Dragon Crown Craft

Sorry, it is a bit late to be posting a Lunar New Year Craft.

Fortunately, dragon crafts are fun year round.

I volunteered in Em's class this week. I read a book and provided this craft.

I started with 4 packages of bulletin board border paper in red, silver and gold. 2 packs were wide and 2 were thin.  I was able to make 23 crowns with lots of paper left over.

Fold the thin border paper in half. Cut. This will be your dragon's body.

The top of the paper is already wavy. Mimic the wave on the body along the bottom. Notice the tail narrows. It was very quick to do. Don't worry about making them identical or perfect.

I stapled the body onto the premeasured (hold up to your child's head and wrap around their head allowing for overlap to accommodate kids with larger heads) wide border paper. Line up the end of the tail to the end of the wide paper and staple.

I used white coffee filters to give the dragon some flair. You can cut them to make them fancier or just fold them in half and glue them on. The head is made from the wider border paper scraps. Fold in half the long way. Cut out 8 shaped head adding as much or as little detail as you want. I glued all the heads onto the crowns since Em's preschool class was going to be making them. Older kids could do this step.

I also added curling ribbon for the whiskers.

Cut out and accordion fold strips for legs. Make sure you cut out extras. Several kids in Em's class glued on 8-10 legs on their dragons.

Make sure you have lots of gems, google eyes, pom poms, feathers, stickers, sequins and paper scraps for the kids to glue on.

Once dry staple crowns closed.

Have fun crafting with your kids! Mama King

Asian New Year Celebration Potluck

We celebrated the Lunar New Year on Saturday with three other families. There was tons of  food, drink, crafts, games, gifts and lucky money. Hopefully we have started a New Year's tradition!

Pork & Shrimp Lettuce Wraps and Homemade Spring Rolls

Vietnamese Spring Rolls

Vietnamese Beef Stew



Jap Chae

Traditional Nuggets of Chicken :-)

Soba Noodles with Edamame and Carrots

 Lots of fun Asian Micro Brews & Wine

Fresh Fruit
Homemade Sorbet

Almond Cookies & Sesame Cookies

Traditional Korean Cookies

Coconut Macaroons

Dragon Puppets

The girls hanboks

Happy New Year! 

Asian New Year: How To Make A Toy Spinning Hand Drum

Spinning hand drums (also called Monkey, Tik Tak, Lollipop...) can be found in many cultures (including parts of Asia, Africa, Peru...) They are a fun and festive toy for children during the Lunar New Year.

This craft is suited for older children with some adult supervision (due to hot glue gun.)

Younger children can help decorate their drum after an adult constructs it.

Supplies: oatmeal or stuffing canister, two plastic lids, hole punch, exacto knife, glue gun, dowel, 2 large beads, string, materials to decorate (felt, paper, markers, scissors, ribbon...)

Cut the top off of container, aprox. 2 inches.

This is the base of your drum. The second lid will be loose - don't worry - you will glue gun it on.

Trace dowel to indicate opening. Use hole punch to gradually increase the size of hole.

Cover outside of container with felt, fabric, paper or paint. Use exacto knife to make X over punched hole.

Place drum flat on table with hole punch facing you (at 6 o'clock). Holes for string should be at 3 and 9 o'clock. Use exacto to punch 2 openings for string. Make holes just large enough to thread string through.

Measure 2 equal lengths of string. 

Make sure you allow for enough string to tie bead and glue/tape inside container, aprox. 8 inches. 

Tie one bead onto the end of each string. Make sure it is securely tied. 

(This is a potential choking hazard to small children.) 

 Thread string through opening. I hot glued in place, let dry and then taped to ensure it was not going anywhere. Repeat on other side.

Insert dowel. Make sure dowel is touching the top of container. Hot glue the dowel into place at base and top. This makes it stronger.

Hot glue lids onto drum.

To decorate...

Find a container aprox. the same size as in circle of lid.

Use to trace two circles.

Have child decorate. Cut out and glue to drum.

Tie ribbon around dowel.

Glue into place.

We haven't trimmed the dowel yet. The girls seem to like the long stem.

Rub the dowel back and forth to swing the beads.

Beads will create a great drum sound.

Have fun and make a lot of noise!

How To Make A Quick Clay Rabbit

2011 is the Year of the Rabbit.

Start with one larger sphere (head), two smaller spheres (cheeks), two medium cylinders (ears) and a small red sphere (nose). 

Flatten head and cheeks with palm of your hand.

Assemble.

Roll cylinders to ear shape and flatten.

Shape and add to head.

Tip: if you want to hang your rabbit - connect tops of ears.

Add nose. Use 2 different sized marker caps to create eyes.

Let dry.

Use a marker to color in eyes.

Paper Chains: No Staples or Tape Needed

I came across this great paper chain technique on World Preschool Mom's Blog. I had fun modifying the technique for Asian New Year and Valentines Day themed chains. 

Tip: Sulfite Construction Paper rocks! The colors are brighter, the paper is smoother and most importantly the colors don't fade as quickly (which is key when your making something that will be hanging up for a bit.).

The technique takes a bit more work but I can see a crafty middle schooler having a blast with this.
The foundation of the chain is a series of handcuff or barbell (two circles held together by a thin rectangle) shape folded in half and then linked together. You can change the scale and design once you get the hang of it.
If you are varying from the basic shape I would create a template.

1. Cut a piece of construction paper in half (the short way.)

2. Take one piece and fold in half.

3. Trace your template shape. Make sure the folded edge is on the rectangle side not on the circle side.

4. Cut out.

5. Fold rabbit head in half (lining up the ears and circle) cut out center circle.
6. Repeat steps 1-5 until you have enough pieces to start stringing together.

7. Take one piece (the red one in picture) keep folded in half. Thread second piece (the white one) through circle of the first piece.

8. Fold in half like picture. Repeat until you have a chain.

I made a Valentine's Day Chain too.

I cut the paper the long way for the the hearts.

Traced my template and cut out.

Linked together. So much fun! Flowers would be cute too! Lots of possibilities...

 Check out World Preschool Mom's Blog for more detailed instructions and other paper chain ideas.

Asian New Year Craft: Year of the Rabbit

I've got bunnies on the brain! 

The Lunar (also called Sol Nal, Tet, Asian or Chinese) New Year is approaching. 

February 3rd begins the year of the Rabbit.

 We will be participating in a potluck New Year party. Each family is bringing a different dish from their or their child's native country. We will be doing crafts, playing traditional games, wearing traditional clothes... I am really looking forward to it. 

I have to think up the perfect craft. This one above is cute but not the one we will be doing. Even though it is simple it required a glue gun...so automatically it was disqualified. 

If you have older children or are inclined to try this yourself (maybe save it for Easter) here is how I made it.

Supplies: paper tube, string, google eyes and glue gun

Flatten a paper tube.

Cut 3 identical width strips from tube.

Cut string for hanging.

Glue string between the base of two of the paper tubes. See photo.

Glue ears to the last section of tube.

Run a bead of glu on the top inside edge of the head.

Carefully place eyes to glue. Hold until dry.

Add a bit more glue behind eyes to ensure they stay in place.

Simple! Would make a cute ornament on an Easter-themed indoor twig tree. 

Stayed tuned for more bunny-centric crafts.