The Chinese New Year begins on February 14, 2010 and will usher in the Year of the Tiger. As always this is an exciting day that you may want to celebrate in a big or small way. Your celebration could be as simple as visiting your local international district in your town and taking in the spectacular culture, sites, and yummy food for the day. If you want to create a simple celebration at your home and teach your children about this New Year, find inspiration here:

1. Have the children draw and color pictures of tigers. Alternatively, using orange and brown Play Dough, the children can create small tiger figures.

2. How about creating a large paper crepe tiger that the children can place over their bodies. Have them line up and run together in a line creating one tiger. Using the large pieces of crepe paper, have the kids use colored pencils to create a tiger’s body, soft orange with brown stripes. This would make a great video!

3. Play Tiger May I?

4. Play Pin the Stripe on the Tiger

5. Play Tiger Tag. Designate one child to be a tiger and then have them play the traditional game of tag…as everyone is tagged, all become tigers.

6. Serve the kids a sampling of Chinese food to begin the New Year. Dumplings, noodles, crispy wontons, and rice would make good choices. Don’t forget the Fortune Cookies!

Send the kids home with paper lanterns. Purchase inexpensive plain ones from a craft store and have the kids decorate them and parade them out of your home as they depart.

With the Chinese New Year falling on Valentine’s Day this year, it’s a double reason to celebrate! Bring the celebration alive for your kids with these simple, but fun ideas.

By Lisa Kothari, Peppers and Pollywogs

To find local businesses offering birthday discounts & freebies visit: Free Birthday Treats.

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