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.