Chinese New Year Crafts for Kids: Red Envelope

As the Chinese New Year approaches, you might be wondering what great craft you can get your child involved in. One of the most important aspects of the Chinese New Year is the red envelopes that children are given which contain money. These red envelopes are usually given during the special times of the year or are given out during special occasions like a birthday. Another name for the red envelope is "ang pow" and is a very ancient custom of the Chinese people during celebrations. If you want your child to know one of the most important customs of the Chinese New Year, you should have them make their own red envelope.

To make the red envelope you are going to need some glue, scissors, a printer, and assorted colored pencils or crayons. The first thing you want to do is use the Adobe Reader formatted red envelope template. This template has the red envelope in both color and in black and white so your child will have a base example to look at when coloring. Once the template is printed out you should cut the edges of the paper so that only the red envelope is there, getting rid of all excess paper edges.

Once all of the excess paper is gone, you can have your child color the red envelope in Chinese New Year inspired colors which include red, pink, green and gold. The outside of the envelope should be a red color, while the inside pictures and circles can be in any assorted Chinese New Year colors. If you have some stencils of some Chinese symbols or letters, you can also have your child stencil on some of these items to give the red envelope more creativity.

After your child has colored the red envelope in traditional Chinese New Year colors, you can then proceed to put the envelope together. Your child should fold the side and top tabs down and then fold the whole red envelope in half to give it the shape of an envelope. Once the red envelope is folded your child can then glue the sides together leaving the top tab open. The top tab is the area where the money can be inserted into the envelope. This is a great project for children because it can teach them about the culture of the Chinese and the Chinese New Year while still being fun and entertaining.