or men!) but now that I’ve been diagnosed (with ADHD and ASD) I’m even more proud of what I’ve achieved. Top grades, top university, top job, and now Happity reaches 2.6m parents each year and helps nearly 6k providers to grow their business. Because it was even more against the odds.
The Signs I Had That I Was A Neurodivergent Parent
I’ve always struggled with social interaction to various degrees. I was known as the girl who didn’t hug at school. I don’t mind hugging at all, I just find it hard to work out if someone is coming in for a hug / kiss / handshake as it causes me stress if they don’t make it obvious. So I just don’t unless they come in strong!
I also pick up EVERYTHING. Every. Last. Detail. So my brain is whirring with thoughts, ideas, and worries constantly. It’s pretty exhausting!
Don’t get me wrong, it can be helpful/entertaining sometimes. My husband and I can hardly watch anything on TV without me knowing exactly what’s going to happen (from “that person is going to die”, “the woman is pregnant”, “they’re going to throw up” seconds/minutes/episodes before it happens!) And it is SUPER useful at work. If Sara (fellow co-founder of Happity) and I discuss doing something, I’ve generally done it within minutes of us deciding to action it. I wouldn’t take no for an answer in COVID when new parents’ mental health wasn’t supported (so much so we changed the law!)
And don’t get me started on when my son had suspected meningitis and I was directing traffic in the rain, whilst orchestrating my parents to be the other side of a jam to carry him to if needed, whilst persuading an off-duty ambulance to pop on its sirens to try to get us through.
But then I crash.
The Two Moods When You’re A Neurodivergent Parent
I have two options.
On hyperdrive, or, well, on the sofa. Which is where you will find me every night from about 8:30pm watching trash. Those are my natural states, but I’ve been learning how to find more of a middle ground. Not letting myself get too “hyper” is key. Vagus nerve resetting techniques (more info further down!) come in handy, as well as planning in downtime after something I know will use up lost of energy.
The world needs those who think outside the box as well as those who think within it. The schooling system would never have been dreamt up if it weren’t for people able to think up the idea to start with, and it wouldn’t have succeeded if there weren’t also people able to build the processes and systems to enable it to be scaled up across the UK / world!
(Incidentally, it will take someone else to think outside the box to clean up the mess that is the UK education system, but that’s for another time!)
Why Have More Parents Been Diagnosed As Neurodivergent Recently?
There has been an upward trend of parents (primarily women) in their 30s and 40s being diagnosed recently. It left me wondering about a few things.
Firstly, is there a link between ADHD / Neurodiversity and PND? It is well documented that I struggled with PND, and incidentally was one of the first women to speak out about this in media. I set up a hugely successful campaign to get people talking about maternal mental health, and wouldn’t take no for an answer in Covid when new parents’ mental health wasn’t supported. I’m sure the ADHD part of me that’s happy to think outside the box and put myself out there to help others is what instigated all this.
But secondly, what can we do to help neurodivergent parents? There is a lot out there (although not enough!) helping to support parents of neurodivergent kids. But what about parents who are themselves neurodivergent?
It’s not something we’ve had to think about as a society until recently. Because it just hasn’t been an issue that most people have been aware of.
While I can’t claim to be an expert, I can talk about what has helped me. So here are my top tips for helping neurodivergent parents from my first-hand experience of being a neurodivergent parent!
But please remember, as the saying goes “When you’ve met one neurodivergent person, you’ve met one neurodivergent person”. So whilst these are my top tips, which I hope will help you as a neurodivergent parent / a supporter of one, everyone is different.
1. Don’t Beat Yourself Up For Not Being Able To Do Imaginative / Free / Role Play
We recently started to write a blog for Happity called, “27 Simple Play Ideas With Toddlers” – and our lovely blog writer Liz asked me to review it (as she knew I’d found it hard to “play”). My feedback to her was that it was well-written, and had great ideas, but it filled me with absolute dread. It was full of imaginative ideas like “put a dinosaur on your head and pretend to be…” or “pick a random kitchen item and start to play with it together”.
I’m sure for the creatives out there that sounds like a lot of fun. But to me, I knew this would just sap my energy in about 2.7 seconds.
Time and time again I’ve tried sitting down with my son to play and it’s like someone has injected me with a tranquiliser. My eyes start to droop, my back starts to ache (and it’s not just the middle age creeping in) and I want to be anywhere else but there.
Which is really sad. Because I love spending time with my son. I just couldn’t do it this way.
What I find works for me is to have planned activities. Things like baking, crafts, trips out, playdates, classes: anything with a structure and a plan! I know for some this is more stressful, but for me this takes the stress out of the day. I’d much prefer to create a humongous mess in the kitchen or be out and about all day than attempt to use imagination and free play.
2. Sleep Is Even More Important
Research says that sleep (and exercise and eating well) is even more important to a neurodivergent person. Because changes in hormones etc can affect us more.
Good luck to new parents, I hear you say!
I struggled with chronic insomnia for about 6 months (when my son was 3-9 months old). The doctors eventually tried strong sleeping pills on me and I still didn’t sleep more than 1 hour a night.
It was awful. And contributed hugely to the severe PND and Postnatal Anxiety I struggled with for months and years after.
Now this is a tricky one. It’s really hard to say to a new parent “just get more sleep”. It’s not like the baby that you lovingly hold in your arms has got that memo!
But it really helps if partners, parents and friends can understand that parents with neurodivergence will need more downtime. It can help to unwind from the constant touch from a baby (particularly difficult for those with ASD), or the constant “on-ness” (particularly difficult for those with ADHD – we’re described as having Ferraris for brains but bikes for brakes, and I definitely find this!)
Alternative Things You Can Do To Get The Downtime
Finding time to breathe, meditating, taking a quick walk in nature, or a bath at the end of a busy day can be really useful to slow down. I used to cross-stitch between bedtime and my evening (of trashy TV!) and I’ve also done the couch to 5k more times that I can count now my son is at school.
Also, finding out what makes your brain whirr can really help. What triggers that blur of thoughts that you can’t stop until you crash? Can you / your partner / someone close help to see this coming and help you to stop?
For me, it’s if I’m lucky enough to go out for the evening with friends or have them around ours for dinner. I will talk and talk and talk and talk. And I love it.
But I also know that once I’m alone at home with my husband, I will need at least 90 minutes of “downtime”. Probably with trashy TV before it’s even worth me trying to go to bed. This is how I got over my insomnia: not going to bed until I literally couldn’t not go to bed. If I went up earlier than this, I’d be awake until 2 / 3am versus perhaps 11pm/midnight going to bed naturally. And if this wind-down couldn’t start until too late I’m going to be paying for it for days in exhaustion.
So can you / your partner / a friend help by giving you a curfew? And by helping you plan your days so you don’t plan too much? (Look up spoon theory!) Try to find a nice balance between being out and about, and chilling.
3. The Need To Feel In Control – And How To Cope When You Don’t Feel That
As neurodivergent people, becoming a parent can feel even more overwhelming. Having ASD means I like to know what’s going on, what’s the plan, and how I can escape if it all gets too much. Seriously, you’ll always find me sitting at the end of a row. And if I’m not I probably won’t be there for very long!
I even created a “process map” for having a shower in the few weeks after having a c-section to ensure I did it in the most efficient way that was least likely to end up rupturing my scar. You can probably also blame this on the fact I was stuck on a ward for the first 36 hours after my c-section next to someone who had ruptured theirs!
Now did the process map really help me be more efficient? No. But what it did do was help me feel in control at a time when everything felt out of control.
It can be really difficult for someone who is neurodivergent when things feel out of control. I’ve found some great techniques to “reset the vagus nerve” really help. Splashing cold water/ice on your face or chest. Putting your bare feet on grass or soil. A weird nose breathing trick (push one nostril closed and breath in through the other, push the other nostril closed and breath out, and in, then swap nostrils.)
And those around you need to understand this. When you get irrationally irritated because plans have changed, it’s because your brain is too overwhelmed. And sometimes just having someone calling this out helps.
Thank You To Emily For Sharing Your Story!
As mentioned above, neurodivergence in parents is a topic that is still fairly new to the table. Whilst there have likely been many neurodivergent parents in the world throughout history, we’re now living in a time where more people are being diagnosed and confirmed to have these conditions. It’s only now that we can begin to understand them more thoroughly (and adapt) in the best ways that suit us!
If you or a loved one are curious about ASD/ADHD, or any of the other neurodivergencies mentioned in this article, we recommend further investigating the signs through websites like the NHS. There’s one about Autism in adults here and one about ADHD here. There are also articles about Dyspraxia and Dyslexia.
And if you would like to investigate it further to get a diagnosis, then the best person to talk to is your GP. While many are quite happy to go through life without a diagnosis (even when they believe they aren’t neurotypical), it can be incredibly validating for neurodivergent adults to receive it. People don’t always choose to get medicated if they receive the diagnosis in adulthood, as they’ve possibly already adapted to life with their neurodivergence. However, a diagnosis can help people to understand why they function just a little bit differently than those around them. If you think it could help you or a loved one to investigate some of these further, then we definitely recommend you give it a try.
Would You Like To Share Your Story?
We’d love to hear from you. This Is Family is all about sharing family stories. Especially from families who feel like their voices are not often heard. Every family has a unique story to tell. We’d love to hear yours. Find out how you can feature on our blog and get involved. So that other parents can feel less alone.
Want to get out and about, have fun with your baby or toddler, and meet other parents?
Search Happity to find everything that’s happening for the under-5s in your local area – from music and singing classes, to messy play, arts and crafts, baby massage, gymnastics and more. Simply enter your postcode and child’s age to search, and then book your spot in a few taps. Enjoy dedicated fun time with your little one, watch their skills develop, and make friends at the same time. Mums, dads, grandparents and carers will all find something to love!
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