Lunar New Year Papercutting Craft
Chinese Lunar New Year paper cutting craft is a lot of fun for children. This paper design art is originated from cutting patterns for Chinese embroidery and later developed into folk art. The history of paper cutting began during the Hàn dynasty in China. It was in the 4th century. You may want to share some of the following cultural facts with your children when you introduce this Chinese New Year paper cutting craft.
Questions: What is the Chinese character for this Chinese New Year paper cutting craft?
The Chinese character is “spring 春.” It is pronounced as “chūn.” It means spring (season) in Chinese.
Question: Where is paper invented?
Answer: Paper is invented in China.
Question: Who invented the paper?
Answer: A Chinese official, Cài Lún 蔡倫|蔡伦 invented paper in 105 AD.
Questions: Why Chinese character “Spring” paper cutting or lucky word sign is seen during the celebration of Chinese New Year?
Answer: What we know as the “Chinese New Year” in the Western world is called “Lunar Calendar (New) Year” 農曆年 |农历年 or “Spring Festival” 春節 | 春节in Chinese. More fun facts…
- You will see the Chinese word, “Spring” printed on a red diamond or square paper during the lunar new year as one of the lucky word signs in the market for sale.
- Chinese people will post this lucky word sign, Spring on the door.
- You might also see this lucky word sign, Spring is being posted upside down. Why? It is a play on word. It indicates the arrival of the spring.
- The arrival of the Chinese New Year means the arrival of the spring season.
- Papercutting papers for the Chinese New Year celebration are almost always red.
- Red is the lucky and auspicious color for the Chinese.
- Lunar New Year is celebrated in China, Taiwan, Singapore, Korea, and Vietnam. In addition, many countries with a Chinese population also celebrate this important cultural festival, which includes Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, and The Philippines.
This 3D Chinese New Year paper cutting craft is designed for children who can use scissors independently. For younger kids (kindergarten and under), adult supervision and adult assistance are needed. This is a simple paper cutting craft for the Lunar New Year. My students love it!
Paper Cutting Project: Chinese character 春 = chūn = spring.
Craft Supplies:
1. Colored printing papers: Red is always the best color for the Chinese New Year.
2. A pair of scissors.
3. String or ribbon for hanging (optional).
Directions:
1. Click on the printable image below and print it on colored paper.
2. Fold two triangles and crease well. Cut the extra part on top and make the paper a big square. Then fold the paper in half from the left then from the bottom.
3. Push the left and right sides in and form two big triangles back to back. Then flatten the two triangles with template side up.
4. Fold the triangle in half. (shown in the left). Then cut out the shaded parts (shown on the right). You can cut the tip of the top off and thread a string or ribbon through for hanging.
5. Now open it up and you have the finished project!
If you and your children enjoy this Chinese New Year paper cutting project you will also have a lot of fun with the Lunar New Year Greetings & Craft unit
Play, Make and Learn! Words and Phrases that you can use while doing this craft:
English – Traditional Chinese characters – Pinyin
spring – 春天 – chūn tiān
spring festival – 春節 – chūn jié
paper cutting – 剪紙 – jiǎn zhǐ
craft – 勞作 – láo zuò
paper – 紙 – zhǐ
color – 顏色 – yán sè
colored paper – 有顏色的紙 – yǒu yán sè de zhǐ
scissors – 剪刀 – jiǎn dāo
to cut – 剪 – jiǎn
to fold – 折 – zhé
to open – 打開 – dǎ kāi
—
Culture notes that apply to this craft:
Paper – An Invention of China – History of Paper Kids.
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OOOOh so pretty! I bet my daughter Gabriela would love making those on colored paper! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for dropping by. This is a fun craft for kids. You can use colored printing papers or card stock. My daughter also enjoyed this project. Happy Lunar New Year!
This craft looks so fun!! I can’t wait to try it with my daughter!
Have a lot of fun! They look so pretty when you hang it up.
Thanks again for this printable! We just made a bunch of these in different colors as you suggested. Will post a pic soon. Excited to have included you in my list of favorite Chinese New Year activities! https://chalkacademy.com/fun-educational-chinese-new-year-activities-kids/
I was delighted to hear that you had such a fun time adding culture crafts to your Chinese language teaching. Thank you for including this craft project to your post! -Amanda Miss Panda
Such a great tutorial and easy to follow. Thanks!
So delighted to know that you have found it easy to follow. Thank you for your kind words!
I’ll be featuring this post on my blog for Multicultural Kid Blogs Creative Kid Culture’s Blog Hop.
Thank you very much for featuring this post! What an honor! This culture craft project has always been a hit for children’s Chinese culture programs. My middle school and high school volunteers this year loved it as well.