ESL Chinese New Year Activities: Fun Lessons, Crafts, and Games for Students

Chinese New Year Activities for English Language Learners: Fun Lessons, Crafts, and Games for Students

Chinese New Year is a vibrant celebration full of rich traditions, making it a perfect opportunity to engage your ESL students in meaningful and fun activities.

Lunar New Year this year is January 29, 2025. Did you know that ....?

• 1/6 of the world population celebrates this day 
• One South American country has this as a holiday 
• It is the most traveled day of the year
• It breaks phone texting record each year
•  Vietnamese call the holiday "Tet"
• This is the year of the Snake 

Here are my favorite activities for English Language Learners that incorporate crafts, games, phonics, reading, and cultural exploration.

1. Building ESL Students' Background Knowledge: Color-Symbol-Image Routine

Begin by introducing your students to Chinese New Year traditions using the "Color-Symbol-Image" routine. Show pictures or short videos of Chinese New Year celebrations, including parades, dragon dances, firecrackers, and red envelopes. 

Observation: Begin by presenting an image, words, or graphics to your students/ English Language Learners (ELLs). Ask them to look closely and take in the stimulus.

Color Association: Encourage your students to think about what color immediately comes to their minds when they look at the stimulus. Have them draw or write down this color in the first column.

Symbol Generation: In the second column, prompt your students to think about a symbol that can represent the idea or concept conveyed by the stimulus. Encourage them to draw or write about this symbol.

Imagery: Finally, in the third column, ask your students to reflect on what image and what symbol comes to their minds when they think about the idea or concept from the stimulus. Have them draw or write this in the third column.

Discussion: Promote discussion among your students/ ELLs by having them share their color associations, generated symbols, and mental imagery. This can be done in pairs, small groups, or as a whole class activity.

Vocabulary Building: Integrate vocabulary building by discussing the words or phrases related to the stimulus and the symbols generated. Encourage your students ELLs to express these words and understand their meanings.

Why is this thinking routine beneficial to students?

This routine fosters creativity, vocabulary building, and deeper understanding by encouraging students to connect language concepts with colors, symbols, and imagery. It also promotes critical thinking, discussion and engagement, making language learning more interactive and memorable.

Encourage students to share their thoughts and questions. This activity builds curiosity and helps them connect prior knowledge to new learning. Grab my FREE Color-symbol-image here.

2. Word Study Workshop: ESL Vocabulary Games and Phonics Activities

a. Chinese New Year Word Study Games

Match the Dragon: Create cards with dragons, firecrackers, and envelopes featuring CVC words with short “A” sounds (e.g., "cat," "cap," "c"). Have students match the cards to complete the pairs.

b. Color-by-Code Worksheets:

Provide worksheets where students stretch and write CVC words in sound boxes, find the words hidden in pictures, and color them according to a code. For example, coloring dragons red and firecrackers yellow based on the word’s vowel sound.

These activities help reinforce phonics skills while connecting to the Chinese New Year theme.

3. Chinese New Year Crafts

First, have students read short differentiated texts about Chinese New Year, and then let them write about what they learned through these two writing crafts.  Crafting allows students to practice fine motor skills, learn new vocabulary, and explore Chinese culture. 

a. Chinese Glass Ball or Dragon Craft

Provide a craft cover in the shape of a Chinese glass ball or a dragon. Give out  inside pages that include information about : “All About Chinese New Year: 5Ws” (Who, What, Where, When, Why), “People, Places, Creatures, Things, and Traditions”, and a blank version for student customization.

c. Chinese New Year Crowns: Writing Craft for ESL Students in Grades K-2

During this writing activity, ELL students create festive crowns customized for 2025, the Year of the Snake. This resource includes crowns for the years 2025-2030. For your ESL newcomers, scaffolds in the form of traceable words, names of zodiac animals, and vocabulary are included. Just print, color, trace, cut, and assemble (tape or staple). This activity combines cultural learning with language practice.

4. Read Aloud: Picture Books About Chinese New Year

Choose a picture book that highlights Chinese New Year traditions, such as the meaning of the color red, dragons, firecrackers, cleaning the house, zodiac animals ,and red envelopes. After reading, discuss:

Why is the color red important?

What do firecrackers symbolize?

How does cleaning the house relate to the celebration?

This resource includes a powerpoint read aloud book and student booklets that mirror the book, plus post-reading activities that assess students' understanding.

 

5. ESL Vocabulary Games: Interactive and Fun

a. I Have, Who Has

Create cards with Chinese New Year vocabulary (e.g., dragon, lantern, envelope). Each card includes a statement like “I have a dragon. Who has a lantern?” Play as a class to reinforce vocabulary in an interactive way.

b. Write the Room

Get them moving on a Chinese New Year Vocabulary scavenger hunt! Place vocabulary cards around the room. Students walk around, find the cards, and write the words on their worksheets. Add a challenge by asking them to write a sentence using the word.

Conclusion

Chinese New Year offers a fantastic opportunity to teach your ESL students about a new culture while developing their language skills. Whether through crafts, phonics games, read-alouds, or vocabulary activities, these engaging ideas will make the celebration both educational and fun. By integrating these activities into your lessons, you’ll help students build their language proficiency while fostering an appreciation for cultural diversity.

Happy teaching, and Happy Chinese New Year!

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