A Chinese New Year Presentation

While the weather in February can be very dreary in our little corner of the world, our school days have been very cheery!  With Chinese New Year and Valentine's Day occurring close to one another, there was much to celebrate.  In the past, the teachers have given a presentation to introduce Chinese New Year to the children.  This year we were absolutely delighted by a presentation given by two of our students, five year old M. and her three year old sister G..

M. began the presentation by talking about this year's animal, the pig. 

Five Year Old M. (l) and Three Year Old G. (r)

She spoke of her family's traditions.  On the eve of Chinese New Year, her family had a big reunion dinner.  Everyone wore traditional clothing, with red being the luckiest colour.  Some of our students also wore traditional clothing to school.

Traditional Chinese Clothing

Traditional Chinese Clothing

The reunion dinner consisted of many tasty foods - fish, dumplings, noodles, spring rolls and fruit.  M. and G. introduced their classmates to Chinese New Year symbols of luck.  They handed out Chinese New Year cards and explained the symbols found on them, such as bamboo and dragons.

Five year old A. joined the presentation and explained the animals of the Chinese Zodiac.  She brought in some zodiac place mats for everyone to take home.

A. and the Chinese Zodiac Place Mats

The children were eager to know which animal they were.  We used the place mats to create an activity for the classrooms.

Setting Out the Chinese Zodiac Animals

We also had a chopstick activity on the shelves.

At the end of the presentation, M. and G. took questions from the audience.

Answering Questions

The children were interested in the Chinese New Year items that were set out on the table.

Everyone took home a lucky money envelope. 

Lucky Money Envelopes

Thank you M. and G. for a lovely presentation!



Note:  Presentations such as these occur often in a Montessori environment.  Those unfamiliar with the Montessori Method of education may be wondering how it is possible for young children to display such self-confidence and respect for one another.  Put simply, the Montessori environment with the Montessori materials and simple rules that everyone must follow, is very effective at helping children develop confidence in their abilities and the realization that they share the world and must respect everyone's rights.  While most people associate Montessori with strong academic skills, it is the more subtle lessons learned ~ such as respect for one another, perseverance and self-regulation ~ that provide Montessori students with the tools needed to be successful in the world.

Wishing everyone much good luck in the year of the pig!