Year of the Rabbit: February 3rd

Are "rabbits" the happiest. gentlest of the zodiac signs?
Are crafts for the "Year of the Rabbit" the most adorable?

Rabbit Crafts
Preschool & up:
DLTK has 3 different "toilet paper roll" rabbits for ages 3 and up:

• Rabbit (Easter) Toilet Paper Roll Craft
• Rabbit TP Roll Craft #2
• Rabbit TP Roll Craft #3

DLTK Paper Bunny basket/decoration

Coloring Pages

• Child Book always has something: www.childbook.com (Thanks Ray!)
  
• Rabbit Coloring Pages
• (interactive/online) Chinese New Year Coloring Pages from Apples4theTeacher: Get out your interactive crayon and color these symbols of Chinese New Year, including: Year of the Rabbit, map of China, and flag of China. Color pages are printable and suitable for framing.

Elementary crafts

• Stand up Bunny (ages 4-9)
• Paper Simple Cute Rabbit
• This refrigerator magnet bunnny is supposed to be easy enough for those who don't crochet to crochet!
• Bead & wire bunny charm
• Beaded safety pin crafts (hardest part can be finding pins without the circle crimp in the middle):
  
  • Rabbit face pin
  • Bunny Safety Pin craft

at least middle school?
how about some fun kirgami? Rabbit driving
cut paper: Rabbit with carrot

Advanced crafting:

• 3D origami: ballerina bunny
• do you have time & patience for quilling, a craft that started in Europe during the Renaissance: Quilling Bunny

You may also want to see - and share with your students/children what expert papercutters can do. I adore this bunny at aj panda. (Reminded me of the "pulling turnip" song: "Ba Loubo").

Many of the crafts from other years are also applicable. Do search the site for ideas!

The cycle starts with Rat

Some of us may need to start now to memorize how to fold a nice rat before the New Year. Of course there are many other ways to fold a mouse and Origami ideas for the whole zodiac.

Chinese Zodiac Lesson Plans

These, from the the National Endowment for the Humanities, are for kindergarten – 2^nd grade but have lots of good background material even if your students are older:

Animals of the Chinese Zodiac and
Lions, Dragons, and Nian: Animals of the Chinese New Year

And from Australia, for grades 5 & 6, a lesson plan on Chinese paper cuts and the zodiac

Chinese New Year worksheets

My favorite source is probably still Enchanted Learning. Probably because of the little books that you can print out and make. To have full access, the require a small annual fee, but I think you can still see and use some of their things for free.

More worksheets

There are a number of places with word searches and coloring pages. I like the zodiac pictures at Apples4the teacher.com. You can color them interactively which might be fun for the youngest. I am hoping that they will add sentences too.

Ray at childbook.com has a set of coloring pages too.

There is one 1-37) dot to dot dragon here.

Another source for worksheets, mazes, word finds, and some reading comprehension pieces is Edhelper.com . They even have a weekly review section. I have not decided whether it is worth the annual fee of $19.99 for my family, but they expanded their offerings in general since I last looked.

The reading comprehension in their Chinese New Year collection is new to me, and they have also organized it since I last looked. Then, the last thing I looked has an error in it! One reading piece did say to give hong bao to your parents. I have never heard of such a thing! It would be disrespectful to give hong bao to the older generations I know for New Years! Maybe this is a regional issue but I suspect they just slipped up. It is why they are listed last - most of us don't have the time or inclination to fact check every item on a worksheet and need to have a trusted source.

CNY overview

Chinese New Year or Spring Festival (Chūn Jié 春X)

Chinese New Year or Spring Festival (Chūn Jié) is the start of the lunar calendar and the coming of spring. It is the largest Chinese celebration, celebrated at about the same time worldwide. New Year is celebrated around the same time by Chinese people all over the world – on the second new moon after the winter solstice. Chinese New year primarily involves family, friends and food. The celebration used to last 4 weeks but now it is 3 to 4 days. Many people in China get 5 days off to celebrate – although they may have to work the weekend before or afterward to make up for it. Xīn Nián Kuàilè! Gong xi Fa cai! Chūn Jié Kuài lè! Gung Hay Fat Choy! Every community has different ways of celebrating. In American many Chinese families celebrate on the nearest Saturday, being sure to clean the house, decorate with red, share a meal together, and perhaps wear traditional clothes.

The next Chinese New Years are: February 7, 2008; January 26, 2009; February 14, 2010; February 3, 2011; and January 23, 2012. If you want to do something at school, tell your child's teacher sooner rather than later - especially when it is so close to Valentine's Day they need to plan how to spend their time. Some parents are unable to go in when the teacher can support it and just send in (red) lai see or hóngbāo "goodie bags" as if it was a birthday. If you go in a lantern craft or parade, or a dragon to parade under is wonderful. Bring in some background music if you can.

How did Chinese New Year come to be celebrated? According to an ancient legend, once a year people were tormented by a beast called a Nian. Nian was a ferocious creature with a large mouth, capable of swallowing several people in a single bite. Relief from the Nian came only when an old man tricked the beast into disappearing. Or scared it away with loud noises and red. In reality, New Years festivities probably evolved from a desire to celebrate the end of winter and the fertility and rebirth that come with the spring, much like the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia. Today, New Year is about family reunions and wishing everyone good fortune in the coming year. (Nián is Mandarin for year. Happy New Year! Xīn Nián Kuài Lè! 新年快樂! Xīn Nián Hǎo! 新年好!)

Some Chinese traditions for welcoming the New Year & creating good fortune in the year ahead:

• BEFORE New Year’s: Clean your home, sweep away the bad luck of the year that's ending, get new clothes, get your hair cut. Plan out the food! Round food (fruits like oranges which are also gold color) are good. Fish, long life noodles, … Pay off any debts so you can start the year, fresh. Decorate your home in red, the Chinese color for good luck.
  
• During the first days of New Year: DO NOT clean your home. You do not want to risk sweeping away the good luck of the New Year. Don’t wash your hair the first day, or get it cut in the first week or so.
  
• An important tradition on New Year's Eve is for families to gather together. In the north, many families will be spending the evening preparing jiaozi (dumplings). According to Chinese Culture Guide Jun Shan, it is common to hide a coin in one of the dumplings. Whoever gets the dumpling with the coin will supposedly have good luck in the coming year. (I wish I knew what part of China he was from!)
  
• Try to see as many of your family and friends as possible during the New Year celebration to spread good wishes for the coming year.
  
• Give out money packets - On New Years day, children receive “lai see” or “hong bao”- red packets decorated with gold symbols and filled with "lucky money”. See if you can get crisp new bills from your bank to use.
  
• Serve and eat as many lucky foods as possible on the New Year. Some of these foods are whole fish, noodles and mandarin oranges. If you're not ready to cook Chinese food, most Chinese restaurants offer special New Year menus.
  
• Don't cry on that day or raise your voice to your children or you'll be setting a tone of discord for the coming year.
  
• Some fruit or flowers or candy for your Chinese teacher would be appreciated.
  
• Lanterns and couplets written on red paper are common decorations. Fu means fortune, and it is shown here on a lantern and also in cursive.

Some Astrology: The Chinese Lunar Calendar has a twelve year cycle of zodiac animals, and a cycle of 5 elements. Together they create a 60 year cycle of names, such as Golden Dragon (2000), and Fire Pig (starting in 2007). Someone suggested that the years should more properly be numbered from 0 to 11, of 0 to 59! The animal cycle is: rat/mouse, ox/cow, tiger, hare/rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, ram/sheep/goat, monkey, rooster/chicken, dog, pig/boar. 1996 was the start of the current 12 year cycle. (The current Sexagenary Cycle started in 1984.) The next 12 year cycle starts on Thursday, February 7, 2008 with a Brown (Earth) Rat Year, 4706. Remember if someone was born between January 19th and February 21st, you can not tell their zodiac year unless you know the date of the Chinese New Year for their birth year. You may not want to discuss the zodiac animals in preschool classes – unless you are prepared for a very noisy room of animal sounds.

Some Chinese believe the animal ruling the year in which a person is born has a profound influence on personality, saying: "This is the animal that hides in your heart." Others use the zodiac just for fun. According to one legend, Lord Buddha summoned all the animals to him before he left the earth. Only twelve responded and came to bid him farewell. For their reward, he named a year after each one of them in the order that they arrived. Another legend says that the years are named, in order, for the animals that raced for the Green Emperor.

There are a number of sites on the web with more information on the Chinese zodiac, Chinese New Year, and Chinese date converters. There are also solar to lunar date converters available for Palm Pilots.

For more on Chinese New Year, see Wikipedia's entry.

The Autumn Jade website has a short description of each animal of the zodiac.

In 2006, the Detroit Free Press did a nice overview titled FIVE THINGS: About the Chinese New Year.

Last updated: February 2007

Chinese New Year and the Zodiac

You may want to share this overview with your child's class or their teacher.

Chinese New Year is the second new moon after the winter solstice. The next Chinese New Year begins is Feb. 7, 2008, Year of the Rat. More dates are given below. The rat is first and the cycle is repeated every twelve years. (Some say that the years should more properly be numbered from 0 to 11.)

1........2..........3.....4.......5.........6........7.....8..........9........10......11.....12...
rat . ox . . . tiger hare dragon snake horse ram . . monkey rooster dog . pig
鼠 . . 牛. . . . 虎 . . 兔. . . 龍 . . . . 蛇. . . 馬 . . 羊 . . . . 猴 . . . . 雞 . . .狗 . . . 豬
shu3 niu2 hu3 . . tu4 . long2 . she2 . ma3 yang2 . hou2 . . ji1 . . . gou3 zhu1
shǔ . .niú . hǔ . . . .tù . . lóng. . .shé . . mǎ . .yáng . . hóu . . . . jī . . . . gǒu . .zhū

Rat can be rat or mouse. The Year of the Ram, can also be the year of the sheep or goat as all of those words are based on the same character in Chinese. Some prefer the last year to be the Year of the Boar. (Pinyin for the Mandarin is given. The number represents the correct tone since not all programs were displaying the tone marks.)

rat . . ox . tiger . hare . dragon snake horse . . ram hou ji/hen . . dog . . . pig
1919 1920 1921 1922 . . 1923 . . 1924 1930 . . 1931 1932 1933. . . 1934 . 1935
1936 1937 1938 1939 . . 1940 . . 1941 1942 . . 1943 1944 1945 . . 1946 . . 1947
1948 1949 1950 1951 . . 1952 . . 1953 1954 . . 1955 1956 1957 . . . 1958 . 1959
1960 1961 1962 1963 . . 1964 . . 1965 1966 . . 1967 1968 1969 . . 1970 . . 1971
1972 1973 1974 1975 . . 1976 . . 1977 . 1978 . .1979 1980 . 1981 . . 1982 . . 1983
1984 1985 1986 1987 . . 1988 . . 1989 1990 . . 1991 1992 1993 . . 1994 . . 1995
1996 1997 1998 1999 . . 2000 . 2001 . 2002 . 2003 2004 2005 . .2006 . 2007
2008 2009 2010 2011 . 2012 . . 2013 . 2014 . 2015 2016 . 2017 . . 2018 . 2019

Since the lunar calendar does not line up with January first and is not on the same day of the solar calendar each year, if your birthday is January 1^st through 20^th, you are in the zodiac sign of the previous year. If your birthday is between January 21^st and February 19^th, someone will have to look up you zodiac sign. For example if you were born in 1975, you would need to know that the Chinese New Year that year fell on February 11th. (See more 1973-1984 Chinese New Year dates, Chinese New Year Dates from 1900, and Future Chinese New Year dates.)

Some Chinese believe the animal ruling the year in which a person is born has a profound influence on personality, saying: "This is the animal that hides in your heart." Others use the zodiac just for fun. The Chinese Lunar Calendar names each of the twelve years after an animal. One legend has it that the Lord Buddha summoned all the animals to come to him before he departed from earth. Only twelve came to bid him farewell and as a reward he named a year after each one in the order they arrived. Another legend says that the years are named, in order, for the animals that raced for the Green Emperor.

So, for example, if you were born between January 23, 1974 and February 10, 1975, you are a (green wood) Tiger. Tiger people are competitive (especially in business dealings) and must be careful not to create enemies during their quest for success. They are not easily influenced by others. Tiger personalities are also sensitive, emotional, and capable of great love, but have a difficult time understanding the meaning of moderation. They often approach love with as much ferocity as a good fight.

If you were born February 11, 1975 to January 30, 1976, you are a (wood) green Hare. Other rabbits include Michelangelo, Napoleon, Albert Einstein, Walt Whitman, and Marie Curie. Hares (rabbits) are happiest with friends and do not like to argue. They typically have beautiful homes, love of good conversation, reading, and intellectual discussions. Hares are sincere and are often make gifted healers, herbalists, and doctors. They are traditionally associated with clear-sightedness, excellent judges of character and have the ability to recognize when others are lying.

Monkey celebrities include Julius Caesar, Leonardo daVinci, Captain Cook, Elizabeth Taylor and Edgar Faure. Monkeys are inventive, quick-thinking and never at a loss for words. Charming, they are often popular but not always taken seriously which can lead to frustration. They crave knowledge and are good at problem-solving.

There are a number of sites on the web with more information on the Chinese zodiac, Chinese New Year, and Chinese date converters. There are also solar to lunar date converters available for Palm Pilots. They are also useful if you want to know when the next Chinese New Year will be. (Or if you want to look up the date for Autumn Moon Festival, or any of the Chinese festivals that are celebrated according to the lunar calendar.)

1993 January 22 - February 9, 1994 (Water) Chicken 4661
1994 February 10 – January 30, 1995 (Wood) Green Dog 4662
1995 January 31 – February 18, 1996 (Wood) Green Pig 4663

1996 February 19, 1996 – February 6, 1997 (Fire) Red Rat 4664
1997 February 7, 1997 – January 27, 1998 (Fire) Red Ox 4665
1998 January 28, 1998 – February 15, 1999 (Earth) Brown Tiger 4666
1999 February 16, 1999 – February 4, 2000 (Earth) Brown Hare 4667
2000 February 5, 2000 – January 23, 2001 (Metal) White Gold Dragon 4668
2001 January 24, 2001 – February 11, 2002 (Metal) White Snake 4669
2002 February 12, 2002 - January 31, 2003 (Water) Black Horse 4670
2003 February 1, 2003 – January 21, 2004 (Water) Black Sheep 4701
2004 January 22, 2004 – February 8, 2005 (Wood) Green Monkey 4702
2005 Wed. February 9, 2005 – (Wood) Green Chicken 4703
2006 Mon. January 29, 2006 - (Fire) Red Dog 4704
2007 Sunday, February 18, 2007 - (Fire) Red Pig 4705

2008 Thursday, February 7^th - (Earth) Brown Rat 4706
2009 Monday, January 26^th - (Earth) Brown Ox 4707
2010 February 14^th - (Metal) White Tiger 4708
2011 February 3^rd - (Metal) White Hare 4709
2012 January 23^th - (Water) Dragon 4710
2013 February 10^th - (Water) Snake 4711
2014 January 31^st - (Wood) Horse 4712
2015 February 19^th - (Wood) Sheep 4713
2016 February 8^th - (Fire) Monkey 4714
2017 January 28^th - (Fire) Chicken 4715
2018 February 16^th - (Earth) Dog 4716
2019 February 5^th - (Earth) Pig 4717

To check your zodiac animal; and element for other years, check Chinese New Year Dates from 1900.

(Traditional) Chinese believe that the first king of China was the Yellow King (he was not the first emperor of China who completed the Great Wall). The Yellow King became king in 2697 B.C.; therefore China entered the 4701^st year on January 22^nd, 2004.

What is the stem-branch system? In addition to the Chinese zodiac animals (the 12 branches) there are 10 Stems. The stems are named for with Yin-Yang and Five Elements (Metal, Water, Wood, Fire and Earth). The Stem sequence order is Yang Wood, Yin Wood, Yang Fire, Yin Fire, Yang Earth, Yin Earth, Yang Metal, Yin Metal, Yang Water and Yin Water.

Branches use the animal names. The Branch sequence order is Rat, Cow, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Chicken, Dog and Pig. Stem and Branch are used together to form a cycle of 60, which begins with Wooden Rat and ends with Water Pig. A complete cycle was from 1924 to the year 1983. Our current cycle started in 1984.
[I have not tried this but] There is an algorithm online now to determine the stem and branch for any year at:
http://www.hermetic.ch/cal_stud/ch_year.htm

You may remember that there was a boom of Chinese babies in 2000. The Chinese New Year in 2000 was a year of the Metal Dragon – a Gold Dragon - which is a very auspicious time to be born. [Personal note: Many said it is especially auspicious for a boy to be born, but I have not been able to confirm that in writing.]

Some web sites say the year 2004 is the 4702nd Chinese year. If you cannot find the explanation, here is one possibility: The Yellow King's inauguration was held in the spring of 2697 B.C. But the calendar of Yellow King used the winter solstice day as the first day of the year. So the first winter solstice was on around December 23rd, 2698 B.C. The Gregorian calendar January 1st meant nothing to the Yellow King. If we count that extra eight days in 2698 B.C. for a year, then year 2004 is the 4702nd Chinese year.

Much of stem and branch information is from Chinese Astrology Online from 2003 and 2004. To learn about 2007, see: www.chineseastrologyonline.com/2007.htm

There are many good websites on Chinese New Year (in English). I am not saying that the ones above are the best. They are listed because they give the most detail on the 60 year zodiac cycle (although I suspect that is more detail than your readers will be interested in, and it is more background information for you). The ntdttv also gives coverage of their New Year Global Gala but you may have to register to see it.
2005 New Year's Gala Coverage
2006 New Year's Gala Coverage

For more on the Chinese Zodiac, see these lesson plans. They have good background material even if your students are older:

• Animals of the Chinese Zodiac (K-2nd)
• Lions, Dragons, and Nian: Animals of the Chinese New Year (K-2nd)
• Chinese Zodiac and Paper Cuts (grades 5 & 6)

Or, see Chinese New Year Lesson Plans.

These links were correct and working as of March 2007.
Last updated: April 2007