Teaching My Son's Class Chinese New Year & McDonalds #YearoftheGoat #CNY15
Each February my son and I get ready to enjoy celebrating Chinese New Year with our diverse community of Asian friends. This year we decided to share activities who those who didn't know much about Asian culture and *gasp* Chinese New Year. Which meant my son's first grade class.

Note: I received a McDonald's package for Chinese New Year but was not required to blog about it. No other compensation was received. Any personal views expressed are always 100% my own.
To help my son's 1st grade class get ready for Chinese New Year, I thought it would be fun to decorate the class room with Chinese New Year elements. A big part of getting ready is decorating to attract good luck, health and money in the New Year.

As it happens, a few weeks earlier the McDonald's Tri-State team sent a package to help us get ready to celebrate the Year of the Goat 2015. Our package included a few of their 2015 Lunar Calendars, which I thought would be perfect to hang in my son's class room.

But I also needed a few other things to share with the kids. So I visited our NYC Chinatown to pick up a few more items. While there I found some stuff for my son's class including.....
Red Streamers - Red is considered the luckiest color in China, and it is widely used during festivals and important events like wedding.

Lanterns - I chose mini lanterns to hang around the class room. The lanterns themselves are used to ward off bad spirits (or intentions).

Money Envelopes - I found these adorable envelopes used to give gifts of money for the new year to kids. I could have gotten red but I thought the purple was better for the class of kids. Plus it has an adorable goat design on the front.
Inside each envelope we put in a McDonald's coupon for a free happy meal. There's a specific reason why and I'll tell you more about this in a bit.

And the grand decoration item The Dancing Dragon - I found this dragon that had an attachment you could hold and make him (or her) "dance". The Chinese Dragon is a symbol of power, strength, and good luck. The dragon dance is often performed during Chinese New Year, therefore the longer the dragon dances, the more luck it will bring to the community.

Now back to why I gave my son's class a free happy meal coupon in each envelope. During Chinese New Year giving gifts is part of the celebration. Good gifts include fruits like oranges and tangerines because of their color. In Chinese culture the color orange symbolizes wealth and good fortune.

Have you noticed that McDonald’s Happy Meals currently includes Cuties as the latest fresh fruit choice?
While those golden cuties (fresh fruit option) are at McDonald's for a limited time (December to March which is peak season for the fruit), they're perfect for the kids to enjoy while celebrating Chinese New Year over the winter school break.

Clementine is a popular fruit among children of all ages and during lunar new year celebrations as traditional symbols of abundance and good fortune.
You see what I did there : ) I gave the kids both a healthy snack and a Chinese culture connection!
My son's teachers were so excited when I dropped of the items. They really appreciated my interest in sharing about a different culture with the class.
As a parent of a half Asian child (Korean not Chinese) I was really touched that my son's teachers were open to this idea.
From my family, my son's first grade class and the McDonald's Tri-State team, we wish you a Happy Year of the Goat.
To learn more about McDonald's initiatives in the Asian community, visit www.myinspirasian.com

We'd love if you joined us to celebrate the Chinese New Year, so I'm offering a special McDonald's giveaway!
ENTER TO WIN THIS GIVEAWAY!
McDonald's Tri-State Chinese Year of the Goat Prize
- Year of the Goat Calendar
- Happy Meal Coupons
- McDonald's Meals Coupons
- McDonald's T-shirt
WAYS TO ENTER:
Entries must be made on or before 11:59 p.m. February 28, 2015.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Terms and Conditions
Winner will be selected by random.org. Giveaway entry must be completed before extra entries will count. Winner will be contacted by email and must respond within 24 hours or a new winner will be selected. Open to residents of the U.S. with a valid street address.
This looks like it was a great way to teach kids about Chinese New Year. I love when children learn these multicultural lessons.
ReplyDeleteMy boys LOVE that they have Cuties in Happy Meals now and as a mom who wants her boys to eat healthier, I do, too :)
ReplyDeleteOh man... I love those little Cuties. They are kind of like my treat during the day since I can't eat cane sugar. I had no idea McDonalds had these.
ReplyDeleteI think it's great that happy meals are coming with fruit now too. Much healthier choice than french fries.
ReplyDeleteYour son is so cute! That happy meal looks like a great healthy option for kids, thanks for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteI hope the cuties come here to our McDonald's! How fun. So great to be teaching about Chinese new year. My 5 yo is learning all about it too!
ReplyDeleteWe are Cuties addicts here, well, they're called Halos where I live but its the same thing. Looks like you are having a good time.
ReplyDeleteI love the mini lanterns! The happy meal with clementine is so cool. I didn't know that giving fruit was good.
ReplyDeleteWhat some great ways to learn about Chinese New Year. I had no idea about the gifting side and what a fun twist with the way you did it for your sons class.
ReplyDeleteI am thrilled that McDonalds is now serving Cuties in their Happy Meals. What a healthy option.
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome! What a fun way to teach kids about the Chinese New Year!
ReplyDeleteYou seem to be having a dun time Chinese New year celebrations! That is great
ReplyDeleteThis is a wonderful way to introduce children to other cultures! I love that McDonald's now has Cuties. They are a favorite snack with my kids!
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize money envelopes and other celebration accessories were red for fortune! Cool!
ReplyDeleteI never knew most of this stuff! Great way to learn about another culture.
ReplyDeleteGreat way to teach kids about this.I love the dancing dragon.
ReplyDeleteIts nice to see McDonalds including real whole food inside a happy meal instead of just processed food like in the days when my child was little. Good for them.
ReplyDeleteI learned that decorating is a large part of the prep process
ReplyDeleteThanks for the chance
I learned my son and I are both the year of the Dragon (Laura DeLuca)
ReplyDeleteThis is a great way to teach kids about other cultures!
ReplyDeleteI learned that this is the year of the Goat/and Sheep and that red envelopes are given with gifts of money or good things to come, and I like your purple with goat on it envelops, I also learned that red is used a lot in marriages as it the luckiest color and I learned that it is fun to learn about other countries and their traditions, I am from the year of the Rat. ANd I bought some more Halos and shared these with my family, they make wonderful snacks.
ReplyDeleteClementine is a popular fruit among children of all ages and during lunar new year celebrations as traditional symbols of abundance and good fortune.
ReplyDeleteLearned---The lanterns themselves are used to ward off bad spirits and--During Chinese New Year giving gifts is part of the celebration. Good gifts include fruits like oranges and tangerines because of their color. In Chinese culture the color orange symbolizes wealth and good fortune.
ReplyDeleteI love how McDonald's is starting to spread the multicultural love. This amazing
ReplyDeleteI learned that red is a lucky color in China, I didn't know that and also that the Dragon is a symbol of power and luck.
ReplyDeletetwinkle at optonline dot net
I did not know that red was considered the luckiest color. This is great to know.
ReplyDeleteI will tell them that the Chinese dragon is a symbol of power, strength and good luck.
ReplyDeleteI learned that orange symbolizes abundance and good fortune.
ReplyDeleteI have never celebrated Chinese New Year but I am fascinated by all the interesting things that I am learning.
ReplyDeleteI learned that a big part of this is the decorating and that it help bring good luck. This is a fun way to get kids involved and what kid doesn't love to help decorate.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter's school actually celebrated the Chinese New Year. I love the idea of colors and symbolism. Patricia
ReplyDeleteI learned that red is a lucky color and used a lot during weddings and celebrations.
ReplyDeleteI learned that clementines are a sign of good fortune.
ReplyDeleteEntered the rafflecopter form as "Wild Orchid"
Thanks for the chance to win!
wildorchid985 at gmail dot com
those lanterns are amazingly cute! what a great educational experience! Amber N
ReplyDeleteI love the dancing dragon! That's so cute. I also really like those lanterns.
ReplyDeleteI learned that this is The Year of the Goat.
ReplyDeleteNancy
allibrary (at) aol (dot) com
You did a great job of sharing a new cultural celebration with your son’s class! I love that calendar. I wonder if I can find one in the DC area... maybe in Chinatown? ;)
ReplyDeleteAs silly as this may sound I did not know that they consider red lucky and that explains why so much is in red!
ReplyDeleteI learned that the lanterns are to ward off bad spirits. I love teaching my kids about other cultures.
ReplyDeletetraytray2313 at yahoo dot com
learned that the Chinese Dragons are a symbol of power and strength
ReplyDeleteLeidy R rafflecopter
I learned that orange symbolizes wealth and good fortune in the Chinese culture.
ReplyDeleteYour son looks pretty cute & excited with the celebration. The idea of decorating the class room with Chinese New Year elements is good as it helps people learn more about the past traditions as well. Cuties are our favorites too & it is great McDonalds serves it in Happy Meals as well.
ReplyDeleteCuties seem to be all the rage lately. They just started carrying them in my local store a few months ago. I think its great that McD offers a healthier option for their snacks and happy meals.
ReplyDeleteWe learned that it was the year of the goat and my kids wanted to know what other animals were used in the Chinese calendars.
ReplyDeleteSadie B.
I learned a lot but I didn't know that the longer the dragon dances, the more luck it will bring to the community. There are so many neat traditions.
ReplyDeletehttps://instagram.com/p/zOixgQCqfL/?modal=true link to my comment on Instagram
ReplyDeleteI had no idea the Chinese Dragon is a symbol of power, strength, and good luck.
ReplyDeleteI learned that the dragon dance is often performed during Chinese New Year!
ReplyDeleteHad no idea that it is better if a dragon dances longer
ReplyDeleteI like that you taught about Chinese New Year.
ReplyDeleteDesiree Dunbar
desireedunbar@hotmail.com
I learned that red is considered the luckiest color in China & that decorating is a big part of getting ready for the Chinese New Year as it attracts good luck, health & money in the new year!
ReplyDeleteandysavi.mom@gmail.com
I learned that orange stands for good fortune. jj250@aol.com
ReplyDelete