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You are here: Home / Activities & Crafts / Chinese New Year Paper Lantern Craft

Chinese New Year Paper Lantern Craft

February 4, 2015 by Scarlet

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When I was in fourth grade, I went to a Chinese American school.  It was a lot of fun and I learned about the Chinese New Year.  The date varies a little each year but this year the Chinese New Year 2015 falls on February 19th. It is an official public holiday in China. The Chinese lunar calendar is associated with the Chinese zodiac and this year is the year of the goat! I remember lots of Chinese paper lanterns and that the children each got a red envelop with a little money it. Anyway, I thought I would share a Chinese New Year paper lantern craft project with you in case you want to help your little ones celebrate. This DIY Chinese paper lantern is super easy to make and only takes a few basic supplies.

Easy Chinese Paper Lantern Craft Tutorial

Chinese Paper Lantern Craft

Chinese Lantern Craft Supplies:

  • pipe cleaners
  • paper (solid or printed)
  • scissors
  • ruler
  • hole punch
chinese lantern craft supplies

How To Make A Round Chinese Lantern

You have a lot of freedom to customize this easy Chinese paper lantern to your own liking by changing the size of the strips of paper and the pattern of the paper.

I choose to use origami paper cut into strips because I like the pattern but you could use construction paper or typing paper.  Since origami paper is usually 6 inches by 6 inches, I cut it into 6- 1 inch strips.

I chose a total of 9- 1 inch by 6 inch strips and hole punched them in the middle about 1/3 of an inch up on the top and bottom.  (See photo above.)

Then cut a pipe cleaner to be 5 inches long and made a small loop at the bottom so that the the paper strips will not fall off.  Load all of the paper strips onto the pipe cleaner with the pattern facing down towards the little loop.  I alternated color strips as I loaded.  (See photo below.)

place paper strips onto wire

Next I loaded the other end of the strips onto the pipe cleaner so that it made an arc shape.  (See below.)

Chinese paper lantern strips all on

I finished it off with a big loop on top to keep the paper lantern strips on and to give a place to hang the lantern if you so desire.

Chinese New Year Paper Lantern Craft

Then, you just fan the paper strips out and you have a Chinese paper lantern!  It is a very quick and easy craft.  You can make bunches of them and hang them from doorways and window frames on a string.  You can use red paper strips for a more traditional Chinese Lantern Craft if you prefer.

Do you think you will try this Chinese New Year Paper Lantern Craft yourself? Share your photos @familyfocusblog!  

More Chinese New Year Celebration Ideas:

You may want to share some ancient Chinese proverbs with your children.  They always have good lessons.

Want to cook up some delicious food to help you celebrate as well? Try this Chinese Dumplings Recipe From Chinese Soul Food

You might want to tell your kids about Chinese Horoscopes and about their belief that the year of your birth may influence your personality traits. What is your Chinese zodiac sign? I’m a dragon!

Do you have any other special crafts or traditions to celebrate the Chinese New Year?  

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Filed Under: Activities & Crafts Tagged With: Chinese, crafts

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Comments

  1. nancy b. says

    February 9, 2015 at 9:27 am

    Great craft – both timely and because we have the materials on hand! We will add this to our snow day activities – Thanks!

  2. Tamara @ We3Travel says

    February 9, 2015 at 2:22 pm

    These are so pretty! I imagine they would work well with scrapbook paper too?

  3. Krystyn @ Really, Are You Serious? says

    February 9, 2015 at 6:58 pm

    What a great and easy craft that we can do together! I never would have thought of the pipe cleaner to hold it all together!

  4. Heather G says

    February 9, 2015 at 7:11 pm

    These are Chinese lanterns are adorable! My three year old would love them!

  5. Emily @Random Recycling says

    February 9, 2015 at 7:22 pm

    This post reminds me of how much I loved doing origami as a kid. This looks like such a fun way to use up extra scrapbook paper scraps too.

  6. Kimberly @ Red Shutters says

    February 9, 2015 at 7:29 pm

    I love this craft – looks doable and so much fun! Plus, it’s a great starting off point to discuss this holiday with kids. Thanks for sharing!

  7. Jessica @ Keeping Mommy Sane says

    February 9, 2015 at 8:05 pm

    this is so cute! And just in time for all these snow days here in New England 🙂

  8. Annie {Stowed Stuff} says

    February 10, 2015 at 8:05 am

    Super cute craft. I made a tiny little book out of these papers once! Great craft for another SNOW DAY!

  9. Lori Popkewitz Alper says

    February 10, 2015 at 9:17 am

    I’m saving this one for our next snow day, which could happen in a day or two! Love this!

  10. Leticia Barr says

    February 11, 2015 at 8:48 pm

    As a Chinese American who looks to pass on the traditions of Chinese New Year to my own children and has been asked to share our culture with our kids’ friends, I’m always looking for great crafts and can’t wait to share this one with my kids’ teachers and friends!

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Thanks for reading Family Focus Blog, which has been named a top family blog for parenting resources. It was created in 2010 by Nashville mom blogger, Scarlet Paolicchi. She shares tips for better family life, parenting, family fun activities, eco-friendly lifestyle, family food ideas, family travel, and home decor. Family Focus Blog has been named #3 in Cision PR’s 50 U.S. Top Mom Blog list. Scarlet Paolicchi is the author of four books.

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