Violet
5/2/24
Lunar New Year 2024
Lunar New Year this year is celebrated on Saturday 10th February. It is the celebration of the new year based on the Lunar calendar and its date is based on the new moon arriving in late January or early February. It is celebrated in China and in other Asian countries and by many communities all over the world.
The Lunar New Year is celebrated by spending time with family and friends. It begins with cleaning, getting rid of the old and getting ready for the new in a brand new year. Then delicious food, gifts of lucky red envelopes filled with money, new clothes, fireworks and parades with dragon and lion dances are used to celebrate. Then all the celebrations come to an end after 15 days with a special lantern festival when the new moon is at its fullest and brightest.
Year of the Dragon
The Lunar calendar is made up of a cycle of twelve years. Each year is named after one of 12 animals and these rotate. The animals are a…rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.
There is an ancient legend called The Great Race, which tells a story of how the animals the years are named after were put in the order they are in.
This year it is the year of the dragon. The last time it was the year of the dragon was in 2012. Some people believe you will be like the animal who’s year you are born in. If you are born in the year of the dragon it is thought to be very lucky. Someone born in the year of the dragon is thought to be intelligent, successful, confident and powerful.
Lunar New Year Origami Bookmarks
To celebrate this years Lunar New Year we made some simple origami bookmarks. You can make one too following the instructions and then decorating it to make your bookmark look like an animal.
Start with an A4 piece of paper
Fold a triangle shape
Cut off the top of paper
Fold a smaller triangle on one side
Then on the other side
And then open the paper back out
Fold a small triangle down from the top
Then fold one triangle over the top and fold it down inside
Repeat on the other side
Once you have finished folding your bookmark, turn it upside down and decorate it. We made a dragon and some of the other animals from the Lunar New Year story.
All photos and illustrations in this blog post are Whizzbots, Public Domain or Shutterstock Images.
Other images on the site may be Creative Commons Images, which are credited appropriately.