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 Party hats, bells, party games and songs for the children to help ring in the New Year + fun colourful paper lanterns to decorate for Chinese New Year and hang them around your home.
Bells
You will need yarn, a pencil, craft bells, reuse old foam cups and decorating materials. Have the children decorate their cup. Cut a piece of yarn, no longer than the height of the cup. Tie the yarn to the bell. Then poke a small hole on the bottom of the cup. Thread the yarn through the hole so the bell is inside the cup. Tie the yarn in a knot (or a couple of knots) so it will not come loose. Now you have a bell.
Bell Rings / Bangles
You will need to make these for the children. Older children can do the threading. Simply thread craft bells onto a small piece of elastic, long enough to fit around your children's ankle or wrist. Then sew the two ends together. These can be used for group time dancing, songs and games.
Small wooden bangles, tie craft bells with pieces of wool.
Paper Lanterns
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Use your ruler to measure and cut 1" off the short end of your paper. Set aside to use as the handle.
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Fold your paper in half lengthwise.
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Draw a line 1" from the end of the long edge of the paper opposite the folded edge. This will be the line where you stop cutting.
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Measure and mark lines 1" apart starting at the folded edge and moving towards the "stop cutting" line.
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Cut on the marked lines up to the "stop cutting" line.
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Unfold the paper.
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Re-crease the paper in the opposite direction. This will hide any pencil marks.
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Match the long edges together on the lantern and use tape to hold it in place.
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Staple the handle to the top of the lantern.
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Make as many lanterns as you wish and display them around your home.
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If you wish, add glue, glitter, sequins or other things found from around the home to decorate your lanterns.
Paper Party Hats
You will need coloured recycled construction paper, a stapler or tape, a hole punch and yarn at the minimum. You may choose to have the children decorate the paper with eco friendly paint, bees wax crayons, string, the year, or however they wish. After the paper has dried, form a cone shape to fit the child's head. Then staple or tape the shape securely. The cone shape is formed by rolling up the paper so the longer sides of the paper forms the top and bottom of the cone. After you have secured the shape with tape or staples, cut the bottom of the cone so it is even all the way around. Punch two holes in the hat near the bottom to attach a string that will secure the hat on the child's head. Tie on the string.
Celebrate the New Year
Write the number 2008 on a piece of paper and have the children decorate it with paint, crayons, string, lace, glitter, or whatever you find around the home and garden.
Chinese Good Luck Letters
Invite the children to write good luck letters to each other using square red recycled paper. Fold in the four corners to the center of the paper to make it an "envelope" for itself. Have the child write their friends name on the outside.
Chinese New Year Dragons
Have the children make dragons out of lunch size paper bags and decorations like googly eyes, and paper scraps. Have a New Year's Parade and walk around the party and have the children place the dragons on their hands and wave them up and down.
Bell Balancing (3+ Eco Kids)
Supply the children with bells and a balance. Show the children how to make the balance even. Count the bells on each side.
Bell Ringing 3+ Eco Kids
Supply the children with many different bells. What different sounds do they make. How are the sounds different?.
Bell Ringing # 2 (3+ Eco Kids)
Supply the children with pairs of bells. Mix them up. See if they can find their matches by the sound.
What is a Year
Discuss with the children what a year is. Have one child stand in one place. They will be the sun. You can even give them a yellow plate with the word sun on it. Ask another child to be the earth. They can have a blue or green plate. Make the floor with masking tape where the child will start and stop. Have the earth child walk around the sun while spinning. Have them stop on the masking tape. Tell the children it takes 365 days for the earth to go all the way around the sun. Let other children have a chance to be the sun and earth. You can explain a day by having the sun child hold a flashlight. Turn out the lights, and have the earth child turn around in the same spot.
Bell Ring Songs
Supply each child with a bell ring. ( Sung to Frere Jacques )
Ring your bells,
Ring your bells,
Shake them left and right,
Shake them hard and light,
Ring them loud,
Ring them soft.
Ring your bells,
Ring your bells,
Shake them up and down,
Shake them all around,
Ring them loud,
Ring them soft.
Bells on Shoes
Younger children will enjoy this activity. You can thread craft bells onto the shoelaces of your children. Then have your children walk around, dance, or stomp and sing:
Ride a cockhorse to Banbury Cross, Jingle Bells and Circle Dance with Ring a ring a -roses and Dingle dangle Scarecrow.
Ride a cockhorse to Banbury Cross To see a fine lady upon a white horse: Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes, She shall have music wherever she goes.
Dashing through the snow, in a one-horse open sleigh.Over the fields we go, laughing all the way. Bells on bob-tails ring, making spirits bright, What fun it is to ride and sing a sleighing song tonight.
Chorus
Jingle bells, jibgle bells, jingle all the way! O what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh. Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way! O what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh.
Jingle bells, jibgle bells, jingle all the way! O what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh. Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way! O what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh.
Dances
Ring-a-ring-a-roses,
A pocket-full of posies;
 A-tishoo, A-tishoo, We all fall down.
The cows are in the meadow eating buttercup;
A-tishoo, A-tishoo, We all jump up.
The king has sent his daughter, To fetch a pail of water;
A-tishoo, A-tishoo, We all fall down.
The wedding bells are ringing, The girls and boys are singing;
A-tishoo, A-tishoo, We all jump up.
I found a four leaf clover, Our little dance is over;
A-tishoo, A-tishoo we all fall down.
When all the cows were sleeping
And the sun has gone to bed:
Up jumps the Scarecrow,
And this is what he said!
I'm a dingle, dangle scarecrow,
With a flippy, floppy hat;
I can shake my hands like this,
And shake my feet like that.
Happy Birthday
When I have said my evening prayer,
And my clothes are folded on the chair,
And Mother switches off the light,
It will still be 2008 tonight,
But by the very break of day,
Before the children rise and play,
Before the greenness turns to gold,
Tomorrow it will be 2009.
New Years Resolutions ( 4+ Eco Kids)
Discuss with your children about the tradition of making resolutions on New Years. Ask each child what New Year's Resolution they would like to make. Write them down on a big piece of paper. Or for older children have them write them down themselves.
Resolution Box
Decorate an old box eg shoe box and store items from the New year (party hats etc, my Grandma always helped us make a resolution box and we wrote our resolutions and stored for the year and got them down the next year to add to the box along with the New Year newspaper cover)
Bell Ring Game
Played like Doggie Doggie Where's your Bone? With a twist. Older children will have a hard time keeping the bells quiet, and it will give younger children the advantage of hearing the bells. This is how the game is played. One child to sit in the middle and is the Doggie. Then the other children sit in a circle around the Doggie.Another child holds the bells (bone) behind their back, and all the children sit with their hands behind their back. Say the Chant:
Doggie, Doggie,
Where's your bone?
Somebody took it from it's home,
Upstairs, downstairs, by the telephone,
Wake up doggie, Find your bone.
The Doggie picks up to three people that he/she believes has the bells. One at a time, as picked, the children show their hands. If they pick the right child they "win". Regardless the child with the "bone" become the next Doggie, and the old Doggie pick who will get the bells next.
Bell Relay
Bell relay race. Have a relay race where the first player had a bell ring on each wrist and ankle (four total). They run to the next person, and they have to take off all the bells and put them on the next person. (variation: only one person of the two may touch the bells).
Countdown to the New Year
Supply the children with party hats and home-made shakers and pretend to countdown to the new year.
Did you know a lot of noise is made to scare the old year away and welcome the new year?
Many happy and healthy blessings for the New Year! |
EcoKids 1 
