Ring In The Year Of The Rat Chinese New Year with these fun activities

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For many people, Chinese New Year is the longest and most important celebration of the year. It is a time of celebration, eating special foods, cleaning and decorating the house, giving gifts, fireworks, and getting ready for the coming year. The color red is believed to be lucky, so people traditionally wear red clothes and give children "lucky money" in red envelopes. Family members gather at each other's homes for visits and shared meals. Festivities usually end with the lantern festival, highlighted by a dragon dance. With your children, ring in the New Year with the following fun Chinese New Year Activities.

Chinese New Year Dragon

The dragon symbolizes strength, goodness, and good luck. Help your child make a simple dragon. Use an egg carton with three cups and have children paint the cups with red and yellow colors. Draw a dragon face shape and decorate with cotton balls and wiggly eyes. Cut yarn into small pieces and glue to the Back of the Dragon. Pompom glue on the bottom of the egg carton cups to make legs. Let the children wear their dragon dances, as if that parade around together.

Chinese Lantern

Paint a paper plate, cut a red circle in the center. Take clear contact paper and cut to measure a circle to the plate of paper and tape on the back. Tear tissue paper into small pieces and red and yellow sticker on the side of contact paper. Two rectangles of red paper and handicraftsglue to the bottom and top of lantern. Make a tassel out of yellow yarn and glue to the bottom of lantern.

The Chinese Calendar Crafts and Activities

Explain to children that the Chinese Lunar Calendar is based on the cycles of the moon. Each year in a cycle is named after an animal. Legend says that Buddha invited all the animals to join him for a New Year's celebration but only 12 showed up. They argued about who was to head the cycle of years, so Buddha held a race-whoever first reach the other side of the river would be first, and the rest of the animals would receive their years after their departure. The race started, but unknown to the ox, the rat jumped on her back. As the ox was about to jump ashore, the rat jumped off the ox and won the race. The pig, who was very lazy, is finally finished. Therefore, the rat is the first year of the cycle and the animal is the pig is the last. The Chinese believe the animal ruling the year in which a personwas born, has a strong influence on that person's personality. Children have their own Chinese calendar by our model. Let them find their zodiac sign and see if the features match their personality.

Lai-See Envelope

One of the most popular Chinese New Year is observed the custom of Hong Bao, or delivery of small red (the color red is considered to bring luck) envelopes filled with "lucky money" for children by adults. To make yourown red (lai see) envelope, trace our envelope pattern on red paper and assemble. Cut the end of a drinking straw to a point to make a quill. Have children write some Chinese letters with the quill on the front of the envelope. Add a line of glue to the outer edge of the envelope and sprinkle gold glitter on it. Shake off excess glitter. Add a coin to the inside of the envelope and seal flap with tape.

Cleaning and Decorating the House

A common Chinese New Year activity is to clean and decorate the house. It is believed that helps clean the house, sweeping away all the bad luck that may have accumulated in recent years. The promotion of children, so clean and tidy the house-dust all the corners, wash the windows, sweep, and the rooms. Remember, however, that sweeping or dusting is not done New Year's Day, because it might be lucky enough to be swept away! To decorate, help your children curls of paper. On the locks to write special messages such as "happiness", "goodhealth," and "long life," and then hang them around the house. Make and hang paper lanterns. Fill the house with fresh blooms and flowering plants.

Snacks

Serve children oranges and tangerines during Chinese New Year as they symbolize wealth and good luck. Some other lucky foods are noodles which represent a long life, clams and spring rolls which denote wealth, and sticky rice cakes which symbolize a rich, sweet life and abundance for the coming year.

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Bamboo - Discover the advantages of bamboo

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The bamboo plant is not just a simple plant that plays an important role in the lives of thousands of people and animals. One million people live in houses made of bamboo, for hundreds of thousands, the main source of revenue. The bamboo plant is the habitat of different animals, and for some it is also the only source of life.

The bamboo plants enjoy growing popularity. The advantages are compelling. Its tensile strength than steel. It grows very quickly and requires no maintenance. It isfastest growing grass, which makes it a very interesting resource. They chop it up and back faster than any other plant. It may also be able to grow very high, some plant species of bamboo grow 60 feet high.

After treatment, the bamboo wood is very hard, but it is also easy and very difficult. It's no wonder that bamboo plants are used in construction for centuries. The commercial value of bamboo is in billions every year. There are more than 1500 species of bamboo, butbe used commercially, only about 40 minutes.

Bamboo has been and will be used to build houses and bridges. It is used for the production of cabinets, furniture, rugs, mats, shade, fencing, art and many other things. It 'also used in medicine to treat various diseases. In China, the bamboo fibers were used to make paper.

Bamboo is very common in Asia, but their growing popularity in Europe and America is not a surprise. More and more people like bamboo in their gardens, for example. Grows in a compactand quickly and is always green. That makes it a perfect fence, natural and inexpensive.

His strength and appearance makes it valuable for bamboo flooring as well. Although not always cheap, bamboo flooring is available alternatives and, in a wide range.

Bamboo is a grass very durable. It needs no care and spreads easily. All you have to do is provide enough water and cut again, if they grow too high or too spread. If you keep the bamboo in your garden, do a little 'notAdvanced Search. There are different types of bamboo and once planted, can be difficult to remove.

And you can not forget the installation of Lucky Bamboo. In China, it can be found in almost every family, according to the legend, brings happiness to the bearer and pulls to the point where it is. But wait. Lucky bamboo is not bamboo, but only a simple tree house. However, it seems that this bamboo and since it brings luck, we continue to seek fortuneBamboo.

Unfortunately, the bamboo plants are in danger, because the growing population, the main reason for the reduction of the forest of bamboo. Bamboo is a tough grass, and with the growing awareness of the benefits of bamboo plants should always be here.

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