Chinese New Year Crafts for Kids: Chinese Lantern

Chinese lanterns are one of the most common decorations seen in the culture of the Chinese. Although you can see the Chinese lanterns almost any time of the year, during the Chinese New Year is when the most Chinese lanterns are visible. During the end of the Chinese New Year, a Chinese Lantern Festival is held where people gather holding their lanterns and celebrate the end of the festivities and the beginnings of a new year. If you want to make your own Chinese New Year lantern, there is an easy way you can do this at your own home.

For the Chinese New Year lantern you will need a few supplies such as red construction paper, scissors, glue and string for this craft. All of these items can be found at your local craft store or retail store and should not cost you more than six dollars. You are going to first cut out a rectangular shape with your red construction paper; it should be 9 inches high and 12 inches long. Fold this paper in half long ways so that you are left with a rectangle that is thin.

The next step to making your Chinese New Year lantern is to place the rectangle down on a flat surface so that the folded ends are close to you. If you need a ruler you can use one to help you draw a horizontal line about one inch below the top.

You should then begin about one inch from the end of the rectangle and use scissors to cut a line straight from the fold to the horizontal line. Go another inch over and repeat the process, you should continue this until you have about one inch left on the other side of the rectangle. Unfold the rectangle so that you can then tape the long ends of it together, this should now start looking like a lantern.

You need to then cut a 6 inch strip of paper so that it is about one inch wide, which will be the handle for your lantern. This strip should be glued to the top of your lantern on the backside so that you can not see the glue. Then you are done with your Chinese New Year lantern. If you want to you can do this with as many colors of construction paper as you want so that you can put up a Chinese New Year lantern in every room. This is a very simple and easy craft but you should always take your time to make sure you have the measurements and folds right or else the lantern will not look right.