Chinese New Year is here and this year is the year of the goat. Over here, at West Richmond Sr. OSC, we celebrated the year of the goat by making Chinese New Year decorations as our art activity.

First, we started with origami & construction paper to cut out the word “SPRING.” Since Chinese New Year is also referred to as “Spring Festival” in the Chinese culture.

Second, we made the firecrackers by cutting construction paper into several pieces and rolling them into cylinder shapes as the shape of firecracker. Then we decorated the rolled paper with glittered duct tape.

Third, we punched holes on the firecrackers and the word, “Spring”. After that, we used string to connect them. Then, we have our Chinese New Year decoration!

You must be curious about why Chinese people use firecrackers as decorations during New Year. According to old Chinese legend, a monster called “Year” will be seeking food in the village on New Year’s Eve. Villagers do not want “Year” to eat all their food, which they have harvested over the entire year so they used firecrackers to scare the monster away so they wouldn't suffer from hunger. Although the monster had disappeared and had never be seen since, Chinese people still keep the tradition alive by lighting firecrackers on New Year’s Eve. Nowadays, having a firecracker has become a decoration for the Chinese people during the New Year.

In this 15 day long festival, Chinese celebrate with family and friends, and also enjoy great food. It’s fortunate to live in a diverse community like West Richmond so we can experience different cultures and their holidays throughout the year.

Gong Xi Fa Cai and Happy New Year

Dennis