Students will enjoy making paper lanterns while they learn about the Chinese New Year, which occurs on the second New Moon after the winter solstice. Each New Year has one of twelve animals as its symbol. Paper lanterns, typically used to decorate this spring festival, add color and a festive feeling to any room. Students can even use them as decorations in their own rooms when an art class unit is complete.
Chinese Characters
Even young elementary students who have not yet mastered writing in English may find they are adept at copying Chinese characters to decorate their Chinese lanterns. Have students choose from an array of Chinese characters with various meanings or help older students research the character for the word or letter of their choice. Use black paint and an angled paint brush to paint the characters onto colored construction or card stock paper. You will be cutting the paper later, so make sure students paint their Chinese lantern only toward the long edges.
Chinese Animals
Help your students research the animal for the current Chinese New Year and show them how to copy a Chinese animal figure onto their Chinese lantern using black paint and an angled brush. The year 2011 is the year of the rabbit, 2012 is the year of the dragon and 2013 is the year of the snake. Students can also paint animals that are meaningful to themselves, such as the Chinese animal from the year they were born. Be careful again to paint toward the long edges of the paper only.
Folding and Cutting
Elementary students can practice their cutting, folding and gluing to develop their small motor skills with this simple Chinese lantern. Have students fold their lantern lengthwise, with the long edges together and the decorations they painted facing out. Using scissors, have students cut slits perpendicular to the fold until they reach approximately 2 inches from the unfolded edge of the paper. Slits should be spaced evenly. Unfold the paper and glue the short edges together with a glue stick to create a cylinder. Press the slits outward. Glue a strip of colored paper across the top of your cylinder to create a handle to hang the lantern.
Hanging Lanterns
Lanterns can be hung all in a row or one at a time. Have students collaborate to hang their lanterns from string to form decorations for the classroom while you continue learning about Chinese New Year and culture. Hang the lanterns from colored lights to make them glow or thread gold string to suspend them from the ceiling.
