DIY Toys: Lion Dance (Chinese New Year)

Here's a fun Chinese New Year lesson that we did during our homeschool co-op. We generally try to do co-operative activities that require the children to work together. The children decorated the lion heads and did the lion dance... and made a huge mess and a lot of noise!

Enjoy the ruckus! (Don't do this at night.)

Chinese New Year Lesson Plan:

1. Warm up:
   Musical Statues (Music: 恭喜恭喜 ）
2. Song:
   Learn how to sing 恭喜恭喜
3. Story:
   The Legend of the "Nian"
   (Find a version that explains how the villagers created the lion dance to scare the "Nian" beast away. I got mine from the library)
   Here are some story resources for reference.
   Cartoon: The Legend of Chinese Festivals-Legend of Two Monsters - Nian节庆传说-年
   Cartoon: 动画--年的故事
   Website: History of the Chinese Lion Dance
   Website: History of Lion Dance
4. Craft:
   Paint the lion faces
   Stick cotton wool for the eyebrows and beard.
   Stick ribbons to make the dangling beard
5. Speech and Drama:
   Re-enact the story
   Include the villagers performing the Lion Dance
   End with the villagers singing 恭喜恭喜 to celebrate the new year (and their not having been eaten!)

Props
Metal bowls and pot covers for cymbals
Drums/boxes and sticks.
Red cloth to decorate houses

Costumes
Old lady and villagers: shawls/playsilks
Old beggar: walking stick/bag/cloak
"Nian"beast: Mask/colourful playsilk/shawl

Cast
1. Nian
2. Old woman
3. Old beggar
4. Villagers
i. lion head
ii. lion tail
iii. drums
iv. cymbals


Pre-lesson Preparation

1. Lion head:
Collect cardboard boxes

2. Lion face:
Draw lion faces on large pieces of cardboard. I used this template.
Cut them out and stick them on the boxes with masking tape.
Cut out the mouth of the lion.

3. Lion body:
Use red cloth (about 1 x 1.5 metres per lion). Attach the cloths to the boxes (I pierced holes in the boxes using a pen, inserted the corners of the cloth into the holes, and tied a knot to secure each corner. You may want to attach the cloth only after the painting session, if you want the cloth to remain red. But I felt that the paint stains on the cloth worked well as designs on the lions' bodies!

4.  Song Lyrics

恭喜 恭喜

每条大街小巷
每个人的嘴里
见面第一句话
就是恭喜恭喜

恭喜恭喜恭喜你呀
恭喜恭喜恭喜你

冬天一到尽头
真是好的消息
温暖的春风
吹醒了大地

恭喜恭喜恭喜你呀
恭喜恭喜恭喜你