On the second day of our study about China we looked first at some things we associate with China, and some traditional symbols and celebrations. We decided to make a Chinese lantern. These lanterns can often be seen in people’s homes and in the street during celebrations such as Chinese New Year. 

To make your own lantern you will need:

Red card

Crepe paper in yellow or red

Craft knife

Glue

Pipecleaner or string to hang your lantern

A golden or yellow permanent marker

Start by decorating the long edges of your red card with golden dots. 

Next, useflue to attach strips of crepe paper along the back of one of your long, dotted sides.  We used a glue gun for this, but a glue stick will work, too.

The next step is really a job for a grown-up. Use the craft knife to cut lines into your paper from beneath the dots to just above the second line of dots. 

Roll your lantern and gently glue one of your short edges onto the back of the other. A glue gun will work best for this.  Attach your string or pipe cleaner as a handle, gently squash your lantern so the strips of card turn outward, and you’re done! 

Enjoy your lovely Chinese inspired lantern to remind you of all the things you learn about this beautiful country! 

Today, on our first day of learning about China, we started by looking at a big map of China and reading the introduction to China in All About China. 

We then printed out this map of China to colour. 

We used red crayon for the flag, and a gold yellow permanent marker for the stars. 

After we were done, we spoke a bit about the history of the flag, and what it represents. The red of the flag represents the communist revolution, and the five stars (four small, one large.) represent the Chinese people’s unity under the Communist Party’s leadership. 

We cut out our flag to be our first decoration on our display all about the People’s Republic of China. 

We are looking forward to learning with you!