We had a little celebration of the Chinese New Year yesterday.
We started with a visual re-telling of the story of how the Jade Emperor decided on the animals of the Chinese calendar. I told the story, read from a powerpoint presentation off my laptop, and acted out the story with toys and a little scene made with tin foil, a couple of chiffons, some pebbles, bits of wood and some plastic stone and tree ornaments. The boys were engaged, but I learnt it would have been better not to have the powerpoint presentation, for some reason they were more drawn to looking at the pictures on the screen than the story I was acting out for them.
After I told the story a couple of times (again on their request) they had a go at playing around with the toys on the river, and tried acting the story out too.
Later we made some Chinese lanterns. I had to give quite a lot of help with some parts of the lamp making but they were pleased with the results.
(My example)
Biscuits effort; he mostly did the cutting and I did the rest.
Boris' effort; he had a real go at making the lantern himself, though got frustrated at times when things weren't going exactly his way.
And for dinner, well a Chinese stir fry of course.
I hope you all enjoyed a happy Chinese New Year!
